119. Align Objects  BEFORE YOU BEGIN 112 Place Shapes on the Drawing Area 114 About Perfecting Shapes
 SEE ALSO 81 Set Impress Options 96 Insert Graphics into a Presentation 120 Add Text to a Drawing
When arranging objects, you can use Draw's magnetic grid, with its evenly spaced vertical and horizontal lines, to align objects perfectly . To turn on the magnetic grid, choose Tools, Options , and on the Grid page for OpenOffice.org Draw, enable the Snap to grid option. If you want to see the grid, enable the Visible grid option as well. Adjust the spacing between the vertical and horizontal lines that make up the magnetic grid with the Resolution options. See 106 Set Draw Options for more information on setting grid options. Sometimes, the magnetic grid's lines just won't fall where you want them in your drawing. Draw's snap lines , which you manually insert, help you ensure that your Draw shapes align properly with one another exactly as you want them to. Whether you want to display objects across or down a page, when you use snap lines, you can make your objects follow those snap lines (also called snap to lines) without getting well, out of line. You can control every aspect of your snap lines, from their width, to their direction, to their distance from one another. To turn on the snap lines option, choose Tools, Options , and enable the To snap lines option on OpenOffice.org Draw's Grid page.  NOTES You can use the grid and snaplines to align objects in Impress. Snap lines are useful for aligning objects, but they do not print when you print your drawing and (if you use snap lines in Impress) they don't show during the presentation.
119. Align Objects 
In addition to snap to lines, you can set snap to points. To use snap points, be sure to enable the To object points option on the Grid page in the Options dialog box. These points define locations in your drawing that you want all objects close to those points to move to. For example, you could place objects in a semicircle by temporarily drawing a curve, and then adding snap to points along the curve. When you delete the curve, the snap to points will remain , and you can add objects to those points as desired. | 1. | Choose Insert, Insert Snap Point/Line
Choose Insert, Insert Snap Point/Line from the menu. The New Snap Object dialog box appears.
| | 2. | Define the Line Define the snap line using the New Snap Object dialog box that appears. If you're defining a vertical snap to line, you must set the X position (use the ruler as a guide). If you're defining a horizontal snap to line, you must set the Y position. Therefore, if you want to align a set of images across the top of your drawing, 3 inches down from the top, you'll create a horizontal snap line with a Y setting of 3.00" . When creating a snap to point, you must enter both an x-axis and a y-axis value. Click to select either Point, Vertical , or Horizontal to specify the kind of snap you want. Click OK to draw the snap line or snap point. TIP If you don't like the position of any snap line or point, just click it with your mouse and drag the line or point to a new position. NOTE Snap lines appear as dashed lines vertically or horizontally across your drawing. A snap point appears as a dashed crosshair showing the point of the snap. | | 3. | Adjust the Objects to the Line or Point
The purpose of the snap line or snap point is to act as a magnet for whatever you drag close to it. If you add a snap line to an existing drawing, for example, you can drag the objects you want to snap to that line close to it. When an object's edge gets close to the snap line or snap point, Draw immediately pulls that object to the line/point.
| | 4. | Drag a Snap Line from the Ruler
Instead of using the New Snap Object dialog box to add your snap line, you can more quickly drag from inside either ruler out to your drawing to apply a snap line.
To draw a vertical snap line, click anywhere on the vertical ruler and drag your mouse to the left into your drawing. As you drag your mouse, the snap line appears, and when you release your mouse, the snap line will be anchored into place. To draw a horizontal snap line, click anywhere on the horizontal ruler and drag down into your drawing.
| | 5. | Remove the Snap Line or Snap Point
Right-click the snap line/snap point to produce a menu. From the menu you can edit or delete the line/point. When you select Edit Snap Line , for example, the Edit Snap Line dialog box appears, where you can type a new x-axis or y-axis value. If you select Delete , you'll erase the snap line/snap point.
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