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Move, resize, and rotate

Use this page to put objects exactly where you want them on the hoop: drag them for a quick layout, or type numbers when a size or angle has to be exact (a logo that must be 80 mm wide, a name tilted 15°).

With something selected, Transform carries its Position, Size, and Rotation. It is in a compact popover on the essentials bar, and in the Properties panel. As of v1.3.3, Transform is the last section of Properties and starts folded, since Properties now opens on Stitch options; unfold it once and it stays open the next time you select something.

On the canvas​

With the Select tool:

  • Drag the body to move it. The cursor is an open hand that closes as it moves.
  • Drag a handle to resize. The cursor becomes a resize arrow.
  • Drag a corner past the handle to rotate. The cursor changes to a rotate cursor, and the rotation field updates as you drag.

The cursor always shows what a press will do: select, move, resize, or rotate. Over a shape's entry or exit marker it becomes a small diamond in that marker's color, green for entry, red for exit, so on a small fill where the two overlap you can see which one you are about to drag (new in v1.3.2).

Arrow keys nudge the selection: 0.1 mm on its own, 1 mm with Shift, 10 mm with Ctrl/Cmd.

The anchor point​

The anchor point is which part of the object those numbers are about. It is:

  • The point the X and Y describe.
  • The point that stays put when you change the width or height.
  • The point a rotation turns around, whether you type an angle or drag the handle.

It is marked by a cross on the canvas, and it rides the shape: it stays on the same part of the object through moves, resizes and rotations.

Set it two ways:

  • Nine presets: top left, top middle, top right, middle left, middle, middle right, bottom left, bottom middle, bottom right.
  • Drag the cross anywhere you like on the shape. Hold Shift to snap it back to the nearest preset.
Rotating about a corner

Set the anchor to a corner and that corner stays put while the shape turns around it. With the anchor in the middle, the shape spins in place.

Example: tilt a name 15° without moving its start
  1. Select the name.
  2. In Transform, set the anchor point to bottom left.
  3. Type 15 in Rotation.

The bottom-left corner, where the name starts, stays exactly where it was.

Pixel art stays pixel art

Fixed in v1.4.0: resizing or rotating a pixel sprite, with the handles, the Rotate dialog, or as part of a multi-selection, keeps it a sprite you can open in the pixel editor. It used to turn into plain one-color shapes.

Keep the proportions​

A padlock between the width and height fields, Constrain proportions, keeps the two in step: change one and the other follows. As of v1.3.2 it is on every surface with a width and height (the essentials bar's Transform popover, the Properties panel for shapes, reference images, stitch blocks and folders, and a multi-selection), and it is on by default everywhere. Click it to size the two independently.

For example, to make a logo exactly 80 mm wide, leave the padlock closed and type 80 in the width: the height follows, and the logo keeps its shape.

Exact numbers​

Edit → Translate… and Edit → Rotate… open dialogs for typing an exact move or an exact angle.

Units sit inside the field, right after the number ("15°"), in both the Properties panel and the compact popover.

Several objects at once​

Select more than one and the essentials bar offers Align and Combine:

  • Align lines the selection up on an edge or a center.
  • Combine is the boolean set: Union and Intersection on two or more shapes, Subtract and Exclude on exactly two.

Group (Ctrl/Cmd+G) makes a folder that carries its own transform, so moving the folder moves everything in it. See Objects and layers.