Aligning Elements

This task shows you how to align elements in your layout.   
You can align the center or the sides of an element to a user defined reference plane that you define. You can also rotate an element to align it with a reference plane.
1. Select the element(s) that you want to align.  
2. Select the icon for the type of alignment you want to perform:

Align Sides: aligns the sides of two or more elements

Align Center: aligns along the centerlines of two or more elements

Rotate to Align: rotates elements on the axis to align them

Align Planes: aligns selected planes

Distribute: See Distributing elements 

3. Define the plane to use as a reference for the alignment. If you have an offset plane already defined it will be used as the reference plane. If you do not already have the offset plane defined do the following:

a. Place your cursor over a geometric element that defines the plane (e.g., a construction plane, boundary, area contour, item reservation).

As you move the cursor, a small white rectangle is displayed to show the selectable planes, as shown below. A line normal to the rectangle shows the direction in which the alignment will be performed.

ainfo.gif (980 bytes) If you do not see the white rectangle, zoom out from the drawing. The white rectangle cannot be displayed if the element under your cursor is displayed too small.

b. Click to select the plane.

The selected elements are aligned along the plane.

4. Using the Align Planes command allows you to select any plane on an item reservation or part. After you select the first plane to which to align to, you can only select a plane that is parallel to it. For instance, if you select the top of an item reservation you need to select the top or bottom of the second item reservation - you cannot select the sides.

You can shift the elements to opposite sides of the alignment plane you select by clicking on the element and then on the opposite side of the plane. You can toggle the position by clicking.

Click any button in one of the tool bars to exit the alignment command. If you want to continue with the alignment command using the same reference plane then select another element in the model.

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