Selecting and Arranging Objects

The Geometry Panel

The Geometry panel lets you adjust an object's size and coordinates, and change its other properties. To open the panel, tap on the corresponding icon in the main window.

1 - Scale stroke and other effects when the object is resized. For example, making an object twice as big, you can expect that its stroke and shadow will be two times wider.

2 - The object's width and height. The Maintain Aspect Ratio option can prevent an object's deformation when you change one of its dimensions. The Maintain Aspect Ratio icon is located between the width and height controls.

3 - The object's coordinates.

4 - Reference point selector. The coordinate defined by X and Y is the location of the reference point. The 9-point selector lets you choose a corner, the middle of any side or the center.

With the same coordinates but different reference points, an object will have different locations.

5 - The rotation tool. You can either input the angle into the text field or rotate the circular control.

6 - The Shear tool.

7 - Move an object horizontally or vertically. Taps on any of the arrows will move the object in steps. If you press on an arrow, the object will move continuously. You can also press on two neighbouring buttons to move the object diagonally.

8 - Flip horizontally or vertically.

9 - Rotate an object 90 degrees left or right.

10 - Reset the boundary of a selected object. For example, once you rotate an object, its boundary turns accordingly. The command creates a new boundary whose top and bottom are horizontal.

11 - Open the Transform panel.

Move and Rotate an Object with the Geometry Panel

To move an object to a new location, change its X, Y or both coordinates. Notice that, by default, X and Y coordinates define the location of the top left corner of the object's boundary. You can choose one of nine points using the Reference Point selector.

The Align buttons in the Arrange section let you move an object to the center or edges of the current sheet. Normally, these commands require that you select several objects that should be aligned. If you select one object, it will align to the sheet.

In order to resize an object, change its dimensions. Use the Maintain Aspect Ratio button to preserve the object's aspect ratio while you are modifying either the width or height.

To rotate an object, input a new value by tapping on the angle field, or simply drag the handle on the circular rotation tool.

In order to rotate an object with 90 degree steps to the left or right, tap on the corresponding bent arrow icon.

Apart from rotation, you can also mirror objects using the vertical and horizontal flip buttons.