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Known Participant
January 29, 2020
Answered

What do the different lines mean when placing/moving a layer?

  • January 29, 2020
  • 2 replies
  • 747 views

Just want to make sure I understand them perfectly

 

I know if the pink/purple line goes up and down all the way to the edges it means it is alligned with the middle of the background/biggest layer. Pretty sure if it's a medium line only going up, it means the middle of the layer above it (same with the layer below if the line goes down).

 

If it's a really tiny veritical line in the middle, it means it is in the exact same spot horizontally as before, just further up or further down. And the same thing for a tiny horizontal line means the same vertical spot just further right or left. 

 

I couldn't find any info so I've been going off what seems to make sense. Do I have these figured out correctly? Any other placement lines I'm forgetting to ask about?

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Correct answer jane-e

Hi

What you are seeing is Smart Guides. To get a better feeling for how they work, create a new layer in a new document and try this:

  • Draw a rectangle marquee, fill it with a color and deselect. Switch to the Move tool and move the layer around. Watch the Smart Guides when the center, left, and right edge of the shape are in the middle of the document. Also look for the top, middle, and bottom edges as you go up and down. And drag the layer close the edge as well.
  • Duplicate the layer twice and start moving each layer. You will see alignment guides when the shapes are aligned and also distribution guides when they are evenly spaced.

Smart guides can be toggled on/off from the View menu or with Cmd+U (Ctrl+U on Windows).

 

~ Jane

2 replies

jane-e
Community Expert
jane-eCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
January 29, 2020

Hi

What you are seeing is Smart Guides. To get a better feeling for how they work, create a new layer in a new document and try this:

  • Draw a rectangle marquee, fill it with a color and deselect. Switch to the Move tool and move the layer around. Watch the Smart Guides when the center, left, and right edge of the shape are in the middle of the document. Also look for the top, middle, and bottom edges as you go up and down. And drag the layer close the edge as well.
  • Duplicate the layer twice and start moving each layer. You will see alignment guides when the shapes are aligned and also distribution guides when they are evenly spaced.

Smart guides can be toggled on/off from the View menu or with Cmd+U (Ctrl+U on Windows).

 

~ Jane

Silkrooster
Legend
January 29, 2020