In addition to the grid discussed in the previous section, there is another positioning aid for objects: guides.
You can add horizontal and vertical guides (see below for more information) and enable the "Snap to guides" function. As soon as you move an object near a guide with the mouse, the object automatically snaps to it – as if the guide were magnetic. Something similar happens when you resize an object with your mouse.
Enabling the function "Snap to guides"
To enable or disable the "Snap to guides" function, proceed as follows:
| 1. | Choose the ribbon command View | Grid and guides by clicking directly on the icon  itself. |
| 2. | In the dialog box, switch to the Guides tab. |
| 3. | Enable or disable the option Snap to guides. |
Alternatively: Choose the ribbon command View | Grid and guides by clicking on the arrow of the icon and selecting the entry Snap to guides directly in the dropdown menu. A check mark in front of it indicates that the option is enabled.
Note: Even if this option is disabled, the guides can still be displayed and changed, but they will not have any effect on the repositioning of objects.
Temporarily disabling this function: If the option Snap to guides is enabled, you can temporarily disable it at any time by holding down the Alt key while moving an object with the mouse.
Showing guides
The option Show guides in the above dialog box allows you to specify whether guides should be displayed on the screen.
Alternatively: Click on the arrow of the icon and select Show guides in the dropdown menu.
By default, this option is enabled.
Tip: If the option Show guides is disabled, but the option Snap to guides is enabled, the guides become invisible, but they still retain their function.
Note: Guides appear only on the screen. They do not appear during a slide show or in printouts.
Adding guides in a dialog-box-controlled manner
To set up a new guide, proceed as follows:
| 1. | Choose the ribbon command View | Grid and guides by clicking directly on the icon itself. |
| 2. | In the dialog box, switch to the Guides tab. |
| 3. | Under Horizontal or Vertical, enter where the guide should be set. |
| 4. | Click on the Add button. |
Note: Guides can only be seen on the screen if the option Show guides (see above) is enabled.
Adding guides with the mouse
Alternatively, guides can also be added with the mouse: You can drag vertical guides from the vertical ruler and horizontal guides from the horizontal ruler.
To do so, click with the mouse on one of the rulers and drag the mouse cursor into the text area while holding down the mouse button. Release the mouse button at the point where you want to set the guide.
Tip: If the required rulers are not displayed, enable the option Ruler on the ribbon tab View.
Repositioning and deleting guides
To reposition or delete a guide, proceed as follows:
Dialog box: Choose the ribbon command View | Grid and guides to open the dialog box and switch to the Guides tab. To remove a guide, select it in the list and click on the Delete button. To reposition a guide, delete it and then set a new guide at the desired position.
Mouse: Guides can simply be grabbed with the mouse and dragged to another position. Furthermore: If you slide a guide into the horizontal or vertical ruler, it will be deleted.
Locking guides
To prevent guides from being inadvertently moved with the mouse, they can be "locked".
To do so, choose the ribbon command View | Grid and guides and enable the option Lock guides in the dialog box.
Guides can no longer be moved with the mouse. Their position can only be changed via the dialog box of the ribbon command View | Grid and guides.
Using the "Snap to slide borders" function
If you choose the ribbon command View | Grid and guides and enable the option Snap to slide borders, the four outer edges of slides will behave like guides. Thus, if you drag an object near one of these outer edges, the object will snap to it.
Temporarily disabling this function: If the option Snap to slide borders is enabled, you can temporarily disable it at any time by holding down the Alt key while moving an object with the mouse.
Using the "Snap to other objects" function
FreeOffice: The Snap to other objects function is not included in SoftMaker FreeOffice.
If you choose the ribbon command View | Grid and guides and enable the option Snap to other objects, the program automatically creates "magic" guides for the edges of each object on the current slide. These guides make it a lot easier to position objects perfectly aligned and evenly distributed.
These "magic" guides are usually invisible. They only become visible when you drag an object near such a guide with the mouse. As soon as the guide appears, the object automatically snaps to it. Something similar happens when you resize an object with your mouse.
Some examples of such guides:
▪If you drag an object to a position where it is roughly left-aligned with another object, a guide will automatically appear representing the left edge of the other object. If you let your object snap to it, it will be exactly left-aligned with the existing object.
▪The same applies to the right edge of objects.
▪If you drag an object to a position where it is roughly centered with another object, a guide will automatically appear representing the center of the object. If you let your object snap to it, it will be aligned exactly centered with the other object.
▪If you drag an object to a position below two other objects, you will also see a horizontal guide at the position where this third object would have exactly the same relative distance as the other two objects. (The three objects would then be distributed evenly.)
All of this works in both directions (horizontally and vertically) – for example, an automatic guide is generated for the top and bottom edges of each object.
Temporarily disabling this function: If the option Snap to other objects is enabled, you can temporarily disable it at any time by holding down the Alt key while moving an object with the mouse.
Changing the tolerance of guides
When moving objects, the mouse cursor snaps automatically to a guide by default when it is moved to within 8 pixels of the guide. However, you can change this tolerance at any time. If, for example, you increase the tolerance to "20", the mouse cursor will already snap to the guide if it is within 20 pixels of the guide.
To change the tolerance, use the ribbon command View | Grid and guides (click directly on the icon itself) to open the dialog box and enter the desired value in pixels in the option Tolerance on the Guides tab.