Recipe 1.32. Rotating Elements

Problem

You want to rotate an element.

Solution

Rotate using the Free Transform tool or rotate in 90° increments using the Modify Transform menu commands.

Discussion

You can rotate elements to an arbitrary degree, or you can constrain rotation to regular intervals, such as 90° or 45°.

To rotate an element arbitrarily:

1. Select the Free Transform tool.

2. Hover the mouse near (but not quite over) any corner point until you see a circular rotation cursor.

3. Drag in a circular direction to rotate the element.

Holding down the Shift key constrains the rotation to increments of 45°.

You can also rotate an element by 90° clockwise or counterclockwise. To do so, select the element, and choose Modify Transform Rotate 90° CW (for clockwise, or CCW for counterclockwise). All rotations are performed in the X-Y plane (about the imaginary Z axis that runs perpendicular to the stage). To simulate rotation away from or toward the viewer, use a perspective skew as described in Recipe 1.31.

You can also rotate elements with numeric precision. If you need a shape to be rotated to 37°, you can draw it at 0° and then rotate it to exactly 37°.

To rotate an element with numeric precision, choose Modify Transform Scale and Rotate. In the Scale and Rotate dialog box, enter the rotation degree (and optionally, scale percent) and click OK.

See Also

Recipe 1.30