Align and arrange objects on the page
The added autoshapes, images, charts or text boxes can be aligned, grouped and ordered on the page. To perform any of these actions, first select a separate object or several objects on the page. To select several objects, hold down the Ctrl key and left-click the required objects. To select a text box, click on its border, not the text within it. After that you can use either the icons on the Layout tab of the top toolbar described below or the corresponding options from the right-click menu.
Align objects
To align two or more selected objects,
- Click the Align icon on the Layout tab of the top toolbar and select one of the following options:
- Align to Page to align objects relative to the edges of the page,
- Align to Margin to align objects relative to the page margins,
- Align Selected Objects (this option is selected by default) to align objects relative to each other,
- Click the Align icon once again and select the necessary alignment type from the list:
- Align Left - to line up the objects horizontally by the left edge of the leftmost object/left edge of the page/left page margin,
- Align Center - to line up the objects horizontally by their centers/center of the page/center of the space between the left and right page margins,
- Align Right - to line up the objects horizontally by the right edge of the rightmost object/right edge of the page/right page margin,
- Align Top - to line up the objects vertically by the top edge of the topmost object/top edge of the page/top page margin,
- Align Middle - to line up the objects vertically by their middles/middle of the page/middle of the space between the top and bottom page margins,
- Align Bottom - to line up the objects vertically by the bottom edge of the bottommost object/bottom edge of the page/bottom page margin.
Alternatively, you can right-click the selected objects, choose the Align option from the contextual menu and then use one of the available alignment options.
If you want to align a single object, it can be aligned relative to the edges of the page or to the page margins. The Align to Margin option is selected by default in this case.
Distribute objects
To distribute three or more selected objects horizontally or vertically so that there is equal space between them,
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Click the Align icon on the Layout tab of the top toolbar and select one of the following options:
- Align to Page to distribute objects between the edges of the page,
- Align to Margin to distribute objects between the page margins,
- Align Selected Objects (this option is selected by default) to distribute objects between two outermost selected objects,
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Click the Align icon once again and select the necessary distribution type from the list:
- Distribute Horizontally - to distribute objects evenly between the leftmost and rightmost selected objects/left and right edges of the page/left and right page margins.
- Distribute Vertically - to distribute objects evenly between the topmost and bottommost selected objects/top and bottom edges of the page/top and bottom page margins.
Alternatively, you can right-click the selected objects, choose the Align option from the contextual menu and then use one of the available distribution options.
Note: the distribution options are disabled if you select less than three objects.
Group objects
To group two or more selected objects or ungroup them, click the arrow next to the Group icon at the Layout tab on the top toolbar and select the necessary option from the list:
- Group - to combine several objects into a group so that they can be simultaneously rotated, moved, resized, aligned, arranged, copied, pasted, formatted like a single object.
- Ungroup - to ungroup the selected group of the previously combined objects.
Alternatively, you can right-click the selected objects, choose the Arrange option from the contextual menu and then use the Group or Ungroup option.
Note: the Group option is disabled if you select less than two objects. The Ungroup option is available only when a group of the previously combined objects is selected.
Arrange objects
To arrange objects (i.e. to change their order when several objects overlap each other), you can use the Bring Forward and Send Backward icons on the Layout tab of the top toolbar and select the required arrangement type from the list.
To move the selected object(s) forward, click the arrow next to the Bring Forward icon on the Layout tab of the top toolbar and select the required arrangement type from the list:
- Bring To Foreground - to move the object(s) in front of all other objects,
- Bring Forward - to move the selected object(s) by one level forward as related to other objects.
To move the selected object(s) backward, click the arrow next to the Send Backward icon on the Layout tab of the top toolbar and select the required arrangement type from the list:
- Send To Background - to move the object(s) behind all other objects,
- Send Backward - to move the selected object(s) by one level backward as related to other objects.
Alternatively, you can right-click the selected object(s), choose the Arrange option from the contextual menu and then use one of the available arrangement options.