This InDesign tip on using Live Distribute was sent to Tip of the Week email subscribers on June 23, 2016.
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by Michael Ninness
You’ve worked hard to distribute a series of objects in your layout, all of them aligned at their tops and equally spaced. You then realize you need a bit more space between each object. So you select the farthest object on the right, move it a bit to the right, select the rest of the objects, and then click the Distribute Horizontal Centers button in the Align panel. And then you repeat all that again because the spacing between the objects still isn’t quite right. Sound familiar?
There’s a better way—use a hidden feature called Live Distribute! Simply select your objects. Then, press and hold on a transformation handle and hold down the Spacebar as you drag. Voila! Instead of resizing the selected objects, you end up resizing the space between the selected objects while you hold the Spacebar down. For extra bonus points, pause for a second after pressing on the transformation handle before dragging. Pausing first will allow you to see the objects as you redistribute them.
This article was last modified on July 25, 2019
This article was first published on June 28, 2016
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