Aligning and distributing objects on the canvas

📝 Note: This article reflects the classic BioRender canvas. For guidance on the updated experience, check out our article on the new canvas to explore key features and updates in the latest version.

Aligning and distributing objects ensures your illustration layout is clean, balanced, and professional. BioRender offers four key tools to help you align elements with precision on the canvas.

Alignment methods in BioRender

You can align and distribute objects using:

1. Grid lines
2. Guidelines
3. Alignment feature
4. Align/distribute tool

Using grid lines

1. Click the Grid button on the right toolbar.
2. Use the + or − buttons to adjust the grid size.
3. Align your objects using the visible grid overlay.

Using guidelines

1. Click the Ruler button on the right toolbar.
2. Once rulers are visible, click and drag from the ruler to add guidelines.
3. Align your objects along the guidelines.

To remove a guideline:

• Right-click on the guideline and select Delete guideline.

Using the alignment feature

1. Go to the View menu in the top toolbar.
2. Select Enable Alignment.

While moving objects:

• Red lines indicate alignment.
• Purple lines show equal spacing between elements.

Note: The alignment feature is automatically disabled when guidelines are active. To use alignment, hide or remove the guidelines first.

Using the align/distribute tool

To align objects:

1. Select the objects or icons you want to align.
2. Click Align from the top toolbar.
3. Choose how you’d like to align them (e.g., left, center, right).

To distribute spacing evenly:

1. Select multiple objects by:
   a) Clicking and dragging across them, or
   b) Holding Shift and clicking each object individually.
2. Click Distribute from the top toolbar.
3. Choose your distribution type:
   
   
   • Center vertical
   • Center horizontal
   • Edge vertical
   • Edge horizontal

What’s next?

See this in action in our short video inside the Learning Hub on aligning and distributing objects. Additionally, you can explore more canvas tools like grouping objects, resizing elements proportionally, or rotating components for precision editing.

Need help?

1. Email: support@biorender.com
2. Live Chat: Available by clicking on the "Help" bubble in the app on the bottom right-hand corner.