Aligning and distributing objects on the canvas

📝 Note: This article reflects the new, updated BioRender canvas. For guidance on the older, Classic canvas, check out this article. 

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 three vertical dots (More options) in the toolbar.
2. Select Grid lines from the menu.
3. Toggle Show grid to display the grid overlay.
4. Adjust the grid size by selecting Increase or Decrease grid size.
5. Align your objects using the visible grid as a guide.

Using guidelines

1. Click the three vertical dots (More options) in the toolbar.
2. Select Show ruler from the menu.
3. Once rulers are visible, click and drag from the ruler to add guidelines.
4. Align your objects along the guidelines.

To lock or remove a guideline(s):

• Right-click on the guideline and select "Lock all guidelines, "Delete guideline" or "Delete all guidelines".

Using the alignment feature

1. Click the three vertical dots in the bottom-right view menu panel.

2. Select Enable Alignment from the menu.

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 Align from the top toolbar.
3. Choose your distribution type:
   • Vertically 
   • Horizontally 

What’s next?

💻 Explore: Design and export presentation-ready slides directly in BioRender, no formatting lost, no extra tools needed. Check out BioRender Slides (Premium) ↗ 

🎥 Watch: See aligning tools in action in this quick Learning Hub tutorial. Perfect if you’re refining layouts or tidying up complex figures. 4 Ways to Align Objects ↗

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.