Rotate

For precise control of the rotation, or to use a point other than the selection's center as the rotation center, you can open the rotation form from the Drawing Tab.

Selected items in the 2D View can be rotated to a new orientation using this tool. The rotation options form can be activated from the tool icon on the Drawing Tab. Alternatively you can use the interactive transform mode (where the form is not required) directly from the 2D View.

With this form open the additional Pivot Point handle is available (two concentric circles initially positioned at the center of your selection) for you to click and drag in the 2D View. The Pivot Point (around which the selection will be rotated) responds to the currently enabled snapping options to help you to position it precisely on significant locations within your artwork. Hold down the Shift key to temporarily disable snapping while you drag the Pivot Point.

Watch this video to see this in action:

Pivot Point

On the form there are also six radio button options for snapping the rotation Pivot Point to the selection itself or to a precise position. The first five options allow you to snap to the corners and center of your selection.

Use Coordinates

The X and Y edit boxes allows you to precisely specify the position of the Pivot Point. This is also the option that will be selected by default if you drag the pivot point using your mouse directly in the 2D View.

Type of Rotation and Angle

This controls what the angle value does.

  • Relative will simply rotate the object by the given angle. For example, you can enter a small angle, and then rotate multiple times to nudge the object a little bit at a time. A positive angle results in a counter clockwise rotation. A negative angle results in a clockwise rotation.
  • Absolute will set the rotation of the object to the given angle. For example, setting a zero angle here will reset the rotation of the object back to its original orientation (as long as the rotation hasn't been baked).

Keep in mind that when rotating an object, it's rotation is maintained so that you can restore the rotation or scale along its original axes later on if required.

Interactive Rotation

Generally the most convenient way to rotate an object in the 2D View is to use interactive transform. This mode is initiated by clicking the selected object twice with the cursor. The process is:

  • Select the object by clicking on it in the 2D View (or multiply select objects using box selection or by shift-clicking on them).
  • Click the selection a second time to activate the interactive options rotation handles on the selection box.
  • Click and drag on the blue handles (solid squares) at the far corners of the selection to rotate it.

Note

Holding down an Alt key when dragging to rotate the object snaps to angular rotation steps of 15° increments.

Usable In Both Views

This tool can be used in both the 2D and 3D View.

2D View offers a more direct way to view your vectors while the 3D view offers more flexibility to work with Vectors in 3D Designs and to make use of the Edit Boxes.

When in the 2D view, a number of the forms tools will be driven by options in the form only.

  • Middle - Move the vectors (Hold Alt and move the selected objects in one axis)
  • Middle - Click a second time to switch to Rotational center. Click and drag the Rotational Anchor to reposition the Rotational Center of the current selection.
  • Corner (White) - Scale the vectors proportionally (Hold Alt for scaling non-proportionally, Shift to scale around the centre)
  • Edges (White) - Scale the vector in one axis (Hold Shift for scaling proportionally)
  • Corner (Black) - Rotate the vectors (Hold Alt to Rotate in 15° increments) about the Rotation Center.

In the 3D view, there is an expanded number of handles to directly edit the vector within the view, without needing to use the creation form on the left.

In the 3D View, the Handles are:

  • Middle - Move the vectors (Hold Alt to Move the selected objects in one axis)
  • Middle - Click a second time to switch to Rotational center. Click and drag the Rotational Anchor to reposition the Rotational Center of the current selection.
  • Corner (White) - Scale the vectors proportionally (HoldAlt for scaling non-proportionally, orShift to scale around the centre)
  • Edges (Black) - Scale the vector in one axis (Hold Shift for scaling proportionally)
  • Rotation Arrow (Top Black) - Rotate the vectors (Hold Alt to rotate in 15° increments)
  • White circles are properties unique to this tool to allow direct mouse editing of values in the tool form from within the view.

When you select a Transform Handle, it will activate the appropriate Edit Box for that Handle.

If you need an exact value for a field while dragging it, release the mouse button and type in the desired value, followed by Enter to accept the new value.