Align or distribute features

The Align and Distribute commands uniformly align or evenly distribute selected features to each other. These commands are available on the context menu when you edit features with the Move tool and right-click the map.

Note:

These commands are available only when Map Topology is turned off.

To align or distribute features, complete the following steps:

1. Open a map containing the feature layer you are editing or add the layer to the map.

   Tip:

   Before editing features, specify which layers can be edited, confirm that the coordinate system assigned to the active map is suitable for the type of edits you're performing, and enable the snap agents that allow you to work effectively.

   For a basic checklist of settings, see Configure settings for editing.

2. Click the ribbon Edit tab and do the following:
   1. Click the Topology drop-down list in the Manage Edits group, and choose No Topology .
   2. Click Modify in the Features group.

      The Modify Features pane appears.

3. Expand Alignment, or type Move in the Search text box, and click the Move tool .

   The tool opens and the Select one or more features tool is active.

4. Select the features you are aligning or distributing.

   To refine the selection, right-click a feature in the pane selection tree, and click Unselect or Only Select This .

5. To align the selected features, right-click and choose one of the following commands:

   Set Reference	Specify a location to which the selected features are aligned. Right-click the location and click this command before choosing an align command. The reference location is marked with a blue anchor.
   Align Left	Align the selected features to the left.
   Align Center	Align the selected features to the horizontal center.
   Align Right	Align the selected features to the right.
   Align Top	Align the selected features to the top.
   Align Middle	Align the selected features to the vertical center.
   Align Bottom	Align the selected features to the bottom.

6. To evenly distribute the selected features so there is an equal amount of space between them, right-click and choose one of the following commands:

   Distribute Horizontally	Evenly distribute features horizontally between the leftmost and rightmost selected features.
   Distribute Vertically	Evenly distribute features vertically between the topmost and bottommost selected features.
   Distribute Horizontal Centers	Evenly distribute features horizontally between the leftmost and rightmost selected features from the center of the selection set. The leftmost and rightmost elements do not move.
   Distribute Vertical Centers	Evenly distribute features vertically between the topmost and bottommost selected features from the center of the selection set. The topmost and bottommost elements do not move.

   Note:

   If the total area is insufficient to fit all the selected features, the distribution area is automatically expanded to ensure all features fit without overlapping.

7. Click Finish or press the F2 key.