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:
Using grid lines
- Click the Grid button on the right toolbar.
- Use the + or − buttons to adjust the grid size.
- Align your objects using the visible grid overlay.
Using guidelines
- Click the Ruler button on the right toolbar.
- Once rulers are visible, click and drag from the ruler to add guidelines.
- Align your objects along the guidelines.
To remove a guideline:
- Right-click on the guideline and select Delete guideline.
Using the alignment feature
- Go to the View menu in the top toolbar.
- 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:
- Select the objects or icons you want to align.
- Click Align from the top toolbar.
- Choose how you’d like to align them (e.g., left, center, right).
To distribute spacing evenly:
- Select multiple objects by:
a) Clicking and dragging across them, or
b) Holding Shift and clicking each object individually. - Click Distribute from the top toolbar.
- Choose your distribution type:
- Center vertical
- Center horizontal
- Edge vertical
- Edge horizontal
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?
- Email: support@biorender.com
- Live Chat: Available by clicking on the "Help" bubble in the app on the bottom right-hand corner.