Inkscape/C2/Align-and-distribute-objects/English-timed
From Script | Spoken-Tutorial
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| 00:01 | Welcome to the Spoken Tutorial on “Align and distribute objects” using Inkscape. |
| 00:07 | In this tutorial, we will learn to: |
| 00:09 | * Align and distribute various objects |
| 00:12 | * Arrange objects in rows and columns |
| 00:16 | * Set spacing between objects and Create a tile pattern. |
| 00:22 | To record this tutorial, I am using: |
| 00:24 | Ubuntu Linux 12.04 OS |
| 00:27 | Inkscape version 0.48.4 |
| 00:31 | Go to Dash home and type Inkscape. |
| 00:35 | Now click on the logo. |
| 00:37 | Let me open an already saved Inkscape document. |
| 00:44 | Here we can see 5 different shapes placed randomly on the canvas. |
| 00:50 | On your Inkscape canvas, please draw 5 shapes and place them as shown here. |
| 00:55 | Now, let us start aligning the objects. |
| 00:59 | Go to Object menu and click on Align and Distribute. |
| 01:04 | The Align and Distribute dialog box opens on the right side of the interface. |
| 01:09 | Two types of positioning are available here. |
| 01:12 | Align is where the centers or edges of objects are aligned to one another. |
| 01:18 | Distribute is where objects are distributed in horizontal or vertical direction, based on their centers or edges. |
| 01:29 | We can align objects in various manners using these options and their sub-options. |
| 01:36 | Here is another important feature: Relative to. |
| 01:39 | Using this, we can align the objects with reference to something. |
| 01:44 | Click on the drop-down list to see the options here. |
| 01:47 | So, we have Last selected, First selected, Biggest object, Smallest object, Page, Drawing and Selection. |
| 02:00 | By default, the objects will be aligned relative to Page. |
| 02:04 | This means that the selected objects will respond to the Align and Distribute operations, according to your Page dimensions. |
| 02:13 | Press Ctrl + A to select all the objects on the canvas. |
| 02:17 | The first 5 icons will align objects in the vertical direction. |
| 02:22 | Let me click on the first icon. |
| 02:25 | As the tool tip says, right edges of the objects are aligned to the left edge of the anchor. |
| 02:32 | Please recall, here the anchor point is page, as the Relative to option is Page. |
| 02:38 | Notice that 2 objects are overlapped now. |
| 02:43 | Overlap may occur based on the closeness of the objects in the previous arrangement. |
| 02:48 | We can correct this by clicking the Remove overlaps option which is below the Distribute option. |
| 02:56 | Now, the overlap is removed. |
| 02:58 | To adjust the gaps between the objects, both in horizontal and vertical directions, use the H and V options. |
| 03:06 | Now, click on the options under Align and observe how the objects align themselves. |
| 03:14 | Use the undo option CTRL + Z to understand the alignment better. |
| 03:21 | The tool tips are quite useful to help understand the alignment. |
| 03:28 | The last icon works only on texts. So we will learn about that in another tutorial. |
| 03:35 | Next, we will adjust the gaps among the objects using the Distribute option. |
| 03:40 | Since the objects are in vertical direction, we have to use the last four icons under the Distribute option. |
| 03:48 | Let me align them to the centre first. |
| 03:51 | Now, click on the options under Distribute and observe how the objects align themselves. |
| 03:58 | Once again, use the undo option CTRL + Z, to understand the alignment better. |
| 04:07 | Refer to the tool tips to help understand the alignment better. |
| 04:13 | Under Relative to, observe there is an option Treat selection as group. |
| 04:19 | This will align the objects as a whole group. |
| 04:22 | Click on the check-box. |
| 04:24 | Now, click on the icons one by one and observe the objects are aligned as a group, and not individually. |
| 04:34 | Let us uncheck the box. |
