Rotating and reflecting objects, Rotate objects – Adobe Illustrator CS3 User Manual
Page 212
ILLUSTRATOR CS3
User Guide
206
For a video on aligning and distributing objects, see
See also
“Workspace overview” on page 14
“Create, edit, and delete crop areas” on page 38
Align or distribute objects
1
Select the objects to align or distribute. To align an anchor point on the object, use the Direct Selection tool and
select the anchor point.
2
In the Align panel or Control panel, do any of the following:
•
To align or distribute relative to the bounding box of all selected objects, click the button for the type of alignment
or distribution you want.
•
To align or distribute relative to one of the selected objects, click that object again (you don’t need to hold down
Shift as you click this time). Then click the button for the type of alignment or distribution you want.
Note: To stop aligning and distributing relative to an object, choose Cancel Key Object from the Align panel menu.
•
To align relative to a crop area, specify the crop area you want to align to by selecting it with the Crop tool. Click
the Align To Crop Area button
or click the Align menu
and choose Align To Crop Area. Then click the
button for the type of alignment you want.
•
To align relative to the artboard, click the Align To Artboard button
or click the Align menu
and choose
Align To Artboard. Then click the button for the type of alignment you want.
By default, Illustrator calculates alignment and distribution based on the objects’ paths. However, when working
with objects that have different stroke weights, you can use the edge of the stroke to calculate alignment and distri-
bution instead. To do this, select Use Preview Bounds from the Align panel menu.
Distribute objects by specific amounts
You can distribute objects using exact distances between their paths.
1
Select the objects to distribute.
2
In the Align panel, enter the amount of space to appear between objects in the Distribute Spacing text box.
If the Distribute Spacing options aren’t displayed, select Show Options from the panel menu.
3
Use the Selection tool
to click the path of the object you want the other objects to distribute around. The object
you click will remain fixed in its position.
4
Click either the Vertical Distribute Space button or the Horizontal Distribute Space button.
Rotating and reflecting objects
Rotate objects
Rotating an object turns it around a fixed point that you designate. The default reference point is the object’s center
point. If you have multiple objects in a selection, the objects will rotate around a single reference point, which is the
center point of the selection or bounding box by default. To rotate each object around its own center point, use the
Transform Each command.