Object Snapping

Snapping is a behavior that affects placement and size of objects as you move or resize them on the template or data entry form. When snapping is enabled, the object, or its dimension if simply resizing it, is pulled toward a guide or grid, a ruler division mark, or another object. If you drag an object or its sizing handle near one of these elements, the object you are moving or resizing will "snap" into an alignment with that element.

BarTender's snapping effects are a good way to align one or more objects on your template or data entry form with respect to location and size. This is important from a design perspective as aligned objects can help unify and organize specific areas of your item. Snapping will precisely align the objects, whereas trying to align them manually can be time consuming and provide less accurate results.

BarTender provides two methods for snapping, Snap to Object or Ruler and Snap to Grid. Only one of these methods can be enabled at a time. However, both methods can be disabled, which allows you to move and resize objects without taking advantage of any snapping behavior. Moving and resizing objects without the assistance of snap behavior can be useful when you are less concerned with precise alignment than you are with an exact placement or size of the object.

You can temporarily disable snapping at any time. To do so, simply hold down the Shift key on your keyboard and proceed to drag or resize your object as needed.

Snap to Object or Ruler

When Snap to Object or Ruler is enabled, snapping behavior for positioning and sizing of objects is based on the position of the division marks of the rulers, on the position of other objects, and on the boundaries and center lines of the templates and data entry forms themselves.

Additionally, when you position objects by snapping to other objects, or to the template or the data entry form, the reference points of the objects are often reset. For example, when an object is snapped to the center of the template, the object's reference point is reset to "center" (if it wasn't "center" previously). Resetting the object reference point also affects the object(s) being snapped to. For example, if you snap a text object to another text object, aligning their right sides, the horizontal component of the reference point for both objects is reset to the right side, either top right, center right, or bottom right, depending on whether the vertical component was previously top, center or bottom.

Barcode objects do not support automatic reference point reset with snapping. To disable this feature for all objects, uncheck Set Object Reference Point When Snapping on the General tab of the User Preferences dialog.

You can enable Snap to Object or Ruler using one of the following methods:

On the View tab of the BarTender Document Options dialog, enable the Snap to Object or Ruler option.
Click the icon on the view toolbar.

Snap to Grid

When Snap to Grid is enabled, snapping behavior for positioning and sizing of objects is based on the intersecting lines of the template or data entry form grid, even when the grid is not visible. By changing your grid settings, you can control the granularity of the snapping behavior (i.e., a tighter grid pattern can result in more precise object placement or sizing).

You can enable Snap to Grid using one of the following methods:

On the View tab of the BarTender Document Options dialog, enable the Snap to Grid option.
Select the icon on the view toolbar.

Related Topics

Moving Objects (on a template)
Resizing Objects (on a template)
Resizing Controls and Objects (on a data entry form)