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                <h1>
                    Aligning and distributing objects
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                <br clear="both" /><div id="minitoc"><div class="t"><div class="b"><div class="l"><div class="r"><div class="bl"><div class="br"><div class="tl"><div class="tr"><div><h3>Contents [<a href="#" onclick="return toggleMiniToc('minitoc-links', this);" class="hideLink">Hide</a>]</h3><ul id="minitoc-links"><li><p><a href="#WSfd1234e1c4b69f30d2a5051004d659b1c-7fe1a"><h3 class="topictitle3">Align panel overview</h3>
</a></p></li><li><p><a href="#WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6ef3a"><h3 class="topictitle3">Align or distribute objects</h3>
</a></p></li></ul></div></div><br clear="both" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br clear="both" /><div><ul class="navlinklist"></ul>
</div>
<div id="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30d2a5051004d659b1c-7fe1a" class="nochunk"><a name="WSfd1234e1c4b69f30d2a5051004d659b1c-7fe1a"></a><h2 class="topictitle2">Align panel overview</h2><div><p>You use
the Align panel (Window&#160;&gt; Object &amp; Layout&#160;&gt;
Align) to align or distribute objects horizontally or vertically
along the selection, margins, page, or spread. Consider the following
when working with the Align panel:</p>
<ul><li><p>The Align panel doesn’t affect objects to which you’ve
applied the Lock Position command, and doesn’t change the alignment
of text paragraphs within their frames.</p>
</li>
<li><p>Text alignment is not affected by the Align Objects options.
(See <a href="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6dd1a.html">Align or justify text</a>.)</p>
</li>
<li><p>You can use the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box (Edit&#160;&gt;
Keyboard Shortcuts) to create custom align and distribute shortcuts.
(Under Product Area, select Object Editing.)</p>
</li>
</ul>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="gh_14" src="images/gh_14.png" /><div class="figdesc">Align panel </div><br /><dl><dt class="dlterm">A.</dt>
<dd>Vertical alignment buttons</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">B.</dt>
<dd>Vertical
distribution buttons</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">C.</dt>
<dd>Use Spacing
distribution</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">D.</dt>
<dd>Horizontal alignment
buttons</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">E.</dt>
<dd>Horizontal distribution
buttons</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">F.</dt>
<dd>Alignment location options</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p></dl>
</div></div></div>
<div id="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6ef3a" class="nochunk"><a name="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6ef3a"></a><h2 class="topictitle2">Align or distribute objects</h2><div><div class="section"><p>You
can use the Align panel to align or space selected objects horizontally
or vertically to the selection, margins, page, or spread.</p>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="gh_align_dist_objct" src="images/gh_align_dist_objct.png" /><div class="figdesc">Objects distributed horizontally to selection (top) and to
margins (bottom)</div><br /></div></div>
<ol><li class="stepexpand"><span>Select the objects to align or distribute.</span></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>Choose Window&#160;&gt; Object &amp; Layout&#160;&gt;
Align to display the Align panel. </span> <div class="tip"><img src="images/tip_help.png" />To show or hide additional panel options,
choose Show Options or Hide Options from the panel menu.</div></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>From the menu at the bottom of the panel, specify whether
you want to align or distribute objects based on the selection,
margins, page, or spread.</span></li>
<li class="stepexpand"><span>Do one of the following:</span><ul><li><p>To align objects, click the button for
the type of alignment you want. </p>
</li>
<li><p>To distribute objects, click the button for the
type of distribution you want. For example, if you click the Distribute
Left Edges button when Align To Selection is turned on, InDesign
makes sure that there is an equal amount of space from left edge
to left edge of each selected object.</p>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="gh_15a" src="images/gh_15a.png" /><div class="figdesc">Using the Distribute Horizontal Centers option for even spacing</div><br /><dl><dt class="dlterm">A.</dt>
<dd>Creates even spacing between the centers of each object</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">B.</dt>
<dd>Keeps
the overall width the same as before the transformation</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p></dl>
</div></li>
<li><p>To set the space between objects, either center
to center or edge to matching edge, select Use Spacing under Distribute
Objects, and then type the amount of space you want to apply. Click
a button to distribute the selected objects along their horizontal
or vertical axes.</p>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="gh_15b" src="images/gh_15b.png" /><div class="figdesc">Using the Distribute Horizontal Centers option and adding
a value for Use Spacing</div><br /><dl><dt class="dlterm">A.</dt>
<dd>Spaces the objects evenly from their centers by a specified
value</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">B.</dt>
<dd>Changes the overall
width of the objects as a whole</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p></dl>
</div></li>
<li><p>To set the space between objects (facing edge to
facing edge), under Distribute Spacing, select Use Spacing and type
the amount of space you want between the objects. (If Distribute
Spacing is not visible, choose Show Options in the Align Panel menu.)
Then, click the Distribute Spacing button to distribute the objects
along their horizontal or vertical axes. </p>
<div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="gh_15d" src="images/gh_15d.png" /><div class="figdesc">Using the Distribute Horizontal Space option and adding a
value for Use Spacing</div><br /><dl><dt class="dlterm">A.</dt>
<dd>Creates spaces of a specified value between each object</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p><dt class="dlterm">B.</dt>
<dd>Changes
the overall width of the objects as a whole</dd><p class="dlseparator"></p></dl>
</div></li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
<div class="section"><p>When you use spacing with vertical distribution, selected
objects are spaced from top to bottom, starting with the top-most
object. When you use spacing with horizontal distribution, selected
objects are spaced from left to right, starting from the left-most
object.</p>
<div class="tip"><img src="images/tip_help.png" />You can also use the Smart Spacing
feature to align or distribute objects while moving them. For example,
if two vertical objects are 12 points apart, moving a third object
12 points below the second object causes temporary guides to appear, allowing
you to snap the object into alignment.</div></div>
</div></div>

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