Sunday Tutorial-Alignment & Distribution

Happy Sunday! It's another week and only a little over two weeks until Christmas. Crazy, crazy!! I'm working on getting our Christmas cards put together and wanted to share a little something that I had never known about until recently that has made centering text and things so much easier!

Have you ever used the alignment or distribution buttons (in PSE)? I had always noticed them but never knew how to use them or what they were for. Crazy right? I've been using Photoshop for years! Just goes to show you that there is always something new to learn.

Using these two things has helped my sanity when creating cards or layouts. I'm very particular about having things lined up correctly and evenly and often spent too much time trying to get it just right before. But now, I can do it in just a few clicks!

Here's an example with using text. First, type out the different lines of your text.

Next, right click while holding shift to select all of the layers you would like aligned or distributed.

Then, go up to "Align" and, for this one, hit "Horizontal Centers". It will automatically line up all of the type with their middles.

And here's one using the "Horizontal Centers". I want to horizontally line up the "and" and "Happy" on the same line. So, I go back to "Align" and select the "Horizontal Centers" button.

Ta-da! All lined up. It has other features that allow you to line things up with their edges. The Distribute button (right next to Align) is similar except that it evenly distributes things according to their space. This is really nice to do if you're trying to do a series of embellishments or letters and you want them spaced out evenly. It's saved me so much time, especially when I'm using alphas for a a title.

I hope this helps you save some time! Have a great week!