| 04:36 | Now, the objects will be aligned individually. |
| 04:40 | Next, let us align and distribute objects according to Last selected. |
| 04:45 | Change the Relative to option as Last selected. |
| 04:49 | So, bring all the objects inside the canvas and place them randomly. |
| 05:01 | Select the objects one by one. Select the circle last. |
| 05:06 | As before, click on the icons one by one. |
| 05:10 | Since the last selected object is circle, observe the objects are aligned according to the circle. |
| 05:19 | Likewise, you can try out all the options listed in Relative to and observe the alignment of the objects. |
| 05:26 | We will learn about the advanced options in Align and Distribute dialog box in later tutorials. |
| 05:32 | So, let us close this dialog box now. |
| 05:37 | Next, we will learn to arrange the objects in rows and columns. |
| 05:41 | Go to Object menu. |
| 05:43 | Click on Rows and Columns. |
| 05:46 | The Rows and Columns dialog box opens up. |
| 05:50 | Using this option, we can arrange objects in rows and columns giving necessary spaces. |
| 05:57 | Arrange the objects randomly on the canvas. |
| 06:01 | Now, let us arrange these objects in 2 rows and 3 columns. |
| 06:05 | So, change the Row parameter to 2. |
| 06:09 | Observe- when the Row parameter is changed, the Column parameter changes automatically. |
| 06:15 | Click on Arrange button at the bottom right. |
| 06:19 | The Align option helps to align the objects in the right, centre and left. |
| 06:29 | Check it one by one and observe the changes. |
| 06:37 | We can set the space between the objects, for both rows and columns, using the Set spacing option. |
| 06:45 | Now, change the space parameter as 5 for both row and column. |
| 06:50 | Click on Arrange button. |
| 06:53 | Observe the space between the objects. |
| 06:56 | Now, I will show how to create a pattern using Align and Distribute |
| 07:01 | I have a new Inkscape file with 4 squares of different sizes and colors. |
| 07:06 | Select all and rotate the squares so that they look like diamond shapes. |
| 07:12 | Open Align and Distribute dialog box. |
| 07:15 | Click on Centre on vertical axis. |
| 07:18 | Click on Centre on horizontal axis. |
| 07:22 | A tile pattern is now formed on the canvas. |
| 07:25 | Using these options creatively, we can form many unique patterns. |
| 07:30 | Let us summarize. In this tutorial, we learned to: |
| 07:34 | * Align and distribute various objects |
| 07:37 | * Arrange objects in rows and columns |
| 07:40 | * Set spacing between objects and Create a tile pattern. |
| 07:45 | Here are 2 assignments for you- |
| 07:47 | Create 5 circles having the following dimensions. |
| 07:54 | Arrange them randomly on the canvas and select all. |
| 07:59 | Using Align and Distribute, change Relative to option to Biggest object selected. |
| 08:04 | Click on Align left edges. |
| 08:06 | Click on Centre on horizontal axis. |
| 08:10 | Create 6 squares of blue color and size of 100 * 100 pixels. |
| 08:17 | Select all squares and open Rows and columns. |
| 08:21 | Arrange them in 3 rows and 3 columns. |
| 08:25 | Set both vertical and horizontal space parameter to 20. |
| 08:29 | Your completed assignment should look like this. |
| 08:35 | The video available at the following link summarizes the Spoken Tutorial project. If you do not have good bandwidth, you can download and watch it. |
| 08:43 | The Spoken Tutorial Project team conducts workshops using spoken tutorial and gives certificates for those who pass an online test. |
| 08:51 | For more details, please write to us. |
| 08:54 | Spoken Tutorial Project is supported by the NMEICT, MHRD, Government of India. |
| 09:03 | More information on this mission is available at this link. |
| 09:07 | We have come to the end of this tutorial. |
| 09:09 | This is Arthi and Saurabh from IIT Bombay, signing off.
Thanks for joining. |
Contributors and Content Editors
Arthi, Nancyvarkey, PoojaMoolya, Pratik kamble, Sandhya.np14
