- [VOICEOVER] In this movie, I'll show you
how to distribute objects with respect to the Artboard.
Specifically, we're gonna take each one of these rectangles
in the corner of the document,
and we're going to align them precisely
to the corners of the Artboard.
Now the thing to know about this document
is that I've set it up in advance,
so that each one of these squares measures
160 points wide by 160 points tall.
Meanwhile, the Artboard measures 640 by 640 points.
So, in other words, I've created the Artboard
so it measures exactly four squares wide
and four squares tall.
And so if I want to align this green square
to the top left corner of the Artboard,
I can do so by first making sure that
"Align to Artboard" is turned on.
And then I'd click on "Horizontal Align Left"
followed by "Vertical Align Top".
The problem with that approach is
I'm going to have to click on two icons
for four different squares,
whereas I can get the same results with half the effort
using the distribution options.
So, I want you to notice right now,
with just one square selected,
that we're seeing a total of six alignment icons
up here in the control panel.
I'm gonna go ahead and press "control z",
or "command z" a couple of times,
in order to undo the movement of that square.
And then, I'm gonna shift-click on this green square
in the lower right corner of the Artboard.
And, as soon as I do, as soon as I have
at least two objects selected,
that's when I'll see six additional icons
that represent the distribution options.
And so, once again, with "Align to Artboard" turned on,
I can now click "Vertical Distribute Center",
followed by "Horizontal Distribute Center",
and that will go ahead and move both of those squares
into the desired position.
Now I'll click in the upper right square,
and shift-click on the lower left one.
And I can click on those same icons once again,
but because all of these squares are the same size,
it really doesn't matter
which one of these distribution options you click.
So I could just as easily click "Vertical Distribute Top"
followed by "Horizontal Distribute Left"
in order to get the exact same results.
And that, once again, is because
all the squares are the same size.
If they were a bunch of different sizes,
you're gonna see different results.
Alright, that works great when the Artboard
is a very specific size.
But let's say I change the size of the Artboard,
by first switching to the Artboard tool,
which you can get by pressing shift-o.
And then, I'll just make sure my
center reference point is selected.
And then, I'll add to the width value "plus 100"
and then I'll tab over to the height value,
and I will do the same.
I'll enter "plus 100" again
and let Illustrator do that math.
Now, if I were to press the escape key,
in order to exit the Artboard mode,
and with the squares still selected,
I was to click on those same distribution options,
"Vertical Distribute Top" and "Horizontal Distribute Left";
or, in fact, any of the distribution options,
then I would end up aligning the objects to new positions.
That's not what I want, however,
so I'll just go ahead and press "control-z",
or "command-z" on a Mac, a couple of times
to put those squares back where I want them.
But obviously, I still have
a bunch of squares to distribute.
And so, because I can no longer distribute them
with respect to the Artboard,
I'm gonna show you how to lock them into alignment
with a key object in the very next movie.