Manipulating Components

Manipulating components can be done with both the mouse and the keyboard. To manipulate a component or group of components, you'll first need to select them.

Resizing

Once the components you want to alter are selected, there will be 8 resize-handles displayed around the edge of the selection. These handles look like double-sided arrows around the perimeter. Use the mouse to drag them to change the size of the components in the selection. To maintain the selection's aspect ratio, hold down ctrl as you resize. To resize around the center of the current selection, hold down shift.

You can also resize the current selection using the keyboard. To nudge the right or bottom edge of the selection in or out, use shift combined with the arrow keys. To nudge the top or left edge of the selection, use ctrl-shift combined with arrow keys. These nudge actions will resize one pixel at a time. To resize faster, add the alt key.

Moving

To move the component, simply drag it anywhere within the component's bounds. You can also move whatever is currently selected by holding down alt while dragging, regardless of whether or not the mouse is over the current selection. This is important because it is the primary way to move a Container component. (Normally, dragging in a container draws a selection rectangle inside that container).

While a component is selected, you may also use the keyboard's arrow keys to move a component around. The arrow keys will move the selection one pixel at a time. Just like resizing with the arrow keys, to move faster, add the alt key.

Components can be easily duplicated by dragging them as if you were going to move them and holding down the ctrl key. This will drop a copy of the component at the desired drop location. It is often useful to also hold down shift as you do this to ensure exact alignment. You may also use the ctrl-D shortcut to quickly duplicate a component in place.

Rotating

Shapes can be rotated directly using the selection tool. Other components cannot be rotated in this manner. To rotate a shape, first select it using the selection tool so that you see the resize handles around it. Then simple click on it once again and you'll see the rotation handles appear. Clicking (but not double-clicking) on selected shapes toggles back and forth between the resize handles and the rotation handles.

Once you see the rotation handles, simply start dragging one to rotate the shape or shapes. Holding down the ctrl key will snap your rotation movements to 15° increments. When the rotation handles are present, there is also a small crosshair handle that starts in the middle of the selection. This is the rotation anchor: the point that the selection will rotate around. You can drag it anywhere you'd like to rotate around a point other than the center of the shape.