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Chapter 5 The Environment 157
Snapping Objects to a Grid
Select View > Snap Positions to align the Objects to an invisible grid. It’s a good idea to
leave snap positions switched on. You only need to switch it off if you want to manually
move an Object by a few pixels.
Aligning Objects …
… in a row or column
To align several selected Objects horizontally or vertically, select the Options > Clean up
> Align Objects function. The top left Object stays where it is. The position of the next
Object determines whether the Objects are aligned in a column or a row. If it is to the
right of the top left Object, all Objects are aligned horizontally (row). If it is below the
top left Object, all Objects are aligned vertically (column).
…to grid positions
If you choose Options > Clean up > Positions by Grid, all selected Objects are aligned to
the invisible grid.
Moving Objects Between Layers
…with the layer selection box
To alter the layer assignment of a group of Environment Objects, first select the
Objects, and then select the desired layer, while holding down Option. This moves the
selected Objects to the chosen layer.
… with a second Environment window
Another way of moving Objects to a different layer is to open a second Environment
window. Select the target layer and drag the relevant Objects from one window to the
other. You can also use this method to copy Objects between layers (by holding
Option).
… via the Clipboard
Another option is to move Objects via the Clipboard (Edit menu or the usual key
commands):
• Select the Objects that you want to move and choose Edit > Cut (default key
Command-X).
• Switch to the destination layer.
• Make sure that no Objects are selected (by clicking on the layer background).
• Select Edit > Paste (default key Command-V).
Replacing Objects
If any Objects are selected when attempting to add Objects to the current layer via Edit
> Paste, a dialog box asks if you want to “Replace current selection? No/Replace”. If you
press Enter or click Replace, the selected Objects will be replaced by the Objects in the
Clipboard. The existing cabling remains intact.