J.R. Johnson

I can’t draw, but I do love designing things like maps and logos and books and fun gifts. I use software to make it all work and shortcuts can be a terrific time saver. That’s why I’m excited to report that I recently discovered a very helpful trick for aligning objects in Illustrator.

I came to Illustrator from Freehand and found myself tripping over simple things. This particular tip fixes an issue that’s been bugging me for years, so I wanted to share in case I’m not the only one. (Maybe you already know this trick? Good for you, now give me a sec to share this bit of wisdom with those of us who have been less fortunate;)

I use Illustrator CS5 so ymmv, but here’s the gist, paraphrased from this useful article:

Select the objects you want to align, then (here’s the important bit) click once on the object or guide you want to use to control the alignment of the other selected objects. No shift key needed, just a straight click. The Key Object will show a heavy border outline around it. Align as usual.

It should look something like this:

Enjoy!