You have various options to position a graphic object in Stylo and to determine its width and height. We present the different variants here.

1. Move and resize with the mouse or keyboard
2. Input exact values
3. Align and determine size based on other objects
4. Guidelines

Each of the methods has its advantages and disadvantages depending on the situation, which is why no recommendation for a specific variant will be made at this point.

In general, it is advisable to activate the ruler. This can be done via the display menu ("the eye") in the toolbar.

The ruler shows you with offset guidelines (orange arrows) where an object starts, has its center, and ends. This assistance is available in both the horizontal and vertical rulers.

Move and resize with the mouse or keyboard

Working with the mouse

Click on the desired object so that the handles appear. Then press and hold the left mouse button while moving the object.

There is an exception when selecting text frames: A click on a text frame usually means that the cursor should be placed in the text. Therefore, there are two options for selecting text frames:

1. Selection via the edge
   Move the cursor over the edge of the display frame, and the handle points will be slightly highlighted. Now click on the edge to select the text frame.
2. Selection using the keyboard
   While selecting with the mouse, hold down the Ctrl key. Where you are within the text frame does not matter in this case.

Moving behaves like with other graphic objects.

Using the handle points, you can change the objects' width and height. The individual handle points have different meanings:

If the Shift key is pressed while resizing the corner points (orange circles), the object is resized proportionally.

If you move objects while holding down the Shift key, the horizontal or vertical direction is maintained depending on the direction of movement, so you stay on the y- or x-axis: You move "straight".

Working with the keyboard

You can move graphic objects, when selected (see previous section), using the arrow keys and also resize them. You should be aware that particularly resizing with the keyboard is very limited and not recommended.

Ctrl + Arrow keys:
Moves the object step by step in the direction of the cursor.

Shift + Ctrl + Arrow up:
Increases the desired object step by step.

Shift + Ctrl + Arrow down:
Decreases the desired object step by step.

The steps for both moving and resizing are currently not adjustable.

Input exact values

Properties dialog

You can access the properties dialog of graphic objects via the toolbar and the context menu. In this dialog, you will find many options to make specific settings.

Access via the toolbar:

If you prefer to access via the context menu, select the first entry "Properties" from the menu.

The position and size can be determined in the first tab "Basic". You can also change multiple objects simultaneously. Different values will be left blank by the program or the label of the field will be displayed. In the following graphic, the fields with different values are outlined in red:

Below you can see how the operation can typically be carried out:

Object Palette

The properties dialog is admittedly a bit bulky and not very suitable for remaining permanently open on small screens. For these use cases, the Object Palette, which you can find in the settings menu in the toolbar, is recommended.

You can position this palette where you want and make your entries. Your changes will take effect the moment you leave the field (for example, with the mouse or the Tab key) or press the Return key.

Align and determine size based on other objects

If you have already aligned an object precisely and other objects are on the same axis, you can make your life a little easier. The floating toolbox for graphics, which appears automatically, is a valuable helper. In this, you will find tools to align and to make objects the same width and height.

You will find the same tools in the Object Palette as well – see the previous section. The operation is, of course, identical.

Whether you want to align objects or match their size, the procedure is always the same: First, select the objects to be matched, and finally the object that will serve as a reference.

For marking, it is best to use the Ctrl key – but it would also work with a lasso if you can make the selection with this tool.

Red outlined tools: With these tools, you can align objects horizontally. (from left to right: Left, Center, Right)

Yellow outlined tools: With this set, graphic objects can be aligned vertically. (from left to right: Top, Center, Bottom)

Purple outlined tools: The left tool adjusts the width, and the right one adjusts the height. The height cannot be applied to text frames if they have a variable height (which is common). Height and width will not take effect if the graphic object is protected or has been assigned automations, such as a relative width or height.

In the following example, the lower text frame is first adjusted to the size of the other text frames before, in the second step, all text frames are selected and the left position is aligned with the first text frame.

Guidelines

Guidelines can assist in positioning objects and resizing – they are magnetic, so objects snap to them when they are close.

To work with guidelines, both the ruler and the "Guidelines" function must be activated via the display menu.

Guidelines can be pulled out from the ruler area. When moving guidelines, the current position is displayed in the upper left corner of the Stylo window. Precise positioning of the guidelines is possible via the properties dialog or the Object Palette.

Below you can see how graphic objects behave when you come close to a guideline while dragging: