How to snap two rectangles/boxes on top of one another

[M29060841lvaa]

Hi guys.

This issue is officially driving me insane. It is so incredibly simple and I can do it in Photoshop in less than one minute. But in Premiere? Not at all.

I've legit got back pain after spending 3 plus hours being hunched over trying to align two rectangles (they are on seperate layers) with some text in both of them (also on their separate layers).

I've looked through Google, YouTube and Reddit. 

It seems the only damn thing people are covering is how to center an object either to the center or the edges of the screen. I know how to do this.

What I want to do is to perfectly align two rectangles on top of each other. You know? Pretty damn simple. You've got one box here and I simply want another box that I can drag and snap directly on top of the other one.

That's literally it.

The snap in program doesn't solve this. Guides don't solve this. 

How does one snap two shades to one another in Premiere? That's what I have googled and gone down a rabbit hole that left me nowhere. So angry right now.

How can something this basic which takes mere seconds to Photoshop be so impossible in premiere?????

[John V Knowles]

Every object in Premiere has x and y position coordinates. If both graphics/layers have their anchor point in the same position (centered for example) then typing in identical coordinates should center them directly on top of each other.

Also, if these boxes are both layered in the same Essential Graphic then you can hold down shift to select both and then the alignment controls below them will enable you to align by center or whatever edge you choose.

[M29060841lvaa]

I appreciate the response - but two problems:

I tried this experiment yesterday with centering the anchor point and then using alignment controls in essential graphics. I made a text layer, then added the box as a "background" to that text.

I then took a screenshot of that while zoomed in and copy pasted it into Photoshop and checked the distance from the edge of the box to where they meet the text and sure enough it was off. So premiere has issues with regards to what is actually considered centered.

Then there is the issue of the box in essential graphics not being scaled like I want in terms of dimensions. I don't know how to fix that.

Secondly - I don't want to follow the edge of the actual screen. I want one box with text in it in one place. And another box with text in it directly above it. That's it.

I'm attaching a pic i literally just made in response to this reply of yours (which I DO appreciate) which will hopefully communicate exactly what I want.

[John V Knowles]

Do your background boxes need to be independent of the text (like will they animate separately at all)? If not then try the Background option under the Appearance section at the bottom. This creates a box directly behind your text and you can change the color and also expand it, which will add pixels in equal amounts on all 4 sides. It can look odd with some lowercase text with descenders but all cap text like yours should work really well. That way you only have two EG layers (the text) instead of four.

[M29060841lvaa]

Hi John.

Attaching another pic.

So....literally the only thing that's missing here is the actual snapping of one box to the other.

You see the space between em? I want to get rid of that by moving one box to the other, like the forst pic I attached. How can I get them to snap so it's pixel perfect just like in Photoshop? Holding down shift doesn't seem to work. Nor holding down control 

[John V Knowles]

Move them using their Y coordinates under Position. You can type in different values or hold down the mouse button and "scrub" the value up and down. You can use decimals if you need to until there is no more space between them.

Afraid that Premiere doesn't have quite the finesse in placing graphics that Photoshop does when it comes to these things. After Effects is a bit better in this regard, since it's more like Photoshop with motion.

[M29060841lvaa]

Alright well, appreciate your time. Really. No one else responded. Have a good day :sunrise::cat_face::ice_cream:

[Warren Heaton]

It would be amazing if a Graphic in Premiere Pro had Photoshop's Snap (View > Snap), or Illustrator's Smart Guides (View > Smart Guides), or After Effects' Snapping for its Text Layers, Rectangle Layers, Ellipse Layers, and Polygon Layers; however, we have to do it numerically.  For example, if an 800 pixel by 200 pixel rectangle is positioned at 1920-by-980 in a 3840-by-2160 Graphic above a second 800 pixel by 200 pixel rectangle that is positioned at 1920-by-1180, then the bottom edge of the first will align with the top edge of the second.  (Basically, what John recommended.)

I guess the upside is that we can do it in an After Effects Comp and import that or in a Photoshop document and import that or in an Illustrator document and import that.  For Photoshop or Illustrator, I recommend using a PNG exported from a PSD file or an AI file.  Also, still images, like PNGs, can be placed in a Premiere Pro Graphic by selecting the Graphic and then choosing Graphics and Titles > New Layer > From File....

[Warren Heaton]

I couldn't tell you when this was added, but...

In the Program tab, click on Settings... and then eanble "Snap in Program Monitor".

Premiere Pro > Program Tab > Settings.... > Snap in Program Monitor

[Ann Bens]

@Warren Heaton

OP already tried snap and guides.

This snapping in the PM has been around for some time but only works on elements within the same graphic.

Not with elements divided over several graphics (that is what I understand from the OP which calls them layers).

[Warren Heaton]

Ahh... yes, thank you for that reminder.

Sounds like the post should be re-written as an "idea" simply asking that Snap to Program Monitor work for all Timeline source footage and not just within a Graphic.  I'd vote for it.

[Ann Bens]

Snap already does that. It will snap the entire graphics but not the elements from inside different graphics.

Screenshot shows snapping of jpegs

[Ann Bens]

Premiere is not Ps and v.v

You will have to write a feature request for this.

I would copy top layer to bottom layer.

Snap in position and copied back to top layer.