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Transforming objects freely

You can use the Free Transform tool to freely transform objects, groups, instances, or text blocks. You can perform individual transformations or combine several transformations, such as moving, rotating, scaling, skewing, and distortion.

To transform freely:

  1. Select a graphic object, instance, group, or text block on the Stage.
  2. Click the Free Transform tool.

    Moving the pointer over and around the selection changes the pointer to indicate which transformation function is available.

  3. Drag the handles to transform the selection, as follows:
    • To move the selection, position the pointer over the object within the bounding box, and drag the object to a new position. Do not drag the transformation point.
    • To set the center of rotation or scaling, drag the transformation point to a new location.
    • To rotate the selection, position the pointer just outside a corner handle and drag. The selection rotates around the transformation point.

      Shift-drag to rotate in 45° increments.

      Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Macintosh) to rotate around the opposite corner.

    • To scale the selection, drag a corner handle diagonally to scale in two dimensions. Drag a corner handle or a side handle horizontally or vertically to scale in the respective direction only. Shift-drag to resize proportionally.
    • To skew the selection, position the pointer on the outline between the transformation handles and drag.
    • To distort shapes, press Control (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) and drag a corner handle or a side handle. Shift-Control-drag (Windows) or Shift-Command-drag (Macintosh) a corner handle to taper the object—to move the selected corner and the adjoining corner equal distances from their origins. For more information on distorting objects, see Distorting objects.

    Note: The Free Transform tool cannot transform symbols, bitmaps, video objects, sounds, gradients, or text. If a multiple selection contains any of these, only the shape objects are distorted. To transform text, first convert the characters to shape objects.

  4. To end the transformation, click outside the selected object, instance, or text block.
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