Move shapes

Move one shape

To move a shape: Position the pointer over the shape. When the pointer changes to a four-headed arrow, hold down the mouse button and drag the shape.

To align a shape with another shape, use dynamic grid lines.


Tips:

1. To nudge a shape, click to select it, and then press an arrow key. To nudge a shape exactly multiple pixels, hold down SHIFT and press an arrow key.
2. To turn on the dynamic grid, on the View menu, click Snap & Glue item in the Option dialog. Select the Dynamic grid check box, and then click OK.

Move multiple shapes

1. Select the shapes that you want to move.

   Note To select multiple shapes, click the Pointer tool , and then drag a selection net (selection net: A means of selecting more than one shape at a time by dragging the Selection tool to define an area that encloses all the shapes to be selected.) around all the shapes that you want to select.

2. Place the pointer over one of the shapes. (The pointer changes to a four-headed arrow .)

   If one of the objects you're moving is a group, the pointer won't show the four-headed arrow unless it is over one of the shapes in the group.

3. Drag the shapes to their new positions. All selected shapes move the same distance and direction from their original positions.

Tip

When you move shapes, you can press CONTROL to copy the selected shapes.

Rotate shapes

About center of rotation

When you select a shape and position the pointer over the rotation handle, a plus sign in a circle appears at the center of rotation . You can move the center of rotation, called the pin (pin: The point around which a shape or text block rotates, marked by a circle with a plus sign inside it.). As you move the pointer over a rotation handle, it changes to a round arrow to indicate that you can rotate the shape.

When you select a shape and position the pointer over the rotation handle, a pin (center of rotation) appears in the center.

Rotate a shape 90 degrees

1. Select a shape.

2. Do one of the following:

   • To rotate the shape counterclockwise, on the Shape menu, point to Rotate or Flip, and then click -90.

   • To rotate the shape clockwise, on the Shape menu, point to Rotate or Flip, and then click 90.

Rotate a shape using the rotation handle

To rotate a shape:

1. Click to select the shape and then move the pointer over the rotation handle () until your pointer becomes a circle.
2. Drag the handle to the rotation you want.

To rotate a shape by a fixed amount: Click to select the shape. On the Shape Format tab, in the Arrange group, click Geometry button. In the Angle box, type the angle you want, and then press Enter.

Tips: As you rotating shape, the angle of single dragging depend on the distance of the mouse point and the shape pin, the distance is larger the angle is littler. The angle of single dragging may be 15 degree, 10 degree, 5 degree, 1 degree, 0.1 degree. So if you want rotate shape to a precise angle, you should drag the mouse enough distant from shape's pin.

Rotate a shape by typing an angle

1. Click a shape to select it.

2. Click the small button in the Arrange table.

3. Type a value in the pop up dialog.

Rotate one shape using keyboard

1. Click a shape to select it.

2. Hold SHIFT and CTRL at the same time, press LEFT or RIGHT to rotate the selected shape left or right, shape will rotate one degree once press.

   Note You can select more than one shape, and use keyboard to rotate them.

Tip

As you rotate shape, the angle of single dragging depend on the distance of the mouse point and the shape pin, the distance is larger the angle is littler.

The angle of single dragging may be 15 degree, 10 degree, 5 degree, 1 degree, 0.1 degree.

So if you want rotate shape to a precise angle, you should drag the mouse enough distant from shape's pin.

large distance, little angle shorter distance, bigger angle

Resize shapes

Select a shape.

Do one of the following:

1. If the shape has selection handles , drag a selection handle until the shape is the size you want. To resize the shape proportionally, drag a corner handle.
2. If the shape has endpoints , drag an endpoint to the length you want.

Tips:

1. If you see fewer than eight handles on a shape, zoom in on the drawing to see the other handles and to size the shape more accurately.
2. Handles that are gray boxes indicate the shape is locked and cannot be resized.
3. When you resizing selected shapes proportionally, the selected shapes will be resized keeping the width and height ratio unchanged.
4. When you resizing selected shapes, if you hold CTRL key, the selected shapes will be resized referencing center point.
5. When you resizing selected shapes, if you hold Shift key, the selected shapes will be resized smoothly.

Flip shapes

1. Select a shape.

2. On the Home menu, point to Rotate & Flip button, and then click Flip Vertical or Flip Horizontal.

   Note You can also flip shapes in a multiple selection. When you flip the selection, all of the shapes flip as a whole.