Transforming

Layer content can be positioned, sized, rotated or sheared on the page either 'by eye' or with absolute precision. Flipping operations are also possible.

Transforming is a general term to describe the repositioning, sizing (scaling), rotation, shearing or flipping of objects. Several choices are available:

Before
After
Sizing an image proportionally around its center
To position layer contents accurately:
  1. Select one or more layers.
  2. On the Transform panel, change X and/or Y values.
To nudge layer content:
  1. Select layer content.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • For nudging by a single unit of measurement: Press an arrow key.
    • For 10x the single unit of measurement: Press an arrow key with the pressed.
To move, rotate or scale layer content accurately (by Move data entry):
  1. Select one or more layers.
  2. Press the to display a Move / Duplicate dialog.
    Move data entry
    Enter new settings that will offset the object from its original position, with optional Angle, Rotation and Scale settings. Distance is the measurement between the original and moved object's centers.

The dialog also lets you duplicate the original layer content by a set number of copies.

Check Previous Settings if you want to retain and use the last used transformation values entered into the dialog; uncheck to transform with new values.

To size layer content with mathematical precision:
  1. Select one or more layers.
  2. On the Transform panel, change W and/or H values.
To size layers to same:
  1. Select multiple layers, ensuring the layer to be sized to is selected first. To do this, use -click to target it first or a marquee selection that encompasses it first.
  2. Match Width Match Height On the Toolbar, click Alignment, then set the Make Same option, choosing to size to Width or Height.
  3. (Optional) Check Maintain Aspect Ratio to ensure the layers will resize using their original proportions.
  4. Click Apply.
To size layers to a targeted key object:
  1. Select multiple layers.
  2. With the pressed, click the target key object (i.e., a layer). The selected key object will possess a strong outline.
  3. Match Width Match Height On the Toolbar, click Alignment, then set the Make Same option, choosing to size to Width or Height.
To size layer content interactively on the canvas:
  1. Select one or more layers.
  2. Drag a corner or edge control handle on the selection's bounding box. The opposite handle is used as the anchor point.

The following effects can be applied individually or in combination when sizing content:

Action Key
Resize proportionally
Anchor operation to center
Transform Objects Separately To transform selected objects separately:
  1. Select multiple objects.
  2. With the Move Tool selected, select Transform Objects Separately from the context toolbar.
  3. Apply a sizing, rotation or shearing transformation. Each selected object is transformed relative to its individual attributes, not those of the selection as a whole.
To size selected objects separately to absolute sizes
  1. Select multiple objects.
  2. Ensure Transform Objects Separately is selected from the context toolbar.
  3. On the Transform panel, resize by entering an absolute value into the W or H input boxes. For example enter =100px into the W box to make all objects 100px wide.

This absolute sizing is in contrast to scaling other objects in your selection proportionately to a targeted key object resized to, e.g. 100px. Note the importance of the "=" symbol to signify an expression being used.

Scale override

When an object is resized, the stroke width, layer effect radii, corner radii and text frame contents can be forced to scale by using the Transform panel. If Scale with object settings are unchecked on the object itself (stroke, layer effect, etc.) then they will be ignored.

Scale Override To override scaling on objects:
  1. Select an object.
  2. On the Transform panel, enable Scale Override.
  3. Resize via the object's handles with the pressed.
Scale Override To override scaling on objects selectively:
  1. Select an object.
  2. On the Transform panel, click the Scale Override down arrow to check/uncheck the following settings:
    • Line weights—useful when working on vector objects with a stroke. For example, you can either force or prevent scaling whilst resizing with the setting set to Scale with object or Locked, respectively.
    • Shape corners—to control the scaling of a shape's corners while resizing, you can either force (Scale with object) or prevent (Locked setting).
    • Layer effect radii—to control the scaling of the radius of a layer effect added to an object.
    • Text frame contents—to control the scaling of frame text while resizing; when set to Locked the container will scale whilst keeping text the same size. When set to Scale with object however, text will enlarge when resizing the container by its corner handles.
  3. Ensure the Scale Override button is enabled.
  4. Resize via the object's handles with the pressed.

SEE ALSO: