Align panel: Objects touch edges
I draw as well as design web layouts in Ai, and I spend a lot of time sliding objects around on a pasteboard and using Smart Guides to snap them next to each other so they're touching. I'd like to add a set of features to the align panel that allow you to select two objets, define the target object with a second click, and then define which edge of the objects you want them to touch on: top, bottom, left, right.
M. Paradise
shared this idea
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Dina, it’s close, but not completely the same, as I understand it.
Imagine this situation: I want to 'drop' a circle into this pit in the shape below.
Distribute command we have will deal with the boundaries of the objects, not the actual curves.
And in the end of this GIF animation I show what the real intention is probably behind this request.More of it — now both Align and distribute align closest edges: right edge to the right edge in case of Align Right for example. What about aligning to the other side? Like a left edge to the right edge? The second attached GIF demoes the difference. For now to achieve the result in the end you’d have to drag the circle to the left of the square, key the square and use the Distribute horizontal with 0 value, while instead we could have just used Alt + Align Left, for example.
A script that can do this exists, AlignEx — https://github.com/alexander-ladygin/illustrator-scripts/blob/master/alignEx.jsx
...but it can’t work with a key object, since Illustrator does not allow scripts to use it (and there is a request to change that: https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/45706231)And there is a separate request for that: https://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657-illustrator-desktop-feature-requests/suggestions/43796625-alignment-options-to-outside-top-bottom-left-r
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Dina Dembicki
commented
Don't we already have this? In the align palette, with Distribute Spacing, you can specify how much space between two or more items. If you set it to zero, they touch. Or, am I missing something?
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Sarah Jaroszko commented
I make stripe layouts in AI at specific heights and need edges to match perfectly. Snap to grid isn't always accurate.
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There are some external solutions for that:
1. This paid script: https://twitter.com/peprintenpa/status/1601079542746992640?s=20
2. This paid plugin:
https://youtu.be/hDtqeMzDiwk?list=PLVuiTl_w4-zDC4Qe3M2f1vE17N02k43h2&t=67
