Little step saves time, reduces agro

[amoore]

I've been redoing a series of web banners, which requires setting up the content in a drawing file, then copying it into an animation file. When you paste from a drawing file to an animation file, the object doesn't usually land in the same place relative to the canvas, so I wasted a lot of time trying to use matching guidelines. Silly me.

I finally figured out that I could snap the ruler origins to the upper left corner of the banner background image to get the same coordinates in both files. Then, it's just a question of checking the coordinates in the drawing file and reproducing them in the animation file after you paste. (Pasting in place won't work.)

To snap the ruler origin, turn on Snap to Objects and make sure your ruler coordinate directions are going the same way in both files (Options | Grid and Ruler tab). Then grab the crosshair where the rulers meet and drag it to the corner of the image. Voila!

One thing to be aware of: Note the coordinates in the drawing file before you copy the object. Xtreme has a weird little bug that temporarily changes the the unit type for the x coordinate when you execute a copy command.

[raynerj1]

Nice tip Allison. thanks!

[salaam]

Yeah thanks.
I used to just paste so that the object lands in the middle but once you move your view (x or y) you are in trouble.

[haakoo]

Nice tip and to add to this you can;

-create the canvas of the animation to the right size
-put guides at the edges of the canvas
-Make your drawing,create a (transparent)rect as backmost object
-make this rect the same size as your canvas in the animation.
-ctrl+a>Q(clipview)
-copy/paste the clipview to the animation canvas and drag to the guides

Hans

[amoore]

Yes, the clipview approach will work very well in some situations. In this case, the only thing changing from frame to frame was the text. Using clipviews would make it harder to tweak the text positions in the animation file, or to change the text (as very nearly became necessary when I finalized the banners with our marketing director).

[Xhris]

Further information on changing the page origin can be found in the "Grid, Guides, Snapping, and Scale Line Widths" tutorial I wrote some time back.

[gwpriester]

When you paste (Ctrl v) Xtreme pastes the selection in the center of the page. If the objects you are pasting are not the same size they may paste in a different spot.

I wonder what would happen if you pasted the banner rectangle each time if that would help as long as the banner rectangle is the largest object.