The Align and Distribute tools can be incredibly useful when designing in Studio. Whether you are trying to evenly line up a series of photos, creating a complex grid system, or adding a paper mat to a photo, these tools can help you save time and make sure your items are properly lined up and spaced evenly. These buttons are located near the bottom of the Tool Box, under the Layout tab. This article is a simple breakdown of each of these tools and their uses.
Note: If you hover over one of these buttons in Studio, a small blue box will pop up, telling you the function of that button.
For in-depth tutorials and ideas, please check out the other "Align & Distribute" articles, located here: https://heritagemakers.zendesk.com/forums/20862099-Advanced-Editing-Design or follow the individual links below.
Tip: The best way to get to know these tools is to play around with them in Studio. Take one tool at a time and learn how to use it well. Before you know it, you will be using Align and Distribute like a pro!
Note: Before using any of the Align or Distribute tools mentioned below, it is important to select the appropriate button under the To heading, to ensure that the items are positioned and arranged appropriately.
Align
These 6 buttons are used to line up objects, horizontally or vertically, along a certain side or through the center. The top row of buttons (Align Left, Align Center, **and Align Right*) are for aligning items in a vertical line. **Align Left* will line up the items according to their left sides, Align Center will line them up according to the center of each item, and Align Right will line them up according to their right sides.
The bottom row of buttons (Align Top, Align Middle, **and Align Bottom*) are for aligning items in a horizontal line. **Align Top* will line up the items according to their top edge, Align Middle will line them up according to the middle of each item, and Align Bottom will line them up according to their bottom edge.
To learn about aligning text boxes to other items, click here or go to https://heritagemakers.zendesk.com/entries/44282644-Align-Distribute-Aligning-Text-Boxes-To-An-Item
To view how to center one item on top of another, click here or go to https://heritagemakers.zendesk.com/entries/44039164-Align-Distribute-Centering-to-Another-Item
Distribute
These 6 buttons are used to distribute, or space, objects, horizontally or vertically, based on a certain side or through the center. The top row of buttons (Distribute Left, Distribute Center, **and Distribute Right*) are for distributing items in a horizontal line. **Distribute Left* will space the items according to their left sides, Distribute Center will space them according to the center of each item, and Distribute Right will space them according to their right sides.
The bottom row of buttons (Distribute Top, Distribute Middle, **and Distribute Bottom*) are for distributing items in a vertical line. **Distribute Top* will space the items according to their top edge, Distribute Middle will space them according to the middle of each item, and Distribute Bottom will space them according to their bottom edge.
To view how to align and distribute a row of photos or items in Studio, click here or go to https://heritagemakers.zendesk.com/entries/44412590-Align-Distribute-An-Evenly-Spaced-Row
To view how to create a basic 9-square grid in Studio, click here or go to https://heritagemakers.zendesk.com/entries/44030474-Align-Distribute-Creating-a-Grid
To
These 3 buttons (To Group, To First Item, **and To Page**) are used to determine whether the items are to be positioned based upon their grouping, the first item selected, or the overall page.
Note: If you are arranging multiple items (selected together by holding down the Shift key), all three buttons will be useful in their own way. If you are aligning a single item on the page, you will only need the To Page button.
Select To Group if you would like the items to be arranged according to their relative position as a group. Select* To First Item if you would like the items to be arranged according to the position of the first item selected. Select To Page *if you would like the items to be arranged according to a certain location on the page.
To learn more about the buttons under the To heading, click here or go to https://heritagemakers.zendesk.com/entries/44666600-Align-Distribute-The-To-Buttons
Space
These two buttons are used to evenly distribute, or space, a row of items horizontally or vertically. They are useful when you would like to evenly space a row of items that are different sizes. To space a horizontal row of items, select Evenly Space Horizontally. To space a vertical row of items, select **Evenly Space Vertically.
**
This video shows that the Distribute buttons are not useful for even distribution when the items in line are each different sizes. In this case, the Space buttons are very useful to evenly distribute the items.
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