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• Posted July 2, 2013, 2:56 p.m. - 11 years, 4 months ago

Arranging PDF Content Using Align and Distribute

Anyone with experience in creating and editing PDFs will know that getting a page layout just right can be time consuming. Time can easily be wasted when you’re nudging an image or text box one pixel at a time to get it to the right spot on the page. Lining up your objects by eye is not certain to achieve the look you want, either.

This is where two features in Infix Pro can help. In this article, we’ll look at Align and Distribute.

●        Align allows you to select any number of objects and adjust the position so that they automatically line up with each other. (A good alternative to this feature is manually aligning objects to a Guide).

●        Distribute takes a group of objects and evenly spreads them across or down a page.

Used separately or together, these are powerful time saving tools to help you achieve a high quality finish without painstaking, slow edits.

Using Align in Infix Pro

First, select the objects you want to align. To do this, select the Object tool (the arrow), hold the Shift key and right-click each object. This will result in a selection area encompassing all of your selected objects.

In Infix Pro, there are six Align options to choose from. These are accessible by going to the Object > Align menu. There are three vertical alignment options and three horizontal.

Vertical alignment:

●        Left will align each of your selected objects to the left edge of the selection area.

●        Centre will align the centre of each object in a vertical line down centre of the selection area.

●        Right will align each object to the right edge of the selection area.

Horizontal alignment:

●        Top will align each of your selected objects to the top edge of the selection area.

●        Middle will align the centre of each object in a horizontal line across middle of the selection area.

●        Bottom will align each object to the bottom edge of the selection area.

Using Distribute in Infix Pro

Like the Align tool, Distribute is a tool for working with multiple objects. There are only two distribute options: Across or Down. These options can be accessed by going to the Object -> Distribute menu.

●        Across will evenly spread each of the selected objects across the selection area, from left to right. The centre point of each object is used as the marker for distributing the group.

●        Down will evenly spread the centre point of each objects down the selection area, from top to bottom.

Notes On Using Align and Distribute

These features operate within the area of the selected objects – not the page as a whole. If you want a larger or smaller selection area, move one of your objects before selecting the rest.

The Distribute option is also affected by the size of the objects you have selected. If there is a greater variation in size between the smallest and largest in your selection, Distribute may not work as you want it to.

The Object Alignment Toolbar is a helpful shortcut to both the Align options and the Distribute options. By default, this toolbar is not activated in Infix, but if you find yourself frequently using these tools, you may want to activate it.

 

The toolbar can be activated by going to View -> Toolbars and ticking Object Alignment.

 

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