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Illustrator in 60 Seconds: How to Use the Align Panel

Aligning objects can sometimes be a tedious task, especially when you're doing it manually. Today we're going to show you how you can easily use the Align Panel to increase your speed when dealing with multiple objects that need to be repositioned.
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Andrei Stefan
• 2 min read
Drawing/Illustration Vectors Adobe Illustrator
This post is part of a series called 60 Second Video Tutorials.
Illustrator in 60 Seconds: How to Use Clipping Masks
Photoshop in 60 Seconds: How to Use the Gradient Tool
The Align Panel in Adobe IllustratorThe Align Panel in Adobe IllustratorThe Align Panel in Adobe Illustrator

Welcome to our Illustrator in 60 Seconds series, in which you can learn an Illustrator skill, feature, or technique in just a minute!

Illustrator in 60 Seconds: The Align Panel

Aligning objects can sometimes be a tedious task, especially when you're doing it manually. Today I'm going to show you how you can easily use the Align panel to increase your speed when dealing with multiple objects that need to be re-positioned.

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How to Use Adobe Illustrator's Align Panel

By default the panel is hidden, so make it visible by going over to Window > Align.

Accessing the Align Panel in IllustratorAccessing the Align Panel in IllustratorAccessing the Align Panel in Illustrator

By default it has two main functions. The first one is Align Objects, which gives you the power to align two or more selected objects or anchor points using either horizontal or vertical alignments.

Using the Align Objects function in the Align PanelUsing the Align Objects function in the Align PanelUsing the Align Objects function in the Align Panel

The second one is Distribute Objects which allows you to distribute two or more selected objects using similar horizontal and vertical distribution patterns.

Using the Distribute Objects function in the Align PanelUsing the Distribute Objects function in the Align PanelUsing the Distribute Objects function in the Align Panel

Finer control options are hidden, so you will have to click on a little Down-facing Arrow and enable Show Options in order to make them visible. The first new option is Distribute Spacing, and it's really helpful since it allows you to horizontally or vertically space two or more shapes at a precise distance of your choosing.

Using the Distribute Spacing Option in the Align PanelUsing the Distribute Spacing Option in the Align PanelUsing the Distribute Spacing Option in the Align Panel

The second option is Align To, which lets you to align your objects to your selection, a key object, or the Artboard itself.

Using the Align To option in the Align PanelUsing the Align To option in the Align PanelUsing the Align To option in the Align Panel

Want to see this in action? Check out the quick video above to see this lesson at work!

A Bit More Detail

Want to learn more about Adobe Illustrator's vast tools and settings? Check out these tutorials below:

60 Seconds?!

This is part of a series of quick video tutorials on Envato Tuts+ in which we introduce a range of subjects, all in 60 seconds—just enough to whet your appetite. Let us know in the comments what you thought of this video and what else you'd like to see explained in 60 seconds!

Drawing/Illustration Vectors Adobe Illustrator
Andrei Stefan By