Alignment Aids

I-32 Forms Design 6 has a number of alignment aids to help you align and position your objects. The rulers at the top and left side of the form page are useful for approximate alignment. The cross hair cursor and the status bar mouse coordinates are particularly helpful for object placement when you first draw an object. They are also useful for approximate placement when you move objects.

Using the rulers

The rulers can be used as guides to indicate the vertical and horizontal position of your mouse pointer. You can use them to position your pointer at an exact point to start drawing your object or as a positioning aid when you are rearranging objects.

To change the ruler display through the main menu

1. Open the View menu and select Rulers. A submenu will appear:

2. Select one of the following:

In Measure Increments to display the ruler in the default unit of measure.
In Grid Increments to display the ruler in grid unit increments.
No Rulers to hide the ruler.

To change the ruler display through the context menu

1. Right-click anywhere on the ruler to display the context menu.

2. Select one of the following:

Show in Measure Increments to display the ruler in the default unit of measure.
Show in Grid Increments to display the ruler in grid unit increments.
No Rulers to hide the ruler.

Using Guidelines

Guidelines can be used with the horizontal and vertical rulers to provide a greater level of accuracy when placing objects. You can view or hide guidelines by selecting or deselecting View > Rulers > Show guidelines.

The following image shows a single vertical and single horizontal gridlines placed on the form which display as red dashed lines proceeding from the guideline handles.

You can place as many guidelines as desired on the form.

To add a guideline:

Move the cursor over the ruler either vertically or horizontally in the desired location.
Click the ruler. The guideline is created.
Note:
1. Holding down the mouse button while you move across the ruler displays the precise location where the guideline will be created.
2. You can move an existing guideline by dragging it to the new position in the ruler.
3. A guideline's position can also be modified by right-clicking the guideline handle and selecting Modify guideline. Then enter the desired distance.

Note: You can also create a new guideline by right-clicking a ruler and selecting Add guideline. Then enter the location and click OK.

To remove a guideline:

Right-click the handle of the guideline you want to remove.
Select Remove guideline. The guideline is removed from the form.

Snapping to guidelines

You can enable or disable snapping to guidelines by selecting or deselecting View > Rulers > Snap to gridline.

Using the cross hair cursor

The cross hair cursor can be used with your ruler to tell you where you are placing an object. It replaces the small + of your object drawing pointer with a cursor that extends the full height and width of the form display pane. Because the horizontal and vertical extensions of the cross hair cursor extend into the rulers, drawing an object in an exact location and aligning an object with specific measurements is easy.

To enable the cross hair cursor


Fig. 0.3. The cross hair cursor

1. Open the View menu.

2. Select the Cross Hair Cursor option.

To disable the cross hair cursor

1. Open the View menu.

2. Deselect the Cross Hair Cursor option.

To draw an object in an exact size using the cross hair cursor

1. Display the ruler.

2. Enable thecross hair cursor and select your drawing tool. The mouse pointer will change to the pointer for the object you are drawing, but the + of the drawing pointer will be extended into the ruler:

3. Use the ruler to position the + of the cursor where you want to begin drawing your object.

4. Create your object using the cross hair cursor and ruler as a guide for the size of the object:

5. When the object is size you want, release the mouse button.

To use the cross hair cursor to position an object

1. Place either the vertical cross hair on the left or right side of the object or place the horizontal cross hair on the top or bottom of the object.

2. Hold your left mouse button down and drag the object until the cross hair reaches the location you want on the ruler for that side of the object.

Note:

You cannot position the cursor on the corner to move the object because the resizing handles will appear and you will change the size instead.

Using the status bar mouse coordinates

You can use the mouse coordinates on the status bar to align objects. When you move an object with your mouse, the mouse coordinates appear at the lower right corner of the screen in the status bar. The first coordinate identifies the horizontal position of the mouse pointer. The second coordinate identifies the vertical position.

This feature may be useful if you are drawing objects in a high zoom view in the center of the form and cannot tell exactly where you are on the page. For moving objects, it is best used for approximate positioning because the coordinates are based on the position of the mouse pointer rather than the object edges, making exact positioning of an object difficult.

To use the status bar to position an object

1. Select the object with the selection tool. Be sure to position the pointer at the point you want to base your position on:

2. Hold the left mouse button down and drag the object outline.

3. Move the mouse until the coordinates on the status bar display the location you want. The mouse coordinates in the example above would be displayed in the status bar as follows:

The horizontal position of the mouse pointer is 0.99 inches and the vertical position of the mouse pointer is 0.98 inches.

Hint:

If you want to base the object position on the object center, enable the cross hair cursor and position it so the cross hairs go through the centers of the center sizing handles. This will position the mouse pointer at the center of the object and the status bar coordinates will show the center position.