How to move an object more precisely with the arrow keys

[FloridaGal]

Holiday greetings all, trust everyone is keeping safe and healthy!

Now for my question. I need to move graphics/objects within a document to precisely align them visually (Ctrl-4) within columns.

Snap to grid/guides is turned off because the bounding boxes aren't consistent in size so I need to move them by eyeball and mouse so the border within the graphic itself aligns with the column guides.

But moving them with the arrow keys overshoots where I want them and seems always to snap to the guides even though I have that turned off. Is there a way to adjust the movement settings for the arrow keys so they aren't as "macro", when I need them to be "micro"?

When I press and hold with the mouse so I can move more precisely, they still seem to snap to the column guides even though "snap to" is turned off.

I haven't explained this very well at all in my frustration, I'm hoping someone can figure out what I mean 🙂

Many thanks for time and input!!

[TᴀW · Accepted solution]

You can set the cursor-key increments in Preferences > Units and Increments.

Ariel

[FloridaGal]

Oh boy, oh boy, oh boy!!

HAPPY DANCE!! Thanks SO much.

[jmlevy · Accepted solution]

And if you press simultaneously on Cmd (Mac) and Shift, or Ctrl (Windows) and Shift while using the arrow keys, you divide the increment by 10.

[FloridaGal]

thanks folks, you've no idea how much this has helped. Appreciate you being here! 🙂

[Triboca]

2023. There is no such setting in my version of photoshop. Nor can you find a preferenc by searchingfor "Increments". Please provide an updated answer.

[Peter Kahrel]

This thread/forum is about InDesign, not Photoshop. Head over to a Photoshop forum and try your luck there.

[Laubender]

Hi FloridaGal,

another option is to use a document grid so if you move or change the size of an object, frame edges will snap to the grid.

Preferences > Grids > Document Grid

View > Grids & Guides > Snap to Document Grid

Regards,
Uwe Laubender

( ACP )

[Dave Creamer of IDEAS]

From the InDesign help file (Windows/Macintosh):

https://helpx.adobe.com/indesign/user-guide.html/indesign/using/default-keyboard-shortcuts.ug.html

[SemsLumens]

Right now it's defaulting to 0.0394 in every time I put in 1mm.  

Anyone else have this issue?  

What's the smallest size I can set this to?

[Abhishek Rao]

Hi @SemsLumens,

I understand how frustrating it must be to deal with that conversion issue. When setting your increments in InDesign, it sounds like the program is defaulting to inches instead of millimeters. To fix this:

1. Go to Preferences > Units & Increments.
2. Under the "Ruler Units" section, change both Horizontal and Vertical units to "Millimeters".
3. Now you should be able to set your increment to 1mm without it converting to inches.

For the smallest increment, InDesign allows you to go as small as 0.001 mm. I hope this helps, and let me know if the issue persists!

Best,  
Abhishek Rao

[SemsLumens]

Thank you. That worked.

[FloridaGal]

Do you have your rulers set to inches or mm? I believe if your rulers are set to inches you'll get that setting but if you change them to mm you should be good. Right click the ruler display for your choices. (They are equivalent measures, BTW.) Hope tht helps!