How To Align Objects In Illustrator

No design or art project is complete without considering alignment, which is a key player in creating balanced and professional work. The right alignment can be a game-changer, so the question is, how do you properly align objects when using Illustrator?

Illustrator is one of the best tools if you are looking for alignment due to the availability of several tools that can create different kinds of alignment in your project. The Align panel ensures the objects in your selection follow certain alignment rules with just a few clicks.

Manually aligning items can take time and is prone to human error. Luckily, the Illustrator software has a lot of beneficial tools you can use for this purpose! So, what better time to start learning about these tools than now? In this article, let’s take a look at Illustrator’s Align panel.

How To Align Properly Using Illustrator

Illustrator comes with a game-changing Align panel that allows you to space out and align objects evenly using various principles. You can access this tool by the following methods:

  • Go to the Window tab on the main menu and choose the option Align.
  • Use the keyboard shortcut Shift+F7 to get access to the Align panel.

You can use these tools to align your selected object to the artboard, the selection, and the key object. We will explore the ways each of these works in the next section. However, first, let’s take a look at how to use the Align panel in Illustrator. Follow these steps:

  1. In Illustrator, select the object you want to align.
  2. Then, open the Align panel using the methods mentioned above.
  3. Click the icon on the top right of the panel, and choose Show Options.
  4. Select the type of alignment you are looking for, and it should apply.

You can also watch this tutorial to find out more: 

What Different Align Tools Can Do

Different alignment tools can do different things. Here are the tools and what each of them does.

  • Horizontal Align Left: aligns objects you have selected through the left side to the left-most object in the group.
  • Horizontal Align Center: aligns all of the objects you have selected through the point in their center.
  • Horizontal Align Right: aligns objects you have selected through the right side to the right-most object in the group.
  • Vertical Align Top: aligns all the objects through the top to the object at the top-most level.
  • Vertical Align Center: aligns all of the objects through the center along the vertical axis.
  • Vertical Align Bottom: aligns all the objects through the bottom to the object at the bottom-most level.

You can also choose one object in your selection as the key object to make it the priority when you are aligning in different settings. Additionally, the Align panel also includes distribution tools focused on spacing. 

Final Thoughts

Alignment is something that can make or break your project, which is why it’s so important to get it right. Thanks to the many tools available in Illustrator, aligning objects has never been easier! With the right knowledge and practice, you’ll be able to create perfectly aligned projects every time!