Aligning

With the “Align” tool (1), we can align the various items in the document neatly.
We have the options to first align the selected object, either to the image, to a selection, to the active layer, to an active channel, or to an active path.

To do this, first select the “Align” tool (1) in the toolbox.
Select the relative object to which the alignment is to be performed (2). In this example I select “First Item”.
This will align all objects to the object that was selected first.

Click the first object (a) you want to align, such as the red rectangle.
Hold down the Shift key on your keyboard, and then click the other items you want to align with the first item (b).

Select an alignment option in the options window (c).
The options at the top will align objects, the options below them will neatly distribute them on the document window.
You can decide how far these are from each other, using the “Offset” option (3).

 

An example makes this clear.

I select the red rectangle, keep the Shift key on my keyboard pressed and select the other rectangles.
I select the “First Item” option and this will align all objects to the first selected object, which is the red rectangle.
I then select the “Align left edge of target” button in the first section of the alignment options. This will align the other objects to the left of the object that was selected first. You be the judge, and select whatever option you want whether it is the top, the bottom or the middle, and then click those buttons.
In any case, I click the “Align left edge of target” button. This aligns the different objects(A).

If you want these objects at a certain distance from each other, you can enter the number of pixels, in the “Offset” box and then click the “Distruibute Left edges of targets” button.
This will neatly divide the objects with the specified distance (B).

 

Cropping

When we share a photo and want to remove unwanted areas, we use the “Crop” tool (1).
Select this tool and click and drag in the photo (A).
As with the other selection tools, we can adjust the size here by clicking and dragging the edges (3).
Press the Enter key on your keyboard to apply the crop (B).

At the bottom of the toolbox we have a few options that seem clear to me, but I will give you a word of explanation.

Select “Current layer only”, if you want to crop only the selected layer.
The second option, “Allow Growing” may increase the canvas and allows the crop to draw outside the canvas.
The outside portion of the canvas will be transparent (4) and will be displayed (C).

The third option, “Expand from center” will start cropping from the center of the picture.
The option, “Fixed” determines the length / width ratio of the cropping.
With the option, “Position”, we can change the location of the cropping. You can do this manually by moving the cursor to the center of the picture, and then clicking and dragging it to the position you desire.
With the option, “Size”, you can adjust the size of the frame.
The check box, “Highlight” will crop light portions, and not the darker parts.

 

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