illustrator tips and tricks

Learn the secrets of aligning and distributing shapes in Illustrator

Yep, there are some secrets!

When you need to align and distribute shapes in Illustrator there are some tricks to doing this. There are settings that let you configure whether the shapes are aligned and distributed relative to the artboard or relative to each other – the differences can make a big change to the effect you are trying to achieve. You can also determine, when you select a few objects, which of them the objects are aligned to – this is a very handy technique to know as it means you can select objects in any order that you like and have them align to match one of the objects that you select – you are in control!

This video demystifies the process of getting shapes and text to line up the way you want it to line up and quickly and effectively. You will learn what each of the alignment tools does and how to use them to align objects by their left edges or the right or top or bottom. You can also center objects to each other and distribute them evenly up or across the artboard.

The ability to be able to quickly align objects is a key skill to have in Illustrator – without it you would need to measure everything accurately or just eyeball it! This video solves all your problems and gets you started quickly and easily understanding the alignment tools in Illustrator and how to configure them so they work best for you.