4.2. Align and Distribute
| 4. Transform Tools |

### 4.2. Align and Distribute

The Align and Distribute tool is useful to align the image layers with various image objects. When this tool is selected, the mouse pointer turns to a small hand. By clicking on an element of a layer in the image, you choose the layer which will be moved (with Shift + click, you can choose several layers to be aligned); this focused layer has small squares in corners and is called source. Then buttons in the dialog become active (they remain active during all the GIMP session): they allow you to select the target, i.e other layer, selection, path, the source will be aligned with.

#### 4.2.1. Activating the Tool

There are different possibilities to activate the tool:

- From the main menu: Tools → Transform Tools → Align and Distribute.

- By clicking the tool icon in the Toolbox.

- By pressing the Q keyboard shortcut.

#### 4.2.2. Key modifiers

Shift

  You can select several layers by holding Shift when clicking the layers.

  | İpucu

  Sometimes it's easier to choose multiple layers using rubber-banding: click somewhere outside an imaginary rectangular region covering the layers you want to choose. Then drag out that region by moving the pointer, and release the mouse button. Now every layer, which is completely inside the dragged rectangle, is selected.

  Note that now there is no target “first item” the selected layers can be aligned on.

#### 4.2.3. Options

Şekil 14.92. Tool Options Dialog

Normally, tool options are displayed in a window attached under the Toolbox as soon as you activate a tool. If they are not, you can access them from the main menu through Windows → Dockable Windows → Tool Options which opens the option window of the selected tool. The available tool options can also be accessed by double clicking the corresponding tool icon in the Toolbox.

Align
  Relative to:

    In this drop-down list, you select the target, the image object the layer will be aligned with.

    - Image: the image is the target.

    - Selection: the selection is the target.

    - Picked reference object: The selected object (layer, path, guide) on the canvas.

  Align buttons

    These buttons become active when a target is selected.

    - Align left edge of target: to align left edge of source with left edge of target.

    - Align center of target: to align center of source on the vertical middle line of target.

    - Align right edge of target: to align right edge of source with right edge of target.

    - Align top edge of target: to align top edge of source with top edge of target.

    - Align middle of target: to align center of source on the horizontal middle line of target.

    - Align bottom edge of target: to align bottom edge of source with bottom edge of target.

  Example

    An image with a selection, layer #1 (background) is active, layer #2 is cropped to content, layer #3 is a text layer.

    We click on the yellow circle: layer #2 becomes the source. We want to send this source to the middle of the selection: the Relative to option is set to “Selection”.

    Align center of target clicked

    Align middle of target clicked

Distribute
  Distribute buttons

    These options are used when you have several targets and want to arrange them. Here, layers selected with Shift + Click are called “targets”. But they are actually sources. “Relative to” options are active to set the target. These transformations are usually relative to “Image”.

    These options work as Align options, but you can distribute sources evenly.

    - Distribute targets evenly in the horizontal: to distribute sources evenly horizontally.

    - Distribute horizontal centers of targets: to distribute centers of sources with center of the target horizontally.

    - Distribute targets evenly in the vertical: to distribute sources evenly vertically.

    - Distribute vertical centers of targets: to distribute centers of sources with center of target.

  Şekil 14.93. Example for the “Distribute” commands

  Base image: three layers. (Distribute right edges of targets) will be used.

  Active layer is yellow (target). All layers are aligned on the right edge of the yellow layer.

#### 4.2.4. Example

Şekil 14.94. Example

Four text layers, with same size. We want to align them at center of image.

We select them as sources with Shift + Click.

The default target (Relative to) is “Image”. We used the (Distribute vertical centers of targets) command.

After using the (Distribute targets evenly in the horizontal).

#### 4.2.5. Align using the rubber-band box

Şekil 14.95. Align using the rubber-band box

We clicked left from and above the red layer, and dragged out a region covering the red and the yellow layer by moving the pointer towards the bottom right corner.

“Selection” is the reference. After a click on the button, both layers align with the left side of the selection.

4. Transform Tools |  | 4.3. Move

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