Layers, canvases, guides & alignment
Align & distribute
Nothing makes a layout look sloppy faster than objects that are almost lined up. Align snaps your selection to a shared edge or center, and distribute evens out the gaps between them — two clicks that do what nudging by hand never quite gets right.
What alignment does
Align moves selected objects so they share an edge or a center line — left edges, tops, horizontal centers, and so on. Distribute leaves the outer objects where they are and respaces everything in between so the gaps are equal. Use align to tidy a row or column, and distribute to make a series of items feel evenly balanced.
Select two or more objects first
Alignment and distribution act on your current selection, so start by selecting more than one object. Drag a marquee around them with the Select tool, or click the first and Shift-click each of the others. With a single object selected there's nothing to align it against, so the controls stay quiet.
Tip: aligning respects the objects' current bounding boxes. If you want a set to stay put relative to each other afterward, Group them (Cmd/Ctrl+G) so they move as one.
The align buttons
Once two or more objects are selected, the align controls appear in the Properties panel on the right. There are six:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Align left | Lines up the left edges |
| Align horizontal center | Centers objects on a shared vertical axis |
| Align right | Lines up the right edges |
| Align top | Lines up the top edges |
| Align vertical center | Centers objects on a shared horizontal axis |
| Align bottom | Lines up the bottom edges |
The same six live in the right-click Align submenu, so you can align without leaving the canvas — right-click your multi-selection and pick the alignment you want.
Distribute for even spacing
When you have a row or column of objects, the two distribute buttons even out the space between them:
- Distribute horizontally — equalizes the horizontal gaps
- Distribute vertically — equalizes the vertical gaps
Distribution needs at least three objects selected — with only two there's a single gap and nothing to even out. A common recipe: Align top to get a clean row, then Distribute horizontally so the items breathe evenly across it.
Aligning whole canvases
The same controls work one level up. Select several Canvases in the Canvases list (Shift-click or Cmd/Ctrl-click), and the inspector offers the alignment controls again — this time to line up entire canvases relative to each other on the workspace. It's a quick way to tidy a spread of artboards into a neat row or grid. See Working with multiple canvases for more on managing a multi-page document.
Tips for pixel-tight layouts
- Pair align and distribute with Snap to objects and layout guides for placement that's exact, not just close — see Grids, guides & rulers.
- Align a set, then Group it so future moves keep the arrangement intact.
- Alignment and stacking are independent: lining objects up doesn't change which sits in front. To control that, use Arrange & stacking order.
Where to go next
Line things up, then decide what sits on top with Arrange & stacking order, or set up the grids and guides that make everything snap into place.