Lesson 21 of 21 · 1:39
Lining things up exactly
Align a selection, space it evenly, or set the gap by hand.
Written guides for this lesson
- How do I line up and space objects evenly?
Select them, then align to one line and space evenly — which leaves equal floor between objects rather than equal distance between their middles. When the number matters, type the gap in feet and inches and apply it.
Transcript
0:03A plan that is nearly lined up reads as sloppy, and lining things up by dragging them is the slowest work in the room. Here is how to stop doing that.
0:12Along the back of this ballroom there are two bars and a run of buffet tables. They are close, but they are not on one line and the gaps between them are all different.
0:21Drag a box around the lot of them to select them together.
0:25Align middle puts every one of them on the same line. One click, and the back of the room is straight.
0:32Now the spacing. Space evenly leaves the same amount of floor between each one — not the same distance between their middles, which is what you get in most tools and which looks wrong the moment two objects are different sizes.
0:44The two on the ends stay exactly where they are, and everything between them is re-laid to match. That is usually what you want, because the ends are the bits you positioned on purpose.
0:53When the number matters — a client wants three feet between the highboys, or the fire marshal wants an aisle — type it instead.
1:01Set the gap, press Apply, and the run is laid out at exactly that distance, starting from where the first one already is.
1:08Two more habits worth having. Hold Shift while you draw a ruler or a cable run and it stays square — no more measurements that are a degree and a half off level.
1:18And when you are placing objects, the palette decides whether you keep stamping the same one or get your cursor back after one. Set it whichever way you work; it is remembered.
1:28Select, align, space. Three clicks instead of twenty drags, and the room is straight.