Aligning Objects

As you build your drawing you will find it necessary to arrange components so that they align with

other components. There is a variety of ways to do this and Corel DRAW has some quick methods.

Select the objects you wish to align then go to the Arrange drop down menu Align and Distribute

then select the method of alignment you need. Note the shortcuts listed to the right of the options:

• L aligns the objects to the left of their bounding box

• R aligns the objects to the right of their bounding box

• T aligns the objects to the top of their bounding box

• B aligns the objects to the bottom of their bounding box

• E aligns the objects to the to their centers Vertically

• C aligns the objects to the to their centers Horizontally

• P aligns the objects to the center of the page

Remembering these shortcuts will speed up the production of your drawing. Just select the objects and press the keyboard character corresponding to the alignment mode.

A few things to note:

All the components you select will be aligned in the same way and this may not be quite what you

intended. Imagine the example below for a simple key ring. The key ring shape has been drawn, a

hole for the ring has been drawn and you are ready to place the text to be engraved.

Selecting everything and aligning them centrally will place the key ring hole in the center too. To avoid this happening, first group the key ring shape and the hole, then align the text on the key ring.

Format text before you align it as formatting after will lose the alignment.