Alignment Tools

There are two ways to align you elements within your project.  You can use "Snap to Grid", which will align element(s) or design(s) in comparison with the Grid or the "Alignment Tools", which will align elements or designs in comparison with each other.

Snap to Grid

After pressing the Grid button , you can click the "Alignment Tools" button to quickly move a design or element to an exact location around the grid. You can have one or more elements or design selected when using this feature.

After pressing the "Snap to Grid" button you will see the following dialog:

For help on using this dialog, follow the steps below:

  1. Select the axis you would like to move along (horizontal or vertical or perhaps both).

  2. Determine the value (in inches) of how far you want to move (keep at 0.00 if you want to be directly centered, on top or below the axis).

  3. Click on one of the radio buttons next to "Center on", "Top of", or "Bottom of".

  4. Click Apply or OK.

Below is an example of a centered design with the following attributes:

 

Horizontal, 0.00 in., Top of

Vertical, 0.00 in., Right of

If you have previously used EDS III, the "snap to grid" function works the same as "Line Type Options". The Line type options were "Line Center Middle", "Line Center Bottom", "Line Normal", and "Arc Normal". There isn't an equivalent in EDS IV to "Arc From Center". Below are examples of how to achieve the same position using "Snap To Grid":

Line Center Middle

An explanation of how this will sew on EDS IV is:  The lettering object will start at the center/middle of the lettering then jump to the 1st letter position to begin to sew.  It will continue to sew the lettering object, then when finished will jump back to the center of the lettering object (the lettering is centered both vertically and horizontally).  So, in other words the design starts and stops in the exact center of the lettering.  This is the most common method used to sew lettering.

 

  1. Create a lettering element

  2. Click "Snap To Grid"

  3. Select Horizontal, Center on

  4. Select Vertical, Center on

  5. Click OK

Line Center Bottom

An explanation of how this will sew on EDS IV is:  The lettering object will start at the middle/bottom of the lettering then jump to the 1st letter position to begin to sew.  It will continue to sew the  lettering object, then when finished will jump back to the center/bottom of the lettering object (the lettering is centered horizontally). This is most commonly used for placement above a pocket or straight line.  When the design is traced, you will be able to see where the exact bottom of the lettering will sew on your fabric.

 

  1. Create a lettering element

  2. Click "Snap To Grid"

  3. Select Horizontal, Top of

  4. Select Vertical, Center on

  5. Click OK

Line Normal

An explanation of how this will sew on EDS IV is:  The lettering object will start at the current needle position, which is the bottom of the 1st letter typed.  When finished sewing, the needle will return to same starting position.

 

  1. Create a lettering element

  2. Click "Snap To Grid"

  3. Select Horizontal, Top of

  4. Select Vertical, Right of

  5. Click OK

Arc Normal

 

  1. Create a lettering element

  2. In lettering property page, select "Place letter on arc"

  3. Click on "Snap To Grid"

  4. Select Horizontal, Center on

  5. Select Vertical, Center on

  6. Click OK

Align Each Element in Group: Use this feature after you have a group of elements. For help on grouping elements, click here. To use this feature, select one element in the group, click on the "Alignment Tools" button, select the type of "Snap to Grid" you want, click to insert a check mark in the check box next to "Align Each Element in Group". Now click on "Apply" and "OK".

Alignment Tools

After selecting more than one element or design, click on the "Alignment Tools" button. You will then see the following dialog displaying the different ways that the elements or designs can be aligned. You may also use the tools that are the Alignment toolbar to align the tools.  Below is a short description of each type of alignment and the tool that can also be used to perform that function.

Top Edge Alignment: This aligns your selected (or grouped) elements or designs to the top edge of the highest element or design.

Bottom Edge Alignment: This aligns your selected (or grouped) elements or designs to the bottom edge of the lowest element or design.

Left Edge Alignment: This aligns your selected (or grouped) elements or designs to the left edge of the very left element or design.

Right Edge Alignment: This aligns your selected (or grouped) elements or designs to the right edge of the very right element or design.

Center Horizontally: This finds the center point between all of the selected elements or designs and aligns them on an invisible horizontal line according to that center point.  Note that this does not center them according to origin, use Snap to Grid for doing that.

Center Vertically: This finds the center point between all of the selected elements or designs and aligns them on an invisible vertical line according to that center point.  Note that this does not center them according to origin, use Snap to Grid for doing that.

Spacing

Space Evenly Horizontally: This feature determines the distance between three or more elements or designs and spaces the horizontal distance between them evenly. You must have three or more elements or designs selected or grouped to use this feature.

Space Evenly Vertically: This feature determines the distance between three or more elements or designs and spaces the vertical distance between them evenly. You must have three or more elements or designs selected or grouped to use this feature.