Align, distribute and Tidy up

Aligning and spacing are commands: you select the layers, choose what should happen, and they move. Nothing moves until you ask. Use Align to line layers up on an edge or a centre, Distribute to share out the space between them, Space across and Space down to put an exact gap between them, and Tidy up to turn a loose scatter into a neat grid.

If the layers should stay arranged as you add and remove things, put them in an auto layout frame instead. See Auto layout.

Align

The six align buttons sit on the Layout heading of the Design tab.

Button	Keys
Align left	⌥A
Align horizontal centres	⌥H
Align right	⌥D
Align top	⌥W
Align vertical centres	⌥V
Align bottom	⌥S

• Several layers line up with each other, within the box around the whole selection. Align left moves each one to the leftmost edge.
• One layer lines up inside its parent: Align horizontal centres puts a button in the middle of its card.

Distribute

Open the … button (Distribute and resize) beside the align buttons:

• Distribute horizontally gives three or more layers equal gaps from left to right.
• Distribute vertically does the same from top to bottom.

On a Mac, ⌃⌥H distributes horizontally and ⌃⌥V vertically. On Windows, CtrlAltH distributes horizontally; distribute vertically from the menu.

The first and last layers stay where they are; the ones between move so every gap is the same.

The same menu has Tidy up, plus Resize to fill (fill the parent) and Resize to fit (hug the content) for a single layer.

Space across and Space down

When you need an exact gap, not just an even one, use the Spacing section. It appears in the Design tab when you select two or more layers that sit loose in the same parent.

1. Type the Gap you want. It starts at 16 and remembers the last value you used until you reload.
2. Press Space across to set the layers side by side that far apart, or Space down to stack them.

The layers keep the order they stand in, starting from the first one’s place. Only one direction changes: Space across leaves their heights where they are.

Tidy up

Press ⌃⌥T, or Tidy up in the Spacing section or the … menu. The selection is lined up in rows and columns:

• Layers that overlap vertically are read as one row, from the top down.
• Each column is as wide as its widest layer, each row as tall as its tallest.
• The gap is the typical gap already between them, or 10 if there is none to go by.
• The grid starts from the selection’s top-left corner. A single row or column stays one.

Tidy up is the quickest fix for a set of thumbnails or cards you dropped roughly in place.

Shortcuts

Action	Keys
Align left / right	⌥A / ⌥D
Align top / bottom	⌥W / ⌥S
Align horizontal / vertical centres	⌥H / ⌥V
Tidy up	⌃⌥T

Catches

• Layers placed by auto layout cannot be arranged. Their frame decides where they go; change its gap and alignment instead. Tidy up says “These layers are placed by auto layout”. A layer set to Ignore auto layout can be arranged.
• The layers must share a parent. Space across, Space down and Tidy up work on layers in the same frame (or all on the canvas), with none locked. Otherwise the Spacing section does not appear.
• A frame on its own canvas has nothing to align to. The align buttons are unavailable for a single layer straight on the canvas.
• Distribute needs three. With two layers there is only one gap; use Space across or Space down to set it.
• Arranging moves layers on the canvas only. Their order in the layers list stays the same.
• Aligning one layer that ignores auto layout also pins its constraint to that side, so it stays there when the frame resizes.