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Precisely aligning objects can be pretty difficult without the Align Panel in Adobe Illustrator CS6. In this Quick Tip we’ll take a look at using the Align Panel and all of its features. We will cover the methods of aligning objects to one another as well as to the Artboard. Also we will take a look at spacing objects and distributing them. This comes in handy whenever we want to be precise with our layouts and design aesthetics.
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Sign up[Treehouse presents] 0:00 [Quick Tips][Aligning Objects in Adobe Illustrator][with Mat Helme] 0:02 Hey, what's up—Mat Helme here with a Treehouse Quick Tip: 0:06 Aligning objects in Adobe Illustrator CS6. 0:08 After we open up Adobe Illustrator CS6 and create a new document, 0:11 let's head over to the Tools Panel and grab the Rectangle tool and make a large rectangle. 0:15 Then, let's grab the Ellipse tool and make a smaller circle than the rectangle. 0:21 Then, let's grab the Star tool and make an even smaller star. 0:28 Now, so we're not confused, let's change the color of these so they're all different. 0:34 We can leave the rectangle blue; 0:38 let's make the circle orange and the star yellow. 0:40 Now, let's place these objects on top of one another like so. 0:47 Now with these objects selected, you can see in the Control Panel—at the top—I have the Align Panel. 0:56 Now, we can actually access this by going to the window, selecting Align, 1:02 and then we get the Align Panel. 1:08 Now, say if I want to make all of these objects align horizontally to the center, 1:10 I simply select that, and you can see they all align. 1:17 Now, if I wanted to align them vertically, I can do that as well. 1:19 And you can see they all line up. 1:24 Now say if I want to align them to the right side of the Art Board here, 1:27 I can do that by going to my Align Panel, selecting Show Options, go to Align To, 1:30 and select Align To Art Board, and then when I click Horizontal Align Right, 1:39 you can see that it aligns all the way to the right of the Art Board. 1:45 Now, if I want to align the objects to—say—a key object, 1:49 I can do that by selecting all of them, go to Align To, Align To Key Object, 1:53 and say if I select the circle, everything will now align left to the circle. 2:01 Now, say if my objects are spaced out like so, 2:13 and I want the star aligned to the left, the square aligned to the right, and the circle displayed in the middle, 2:16 I can do this by selecting all of them, then selecting Align To Art Board, and then select Horizontal Distribute Center. 2:26 You can see they all align perfectly. 2:39 Now, if I want to align all of these objects—say—40 pixels from one another— 2:43 because as you can see, it's not as even between the circle and square as it is between the circle and star— 2:48 I can select all of them and select Align to Key Object, then make 40 pixels in the Distribute Spacing, 2:53 and then select Horizontal Distribute Space, and you can see now they're all aligned from the star 40 pixels, 3:05 and then the circle to square 40 pixels. 3:13 This comes in real handy if you're creating—say—navigation for a website. 3:16 Now, say I have a very large stroke on the circle of—say—black, 3:22 and I want to left align all of these objects, 3:33 you'll notice that it's not aligning to the end of the stroke; it's aligning to the actual object, 3:38 and you can see this when we go to View and then Outline— 3:47 it shows all of the paths, and it's correct—they are aligned— 3:52 but we want to align it to the outside of that stroke. 3:56 So, let's switch back over to the Preview mode, and then in our Align Options, 3:58 we can use Preview Bounds, 4:04 so what that's going to do is align everything to the edge of the stroke. 4:07 Like so. 4:16 And that is how we align objects in Adobe Illustrator CS6. 4:20 For more in-depth tutorials and projects using Adobe Illustrator CS6, 4:24 head over to Treehouse and treat yourself to a gold membership—you deserve it! 4:28
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