Rotate, scale, skew, transform selected objects separately
If we make a selection of objects, and then rotate it with a corner marker of the bounding box (or with the Rotate tool), they get rotated all at once, as a single object.
If we want to rotate all separate objects in the selection separately, the only way to do it is with the Transform Each dialog, with Preview option on, with arrow keys, changing the Angle value. Doable, but not fun.
What if we get a mode, at least for the Rotate tool (since it’s a special tool for rotating), let’s say, with Ctrl/Cmd held, to rotate object separately?
Don’t say 'Cmd/Ctrl is taken to temporarily enable a selection tool' — no. It’s taken only before you make a click, and not during the drag, when the mouse key is already down.
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Affinity does the same thing...
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Affinity Designer allows something very similar with a dedicated 'Transform Objects Separately' button in their version of Control panel.
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Anonymous commented
Lets say I have 6 different icons and I want to scale and rotate all of them the same amount. In PowerPoint, I select all six, then use the control handles on one icon to scale and rotate it and all the others do the same thing. In illustrator, I have to select the six icons, go to Transform Each, check the Preview box, change the value in the horizontal scale, change it in the vertical scale, change the rotate value, continue nudging values until I get the desired transformation. Speaking of Transform Each, why is there no way to constrain the H and V scale?
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Miles Stevens commented
opt+cmd+shift+D
Or right-click your selection and choose "Transform Each" from the context menu. I feel like the current dialogue addresses your needs so you might have to be more specific. Alternative you can make use of Symbols to link attributes to a single instance of an object.
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Anonymous commented
Make it far easier to "transform each." Especially scale and rotate. Like how it works in PowerPoint. Select multiple (ungrouped) objects. Scale or rotate one, they all scale or rotate.