How to retain alignment via copy/paste?

[Mavoz]

Hi, I''m very new to filemaker..I'm trying to adapt one of the 3 tabbed templates by moving some of the Graphics tab elements higher up so I have more room below.

I move the graphics on one form...but then of course they need adjusting on the other 2 forms as well. I've tried copying the graphics I like because they are in the right spot...then I move to the next tabbed form...on this one I paste...but my pasted version does not go to the exact same spot.

How do I easily get my graphics to the exact same spot on the next form? (So that when I browse from one tab to the next the headings/graphics features are perfectly aligned.) At the moment it is a very fiddly job of going backwards and forwards between tabbed forms moving the graphics in small increments trying to retain consistency.

I've tried using some of the guides to help but it is still fiddly.

How do you do this? Thank you for your help...I realise this is no doubt very basic...but I am stuck. Thanks.

[Mavoz]

I just discovered T squares..and that I can position these things. Is this the best way of copying a design from one form to the other?

Thanks.

[Leader]

This is a trick I've been using since FM 0.00003 or something like that:

When you want to do a mass copy with precise alignment, do this:

1. Create a tiny square graphic in the extreme upper left corner of your screen... in the HEADER if you have one, in the BODY only if you don't. Your square will only be a few pixels high and wide, and use the FM rectangle tool to create it.

2. Select everything you want to copy on the screen, and then select the tiny square LAST.

3. Select the layout you want to furnish with the new stuff.

4. Click in the extreme upper left corner of the new layout. The graphics should fall precisely into place. Even if you forget to click in the upper left and just do a paste, they still should place correctly... the extra click was insurance in case you forgot to select the square last in step 2.

5. What if you forgot to both select the little square last AND forgot to click in the upper left corner before pasting?

5a. If your pasted parts are still selected, simply grab the square and drag it into the upper left corner and the other parts will follow.

5b. If you happened to let the parts become deselected, then reselect them and the square and drag it into the upper left corner.

The reason this works is that the little square won't scroll past the upper left corner and therefore acts like a de facto alignment tool.

Send check or money order to Post Office Box...

[bruceR]

The other tip for layout work is to use the "view object size" palette; and click on the unit until it displays in pixels. Then you an easily see where objects are positioned and enter precise coordinates.