align by keys like (alt-v) vertical align (alt-h) horizontal align

image show the request :)

I like the idea of keyboard shortcuts for most often used align actions, but Alt+V won't work as it's already taken by View menu mnemonic key.

Any key please, shortcut is fast, is fun :)

I like this idea.. It is good to have some shortcuts in order to make our life/work easier.. :D

indeed that would be extremely helpful and would certainly increase one's efficiency and time spend to go through menus and such.

keyboard shortcuts are a must for such actions.

as for alt+V well indeed it is already used maybe some other key then..

I vaguely remember of a software tool (whose name is not relevant here) that used to have the following shortcuts:

ctrl+alt+ [1,2,3] aligns horizontally to left, center and right respectively.
ctrl+alt+ [4,5,6] aligns vertically to top, center and bottom respectively.

And i add that [7,8,9,0] can be used for other types of alignment. Also, whatever it aligns over first or last selected objects, or page, etc. will be choosen by same option seen in ctrl+shift+A panel. Shift key can be used instead of alt key, or any other shortcut you prefer the most.

I hope it helps in some way :)

If this is implemented, please also implement the relevant verbs so these commands can be called from command line.

I think that having shortcuts for these functions should go hand in hand with adding an "Align" entry in the Object menu with a second-level menu list featuring the various ALIGN options. What's odd is that some functions of the TRANSFORM palette are already listed in the Object menu.

Javier's suggestion has given me an idea: how about using some modifier key(s) plus the numbers 1-9, such that people with a numeric keypad can use that (and people without - such as laptop users - can still use the top-row number keys).

In this case, the alignments would be as follows:

MOD+1: Align bottom combined with align left
MOD+2: Align bottom
MOD+3: Align bottom combined with align right
MOD+4: Align left
MOD+5: Align horizontal centre combined with align vertical centre
MOD+6: Align right
MOD+7: Align top combined with align left
MOD+8: Align top
MOD+9: Align top combined with align right

The layout of the numeric keypad would make these combinations easy to understand without having to memorise them all separately.

Missing from the list are shortcuts for aligning the horizontal centre and vertical centre independently. Perhaps MOD+FORWARD_SLASH and MOD+PLUS, as they're the keys that are above and next to the centre lines of the numeric keypad which would keep all the shortcuts together and still make them fairly intuitive. The remaining keys on the keypad could perhaps be used to control the other aspects of alignment - such as cycling through the alignment anchor type.

Related:
Bug #170613 in Inkscape: “shortcut for center object(s) to page”
<https://bugs.launchpad.net/inkscape/+bug/170613>

Mark Crutch's option would certainly be nice!

Here is a patch with all the aligns as verbs.
Based on Mark and Javiers suggestions also includes these assigned shortcuts.

Ctrl+Alt+2 : Align bottom
Ctrl+Alt+4 : Align left
Ctrl+Alt+5 : Align horizontal and vertical center
Ctrl+Alt+6 : Align right
Ctrl+Alt+8 : Align top

Its seems slash, plus and asterisk are already used, so using v and h for the center ...

Ctrl+Alt+v : Align vertical center
Ctrl+Alt+h : Align horizontal center

Committed to trunk as r11611.

Tested on Gnome and Windows 7.
FYI - Ubuntu (Unity/Compiz) has assigned these keypad shortcuts to window positioning. You can reassign these keys from " CompizConfig Settings Manager" (ccsm) app.

John: Uh oh. You jacked one of my most used shortcuts Ctrl+Alt+V, which is for Paste-in-Place.

Sorry, have reverted that mapping (r11650.)

The one who have used Corel DRAW knows that. The most common attribute I had ever used in Corel and I am really seeking for it.

So you backed out the default mapping, but can we custom-map on our own now (ie, are there verbs that we can associate with keys?)

I'm also a former CorelDraw user, and I miss this a lot; I prefer Inkscape, but I guess I do lots of aligning :-)

On 2014-02-18 24:50 +0100, MFeif wrote:
> So you backed out the default mapping, but can we custom-map on our
> own now (ie, are there verbs that we can associate with keys?)

The new verbs will be available in the next major release (0.91), but not in current stable series (0.48.x).

Note that the next major release (0.91) will also include a built-in shortcut editor, which allows to easily assign custom mappings to all commands available as verbs.

I just wanted to say it is wonderful this has finally been implemented!

The shortcuts are cool, but those with the numbers don't work for me at all.

(Caught by default by Window manager - can be deactivated, though)

Any way to make this work in Gnome shell Ubuntu? I'm a total shortcuts junkie and would LOVE to have them for alignment, but the ONLY one working for me is Ctrl + Alt + H.

It would be nice to have option in preferences to set a custom key for it, like the Super/Windows key.

I successfully use the Super key in combination with another key for an other command (switching keyboard layout), it doesn't seem to be a problem that Super key is for going into shell mode, pressing it and releasing it, and pressing and keeping it pressed is distinguished.