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Align Elements
When you have created a number of elements on a diagram, you might want to organize them in groups so that they form a column or row with a uniform edge. You can do this quickly and easily by selecting the group of elements and aligning them all against the left, right, top or bottom edge or center of one element in the group. You can also space three or more elements evenly in a row or column, at an average of their previous separations.
The selected elements are aligned with respect to the 'context' element, which is the element that has a hatched border drawn around it. You can set a given element as the 'context' element by clicking on it or when you add it to the current selection group using 'Ctrl+Click'.
Access
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Ribbon |
Select a set of elements, then
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Context Menu |
Select a set of elements, then right-click on a selected element and choose:
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Keyboard Shortcuts |
Select a set of elements (ensuring that the 'context' element is correctly set), then
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Other |
Click on the context element in the selection and on the
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icon, then select the appropriate alignment icon from the toolbar.
Align multiple elements
Step |
Action |
See also |
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1 |
Select a group of elements. |
Element Grouping |
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2 |
Right-click on the element in the group to align others to. The context menu displays. |
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3 |
Select the alignment function you require. All selected elements are aligned with the one beneath the cursor. |
Notes
- You can also use the first four buttons of the Diagram toolbar to align elements; these are made available when more than one element is selected in a diagram
- If you have a single element that you want to move into alignment with another, an alternative method is to use the 'smart placement guides' which indicate where the navigation points (edges and center points of edges) on the element are in relation to the adjacent element