Bug 72118 - Let first selected object be the anchor object for alignment of multiple objects
Summary: Let first selected object be the anchor object for alignment of multiple objects
Status: NEW
Alias: None
Product: LibreOffice
Classification: Unclassified
Component: Draw (show other bugs)
Version:
(earliest affected)
Inherited From OOo
Hardware: Other Linux (All)
: medium enhancement
Assignee: Not Assigned
URL:
Whiteboard:
Keywords:
: 84463 125049 (view as bug list)
Depends on:
Blocks: Object-Selection-Alignment
  Show dependency treegraph
 
Reported: 2013-11-28 11:48 UTC by Vassilis Chryssos
Modified: 2023-02-07 01:51 UTC (History)
8 users (show)

See Also:
Crash report or crash signature:


Attachments
three objects to showcase the alignment problem (7.11 KB, application/vnd.oasis.opendocument.graphics)
2014-07-10 13:44 UTC, Vassilis Chryssos
Details

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Description Vassilis Chryssos 2013-11-28 11:48:56 UTC
When aligning two objects the system seems to arbitrarily choose which object is used as an "anchor" to align the other one. At times it seems as though all objects move to meet the common alignment line.

This poses a usability issue, when you want to align objects relative to a fixed object. The user should be offered the choice to select which object will be used as a "base object" for the others to align to.
Comment 1 Joel Madero 2013-12-22 17:13:31 UTC
How do we go about aligning two objects in this manner? When in doubt please always include steps - we have thousands of bugs that we need to process and time saving from good steps is always appreciated. A test document might be useful here also.

Setting to NEEDINFO - once you provide clear steps and perhaps a test document mark the bug as UNCONFIRMED. Thanks!

+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + 
LibreOffice is powered by a team of volunteers, every bug is confirmed (triaged) by human beings who mostly give their time for free. We invite you to join our triaging by checking out this link:
https://wiki.documentfoundation.org/QA/BugTriage

There are also other ways to get involved including with marketing, UX, documentation, and of course developing -  http://www.libreoffice.org/get-help/mailing-lists/. 

Lastly, good bug reports help tremendously in making the process go smoother, please always provide reproducible steps (even if it seems easy) and attach any and all relevant material
Comment 2 QA Administrators 2014-07-08 17:29:04 UTC Comment hidden (obsolete)
Comment 3 Vassilis Chryssos 2014-07-10 13:44:20 UTC
Created attachment 102534 [details]
three objects to showcase the alignment problem

Three objects: blue, green, red. 
User wants to align them to the left edge, at the vertical position of the green rectangle.
If the user selects all and align them, they will move to the leftmost edge, aligning by the left side of the red rectangle. There is no apparent way to choose which rectangle will be used as basis for the alignment.
Comment 4 raal 2014-12-14 07:14:45 UTC
You can do this way:
right click green object - Position and size - Protect - Position
select three objects - button click align left
Is it sufficient?
Comment 5 Vassilis Chryssos 2014-12-14 12:44:10 UTC
(In reply to raal from comment #4)
> You can do this way:
> right click green object - Position and size - Protect - Position
> select three objects - button click align left
> Is it sufficient?

I guess this does the trick! It should be easier for the end-user, though. When designing a layout one needs to have tools to allow for swiftness and ease of use. This is the way it works in Inkscape, GIMP and other programs as well.
Comment 6 raal 2014-12-14 14:18:27 UTC
setting as NEW enhancement.
For  example inkscape allow more choices to align, see http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Align.html

Valid also for other modules - Writer, Impress, Calc.
Comment 7 raal 2014-12-14 14:19:30 UTC
*** Bug 84463 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 8 Callegar 2014-12-14 23:25:54 UTC
Please, take the suggestion in bug 84463 as a possibility to solve the issue.
Namely, always align to the first object that has been selected.
In other words if one has 3 objects "red" "green" and "blue" and wants to assure that they are aligned to the "green" one, let him select the green object, then shift-click the "red" one to select that too, and finally shift-click the "blue" object to add that too to the selection. Then align. Being the "green" object the first one added to the selection list, it should get used as the fixed object. This is easy to explain and does not require additional elements to clutter the interface.
Comment 9 Gaétan RYCKEBOER 2016-05-18 08:52:06 UTC
May be related to bug 44266
Comment 10 Heiko Tietze 2016-05-31 07:33:45 UTC
(In reply to raal from comment #6)
> For  example inkscape allow more choices to align, see
> http://tavmjong.free.fr/INKSCAPE/MANUAL/html/Align.html

"The alignment of objects is with respect to an anchor. The anchor can be an object or be defined by the selection, drawing, or page; the choice of what is used is set in the pull-down menu Relative to. The object may be specified to be the first or last object selected. If multiple objects are selected at the same time, this is equivalent to the top or bottom object in z-order. Alternatively, the object can be specified to be the biggest or smallest item, where size is determined by the size of the bounding box, the width for vertical alignment and the height for horizontal alignment. The bounding box sides are used as the reference points for alignment except for text, where the baseline is used."


Way too complex. I'd always use the object as reference that was selected first (as also suggested in comment #8). It has to be indicated somehow, e.g selection handles remain visible. But that's a question of tdf#74364.

(In reply to Gaétan RYCKEBOER from comment #9)
> May be related to bug 44266

This one is about the exact placement of a single object taken from the gallery.
Comment 11 Cor Nouws 2016-05-31 07:53:14 UTC
(In reply to Heiko Tietze from comment #10)

> Way too complex. I'd always use the object as reference that was selected
> first (as also suggested in comment #8).

I fully support that idea.
Taking freedom to adjust summary ;)
Comment 12 Xisco Faulí 2017-07-13 09:52:50 UTC
Setting Assignee back to default. Please assign it back to yourself if you're still working on this issue
Comment 13 l0f4r0 2019-03-04 23:09:56 UTC
+1 for this feature request because the existing solution of locking the position of the reference shape is not handy at all!
Comment 14 Buovjaga 2019-08-17 14:37:11 UTC
*** Bug 125049 has been marked as a duplicate of this bug. ***
Comment 15 damateem 2020-05-20 13:26:56 UTC
+1 to make the first selected object the anchor.
Comment 16 Steve Kelem 2023-02-07 01:51:06 UTC
This bug/enhancement has been open for nine and a half years.

Please add the capability of selecting 2 or more objects, the first one being the temporary anchor, then use the user's alignment directive to apply to all the other objects with respect to the first selected object.

I've drawn many complicated drawings in Visio, Vectric Aspire, CorelDraw. They all have the feature of selecting n objects and aligning to the 1st or last object. I prefer aligning to the first object because it makes it easy to select the temporary anchor object, select some objects to align along the Y axis, then deselect all but the anchor and then select some other objects to align along the X axis.

Moving *all* the selected objects during alignment just destroys all preexisting alignments.

Requiring the user to mark an object as fixed for one alignment, and then unmark that object in order to do a 2nd alignment is just extra work that slows the user down.

Please, please, I don't want to go back to Visio.