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Posted

I very very often find myself having to align two objects so that one is aligned to the centre of the larger one.

I am currently doing this with too many mouse clicks:

  • select larger object
  • shift select smaller object so both are selected
  • go to the top of the window and select align vertical
  • also clicl align horizontal
  • then click apply

This is at least 5 clicks not counting the key presses and opening dialogues.

Is there a shortcut? Can I configure one? So that:

  • I select two or more objects
  • press the shortcut combination to align centre (vertical and horizontal)

I'm doing this mostly in Designer but I expect the solution would also working Photo too?

Posted

I can't say that I find the method you describe much of a problem, but you could speed it up slightly by using your own keyboard shortcuts. 

In AD I used Ctrl+"up arrow" for Align Centre and Ctrl+"down arrow" for Align Middle. Select the objects, hold down Ctrl then hit the up arrow followed by the down arrow, I think that's probably as quick as it gets! (Obviously you might have to use different shortcuts depending on any that you have previously set up.)

Acer XC-895 : Core i5-10400 Hexa-core 2.90 GHz :  32GB RAM : Intel UHD Graphics 630 : Windows 11 Home
Affinity Publisher 2 : Affinity Photo 2 : Affinity Designer 2 : (latest release versions) on desktop and iPad

"Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance." (GBS)

Posted

Or set specific align command to Toolbar. 

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Posted
15 minutes ago, Pšenda said:

Or set specific align command to Toolbar. 

Going on the OP, I thought that the problem was having to move the mouse to the toolbar and then click a couple of times!

Acer XC-895 : Core i5-10400 Hexa-core 2.90 GHz :  32GB RAM : Intel UHD Graphics 630 : Windows 11 Home
Affinity Publisher 2 : Affinity Photo 2 : Affinity Designer 2 : (latest release versions) on desktop and iPad

"Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance." (GBS)

Posted

That's correct - I want to use one key-board based shortcut. If that isn't possible then just one click on the toolbar.

 

On MacOS Cntrl-"arrow up/down" doesn't work, I also tried Option-, and Command- and they don't work.

 

I have tried exploring the menu and help to find the associated pre-configured shortcut or a way to add my own - and find it - sorry that seems really pathetic but I tried for a while.

Posted

I found this but again it doesn't seem to have Align on there: https://affinityspotlight.com/article/downloadable-affinity-v2-keyboard-shortcut-and-gesture-cheat-sheets/

 

And this official list has Align Centre but not Middle. https://affinity.help/designer2/en-US.lproj/index.html?page=pages/Workspace/shortcuts.html?category=operations&title=Keyboard shortcuts --- but even so the suggested option-command-C doesn't seem to work when I have selected two simple objects in Designer 2.

Posted
14 minutes ago, project_2501 said:

On MacOS Cntrl-"arrow up/down" doesn't work, I also tried Option-, and Command- and they don't work.

These Align shortcuts aren't default shortcuts but you can set your own shortcuts in Settings. The point is that although you can't do what you want with a single shortcut, you can hold down the modifier key, then click two adjacent keys for the two actions.

Acer XC-895 : Core i5-10400 Hexa-core 2.90 GHz :  32GB RAM : Intel UHD Graphics 630 : Windows 11 Home
Affinity Publisher 2 : Affinity Photo 2 : Affinity Designer 2 : (latest release versions) on desktop and iPad

"Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance." (GBS)

Posted

They are in the Layer menu, not Edit.

ice_screenshot_20250130-225004.png.402cf6b09ea03d939f9139163f689c27.png

Acer XC-895 : Core i5-10400 Hexa-core 2.90 GHz :  32GB RAM : Intel UHD Graphics 630 : Windows 11 Home
Affinity Publisher 2 : Affinity Photo 2 : Affinity Designer 2 : (latest release versions) on desktop and iPad

"Beware of false knowledge, it is more dangerous than ignorance." (GBS)

Posted
2 hours ago, PaulEC said:

Going on the OP, I thought that the problem was having to move the mouse to the toolbar and then click a couple of times!

I responded to the unnecessary extra clicking: "then click apply".

Affinity Store (MSI/EXE): Affinity Suite (ADe, APh, APu) 2.5.7.2948 (Retail)
Dell OptiPlex 7060, i5-8500 3.00 GHz, 16 GB, Intel UHD Graphics 630, Dell P2417H 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605.
Dell Latitude E5570, i5-6440HQ 2.60 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics 530, 1920 x 1080, Windows 11 Pro, Version 24H2, Build 26100.2605.
Intel NUC5PGYH, Pentium N3700 2.40 GHz, 8 GB, Intel HD Graphics, EIZO EV2456 1920 x 1200, Windows 10 Pro, Version 21H1, Build 19043.2130.

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