Distribute Graphic Objects Not Working

Hi TaliesinSoft,
Welcome to Pages '09.

It sounds as though you didn't group the photos.

With the photos on the screen hold down the Command key then click each photo.
At the top of the screen click Arrange > Group. You now have one item.
Click Inspector > Metrics Inspector, at the bottom is Rotate. Together now they will rotate.

These Discussions are enduser helping enduser, not Apple employees answering questions. Apple provides these discussion forums for endusers however, Apple neither monitors nor engages in discussions. Enduser such as yourself when they have extra time answer questions.

Again, welcome to Pages '09 Discussions, have fun here.

Cordially,
RicD

Ric you have not understood what the OP has said.

The distribute feature is supposed to spread several different objects evenly either horizontally or vertically, see p155 of the UserGuide.

…and yes it is not working properly, when I tested it with 3 objects, nothing happened horizontally and only 2 distributed vertically.

I think this is worth a bug report back to Apple.

Hi PeterBreis0907,
Thanks for your heads up. I'll now go re-read those pages in the users guide.

I'm not having a good week on these discussions, twice in a week that I have misunderstood a OP. Ole-timers is not a good thingy.

You made me realize I must look into adjusting my medication and my tri-focals as well. 😟

Cordially,

RicD

Hi PeterBreis0907,
Yes you and the OP are correct it isn't performing properly. Actually quite strangely.

Here's what I did:
1. Sized the photos so they could fit side by side slightly overlaid within the margins.
2. Click Arrange > Distribute > Horizontally. They did it properly; good start.
3. Click Arrange > Distribute > Vertically, bam, everything is misaligned. Not a pretty sight.
4. Again click Arrange > Distribute > Vertically, the photos flip in place vertically. Is that weird or what?

Yes I agree this is worth a bug report back to Apple. I'll send one as well.

Oh, I think my medication is now kicking in.

Cordially,

RicD

"If I create four overlapping graphic objects..."

In AppleWorks, this was more accurately labeled "Distribute space between objects."

Distribute objects works (in the limited testing I did) when there is empty space to be distributed, but not if the objects overlap (in the direction for which space is to be distributed).

If you can position a vertical line where it crosses more than one of the objects, then vertical distribution will not work.

If you can position a horizontal line where it crosses more than one of the objects, then horizontal distribution will not work.

Regards,
Barry

I think the problem is that "distribute" is intended to make the space between objects even. If there's not enough space on the page, then this can't be done, and the results are sort of a jumble. Keynote avoids this problems by positioning objects off the slide, but Pages doesn't really allow for objects which are off the page (if you move it off the page downward, you'll end up moving it to a different page).
Experiment with smaller objects and you'll see what I mean. Looks like "distribute" isn't well defined for situations where the objects can't be distributed on the page.

It seems to work for me, let's examine what you're doing compared to what I'm doing to see where we differ.

1) Create three shapes on top of each other.
2) Select all three shapes.
3) Arrange > Distribute Objects > Horizontally

What should happen is that the objects should spread out horizontally such that the bounding box on the right of one touches the bounding box on the left of the other. Something similar should happen when you distribute Vertically.



If shapes work right, then the difference must be between images and shapes. Click your image, check the "Wrap" tab in the inspector and see what Object Placement is set to be. If it's Inline, then there's more than just the image's position determining where it will go.

Ah, that may be it. I've always thought of "Distribute" as "even space between objects" but if you're expecting the software to "distribute centers evenly between the leftmost object and the rightmost object (or top and bottom objects)", then iWork doesn't handle that.

Just checked my test document again. Kyn Drake's illustration is consistent with what happened with overlapping objects in a second test. Poor observation on my part the first time round, as the results I recall did fit that description as well.

Regards,
Barry

My objects were well within the page. Pages had plenty of room to do its "stuff".

Right, it only works that way in Pages when the objects are not overlapping (three objects spaced apart with a third in-between, only the third will move).