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Move, align, distribute, and arrange objects

  1. Adobe XD User Guide
  2. Introduction
    1. What's new in Adobe XD
    2. Common questions
    3. Design, prototype, and share with Adobe XD
    4. Color Management
    5. System requirements
      1. Hardware and software requirements
      2. Adobe XD, Big Sur, and Apple silicon | macOS 11
    6. Workspace basics
    7. Change app language in Adobe XD
    8. Access UI design kits
    9. Accessibility in Adobe XD
    10. Keyboard shortcuts
    11. Tips and tricks
  3. Design
    1. Artboards, guides, and layers
      1. Get started with artboards
      2. Use guides and grids
      3. Create scrollable artboards
      4. Work with layers
      5. Create scroll groups
    2. Shapes, objects, and path
      1. Select, resize, and rotate objects
      2. Move, align, distribute, and arrange objects
      3. Group, lock, duplicate, copy, and flip objects
      4. Set stroke, fill, and drop shadow for objects
      5. Create repeating elements
      6. Create perspective designs with 3D transforms
      7. Edit objects using Boolean operations
    3. Text and fonts
      1. Work with drawing and text tools
      2. Fonts in Adobe XD
    4. Components and states
      1. Work with components
      2. Work with nested components
      3. Add multiple states to components
    5. Masking and effects
      1. Create a mask with shapes
      2. Work with blur effects
      3. Create and modify gradients
      4. Apply blend effects
    6. Layout
      1. Responsive resize and constraints
      2. Set fixed padding for components and groups
      3. Create dynamic designs with stacks
    7. Videos and Lottie animations
      1. Work with videos
      2. Create prototypes using videos
      3. Work with Lottie animations
  4. Prototype
    1. Create interactive prototypes
    2. Animate prototypes
    3. Object properties supported for auto-animate
    4. Create prototypes with keyboard and gamepad
    5. Create prototypes using voice commands and playback
    6. Create timed transitions
    7. Add overlays
    8. Design voice prototypes
    9. Create anchor links
    10. Create hyperlinks
    11. Preview designs and prototypes
  5. Share, export, and review
    1. Share selected artboards
    2. Share designs and prototypes
    3. Set access permissions for links
    4. Work with prototypes
    5. Review prototypes
    6. Work with design specs
    7. Share design specs
    8. Inspect design specs
    9. Navigate design specs
    10. Review and comment design specs
    11. Export design assets
    12. Export and download assets from design specs
    13. Group sharing for enterprise
    14. Back up or transfer XD assets
  6. Design systems
    1. Design systems with Creative Cloud Libraries
    2. Work with document assets in Adobe XD
    3. Work with Creative Cloud Libraries in Adobe XD
    4. Migrate from linked assets to Creative Cloud Libraries
    5. Work with design tokens 
    6. Use assets from Creative Cloud Libraries
  7. Cloud documents
    1. Cloud documents in Adobe XD
    2. Collaborate and coedit designs
    3. Coedit documents shared with you
  8. Integrations and plugins
    1. Work with external assets
    2. Work with design assets from Photoshop
    3. Copy and paste assets from Photoshop
    4. Import or open Photoshop designs
    5. Work with Illustrator assets in Adobe XD
    6. Open or import Illustrator designs
    7. Copy vectors from Illustrator to XD
    8. Plugins for Adobe XD
    9. Create and manage plugins
    10. Jira integration for XD
    11. Slack plugin for XD
    12. Zoom plug-in for XD
    13. Publish design from XD to Behance
  9. XD for iOS and Android
    1. Preview on mobile devices
    2. Adobe XD on mobile FAQ
  10. Troubleshooting
    1. Known and fixed issues
      1. Known issues
      2. Fixed issues
    2. Installation and updates
      1. XD appears as not compatible on Windows
      2. Error code 191
      3. Error code 183
      4. Issues installing XD plugins
      5.  Prompt to uninstall and reinstall XD on Windows 10
      6. Issues with preferences migration
    3. Launch and crash
      1.  XD crashes when launched on Windows 10
      2.  XD quits when you sign out of Creative Cloud
      3. Issue with subscription status on Windows
      4. Blocked-app warning when launching  XD on Windows
      5. Crash dump generation on Windows
      6. Crash log collection and sharing
    4. Cloud documents and Creative Cloud Libraries
      1. Issues with XD cloud documents
      2. Issues with linked components
      3. Issues with libraries and links
    5. Prototype, publish, and review
      1. Unable to record prototype interactions on macOS Catalina
      2. Issues with publish workflows
      3. Published  links do not appear in browsers
      4. Prototypes do not render correctly in browsers
      5. Commenting panel suddenly showing up on shared links
      6. Unable to publish libraries
    6. Import, export, and working with other apps
      1. Import and export in XD
      2. Photoshop files in XD
      3. Illustrator files in XD
      4. Export to After Effects from XD
      5. Sketch files in XD
      6. Third-party apps not visible in Export

Learn how you can move, align, distribute, and arrange objects in Adobe XD.

Move objects

You can move objects in the following ways:

  • Dragging objects with your mouse, 
  • Using the arrow keys on the keyboard, or
  • Entering precise math operation values (+, -./, *) in the Property Inspector

Use the Shift key to constrain the movement of one or more objects, so that they move in a precise horizontal or vertical direction relative to the current orientation of the x and y-axes. 

You can also use the Align panel to position objects in relation to each other.

Move an object by dragging

Select one or more objects, and drag to the new location.

Move an object using the arrow keys

  1. Select one or more objects.

  2. Press the arrow key for the direction in which you want to move the object. 

Move an object using X and Y coordinates

Select one or more objects. In the Property Inspector, enter new values for the X and/or Y coordinates. You can also click in X and Y values and use the arrow keys to increase or decrease the value.

Move an object using math calculations

Select one or more objects. In the Property Inspector, perform simple math in any box that accepts numeric values. For example, if you want to move a selected object 3 units to the right using the current measurement units, enter +3 after the current value.

Supported math operations to calculate the changes include +, -./, *.


In a text box that accepts numerical values, do one of the following:

  •   To replace the entire current value with a mathematical expression, select the entire current value.
  •   To use the current value as part of a mathematical expression, click before or after the current value.

 

Note:

Hold down the Shift key while using arrow keys to bump up the value by 10px.

Align and distribute objects

You can use the Align panel to align or space selected objects horizontally or vertically to the selection, or the artboard.

Align or distribute objects relative to each other

Select the objects to be aligned, and click one of the following options in the Property Inspector: 

  • Align top
  • Align middle
  • Align bottom
  • Align left
  • Align center
  • Align right
  • Distribute objects horizontally or vertically
Align objects horizontally
Align objects horizontally

Align objects vertically
Align objects vertically

Align an object or group relative to the artboard

Select the object or group to be aligned, and click one of the following options in the Property Inspector: 

  • Align top
  • Align middle
  • Align bottom
  • Align left
  • Align center
  • Align right

Align objects to a pixel grid

You can align the edge of an object with the the pixel grid. In order to do so, XD rounds off the integer values for the X,Y,W,H properties of an element to ensure they look sharp and crisp.

To align an object to pixel grid, right-click the object and select Align to Pixel Grid.

Align to pixel grid
Align to pixel grid

Aligning to pixel grid does not always mean the X/Y/W/H properties will not have fractions. For lines and paths (center-stroked shapes), sometimes the X/Y need to end in 0.5 to keep the stroke crisply aligned on-pixel.

Adobe XD supports artboard grids which are different from pixel preview. Adobe XD does not support pixel preview. The default artboard grid in Adobe XD is an 8-pixel grid. You can change the grid settings to create a 1 pixel grid. For more information, see Position elements on artboards using grids.

Arrange objects

Adobe XD stacks successively drawn objects, beginning with the first object drawn.

You can also select, order, and move objects in different layers using the Layer panel. For more information, see Work with layers.

On Mac:

To move an object to the top or bottom position in its group, select the object you want to move and choose one of the options as appropriate:

  • Object > Arrange > Bring To Front - To bring the object at the top of all objects
  • Object > Arrange > Bring Forward - To move the object at the top of the immediate object above it
  • Object > Arrange > Send Backward - To move the object below the immediate object behind it
  • Object > Arrange > Send To Back - To move the object at the bottom of all objects

You can also Ctrl+Click an object, and select any of the Arrange options in the context menu.

On Windows:

Right-click an object, and select any of the Arrange options that appear in the context menu.

Bring selected image to the top of the stack
Bring selected image to the top of the stack

Bring selected image forward
Bring selected image forward

Send selected image backward
Send selected image backward

Send selected image to the bottom of the stack
Send selected image to the bottom of the stack

 Adobe

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