Home > Designing and creating databases > Editing objects, layout parts, and the layout background > Using tools to precisely position objects > Using the rulers and grid

Using the rulers and grid

You can use rulers and the grid to help you align, size, and position objects precisely on a layout.

•	Rulers: Showing the rulers displays a horizontal and vertical ruler along the edge of a layout. Guide lines on each ruler track the position of the pointer as you move the pointer on the layout.

•	Grid: Showing the grid displays a series of nonprinting intersecting horizontal and vertical lines on a layout, which you can use for creating, resizing, positioning, and aligning objects. Gridlines adjust when you change the unit of measure.

Showing and hiding the rulers

•	To show the rulers, in Layout mode, choose View menu > Rulers.

•	To hide the rulers, choose View menu > Rulers again.

Working with the grid

Use the grid to precisely control the placement of objects on a layout. When the grid is showing, major gridlines appear slightly darker than minor gridlines. You can change the spacing between gridlines.

You can have objects “snap-to” gridlines. When you move or resize an object, it snaps to the nearest minor gridline. New objects are created aligning to the nearest major gridline.

 

To	Do this in Layout mode
Show or hide the grid	In the Inspector, click the Position tab. In the Grid area, select or deselect Show grid. Or, choose View menu > Grid > Show Grid. To hide the grid, choose Show Grid again. If you don’t see the Inspector, click Inspector in the layout bar.
Turn the “snap-to” effect on or off	In the Inspector, click the Position tab. In the Grid area, select or deselect Snap to grid. Or, choose View menu > Grid > Snap to Grid. To turn it off, choose Snap to Grid again. Note  Objects snap to the grid even when the grid is hidden.
Override the grid's snap-to effect	Press Alt (Windows) or Command (OS X) as you drag an object.
Change the distance between gridlines	In the Inspector, click the Position tab. In the Grid area, enter values for Major Grid Spacing and Minor Grid Steps. See the default settings in the table below.

The following table shows the default major units and minor steps for the selected unit of measure (inches, centimeters, or points).

 

Unit of measure	Major units	Minor steps
Inch (in)	1 inch	8
Centimeter (cm)	1 centimeter	2
Point (pt)	72 points	12

Changing the unit of measure

To change the unit of measure used by the rulers, grid, and the Inspector, do one of the following:

•	Right-click a ruler and choose a unit of measure from the shortcut menu.

•	Click the upper-left corner of the document where the horizontal and vertical rulers meet until you see the unit of measure you want.

•	In the Inspector, click the unit of measure, which appears next to many options, until you see the one you want.

Each ruler increment measures the following amount of space:

 

Unit of measure	Each ruler increment measures
Inch (in)	1/8 inch
Centimeter (cm)	.25 centimeters
Points (pt)	10 points

Notes

•	For additional control over positioning objects, use the guides and dynamic guides, and the Arrange & Align area of the Inspector. For more information, see Using guides and dynamic guides and Aligning or distributing objects.

•	FileMaker Pro performs the snap-to effect among the layout tools in this order: grid, dynamic guides, guides.