In this section, you'll find an overview of the tools and features that allow you to flip, group, order, align, distribute objects and much more.
You have many options in Curve (formerly Vectornator) to arrange objects on the canvas. Most options are accessible from the Style Tab, specifically in the Arrange and Path section. Most of those buttons can be alternatively accessed from the Quick Actions bar depending on the object(s) you selected.
Group
Grouping combines multiple objects into a single adjustable element while keeping the singular shapes intact.
You'll find the Group and Ungroup buttons in the Arrange Section of the Inspector.
Creating a Group
Select the objects you want to group by dragging a window around them with your cursor or using the Multi Select Mode. Then, click the Group Button.
Once the shapes are grouped, the letter G appears in the selected group's bottom right corner. Additionally, you can access the Group Operations in the Top Toolbar under Arrange.
Editing a Group
Double-click on a group to enter the Isolate State. You can edit your elements by resizing them or changing their color. Everything outside the isolated object will appear dimmed out. Double-click anywhere on the empty canvas to exit the Isolate State.
Flip
The Flipping buttons allow you to mirror the selected object horizontally or vertically. At the top of the Style Tab, simply tap the buttons Flip Horizontally and Flip Vertically to perform the actions of the selected object.
Align
You can align objects using the six alignment buttons in the top row of the Inspector.
You have two options available to align your selected objects:
If you select one object and then click the button “Align to the left” , the object will align to the left side of your Artboard .
If you select multiple objects and then click the button “Align to the left”, the selected objects will all align to the object that is positioned the closest to the left side.
Move
To move a shape, simply tap and drag it.
If you want to restrict movement to a particular axis, hold a second finger on the iPad screen as you drag.
To move an object on the canvas to the top, down, left, or right, you can select it and use the arrow keys in the Joystick, at the bottom right corner of your iPad screen. If you have an external keyboard, hold
Order
To change the stacking order of your shape, tap on the Order buttons in the Arrange Section of the Style tab or in within the Quick Actions.
You can change the order of your objects in four different ways:
- Move Forward - Move the selected object towards the top of the stacking order.
- Move Backward - Move the selected object towards the bottom of the stacking order.
- Move to Front - Move the selected object to the top position of the stacking order.
- Move to Back - Move the selected object to the bottom position of the stacking order.
Distribute
By tapping the Distribute buttons, you can set three or more selected elements to be distributed at an equal distance from each other horizontally or vertically.
Repeat Action
In the Arrange section, you can find the following two buttons:
- The Transform Again button will repeat your last transformative action, i.e., constantly rotating the selected object to the same rotation value you set. You rotate your shape 90° clockwise before you click Transform Again, and the shape will be rotated 90° clockwise again. If you scaled the object bigger or smaller before, the same percentage of scaling and scaling direction would be applied to your shape again.
- Duplicate and Transform Again will duplicate your selected object and will simultaneously repeat the last transformative action you took on the original shape on the duplicated shape again.
Using these tools will speed up your workflow significantly when creating vector patterns.
In case you have an external keyboard connected to your iPad, you can use the shortcut
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