Adobe Illustrator CS3 - Manual (Page 55)

ILLUSTRATOR CS3
User Guide
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You can use Smart Guides in the following ways:
• When you create an object with the pen or shape tools, use the Smart Guides to position a new object's anchor
points relative to an existing object.
• When you move an object, use the Smart Guides to align your cursor to construction guides and existing paths.
The alignment is based on the position of the pointer, not the edges of the object, so be sure to click to the exact
point you want to align to.
• When you transform an object, Smart Guides automatically appear to assist the transformation.
You can change when and how Smart Guides appear by setting Smart Guide preferences.
Note: When Snap To Grid is turned on, you cannot use Smart Guides (even if the menu command is selected).
Smart Guide preferences
Choose Edit > Preferences > Smart Guides & Slices (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > Smart Guides & Slices
(Mac OS) to set the following preferences:
Text Label Hints Displays information about the position the cursor is currently snapped to (such as center) as you
manipulate the cursor.
Construction Guides Displays guidelines in the file as you use Smart Guides.
Transform Tools Displays information when you scale, rotate, and shear objects.
Object Highlighting Highlights the object below the pointer as you drag around it.
Angles Sets angles at which you want guidelines drawn from the anchor points of a nearby object. You can set up to
six angles. Type an angle in the selected Angles box, select a set of angles from the Angles pop-up menu, or select a
set of angles from the pop-up menu and change one of the values in the box to customize a set of angles. The preview
reflects your settings.
Snapping Tolerance Specifies the number of points the pointer must be from another object for Smart Guides to
take effect.
Measure the distance between objects
The Measure tool calculates the distance between any two points and displays the results in the Info panel.
1 Select the Measure tool .
2 Do one of the following:
• Click the two points to measure the distance between them.
• Click the first point and drag to the second point. Shift-drag to constrain the tool to multiples of 45˚.
The Info panel shows the horizontal and vertical distances from the x and y axes, the absolute horizontal and vertical
distances, the total distances, and the angle measured.