Rotate to Collisions Tool Operations

As the Rotate To Collision tool has several keypresses which can add or change its functionality, we strongly suggest installing the free Astute Graphics plugin Astute Buddy, which creates a panel that dynamically updates to inform you of the various keys which can be pressed in the tool’s current context.

Clicking

Clicking with the Rotate To Collision tool relocates the rotation center point, indicated by a small red crosshair. This can be done whether or not artwork is selected (however, if artwork is not selected, then selecting it to actually rotate it may result in the rotation center point automatically moving if the preference Reset Rotation Center On New Selection is enabled (see Rotate To Collision: Preferences).

Doubleclicking

Doubleclicking on the rotation center point crosshair icon allows you to set its position numerically:

Rotate to Collisions Tool - Rotation Center Dialog

Dragging

If no artwork is selected, dragging with the Rotate To Collision tool simply relocates the rotation center point. Otherwise, all the selected art objects are rotated around the rotation center point in a manner similar to the native Rotation tool, except that they will snap to positions where paths in the selection “collide” with other paths, either at corner points or at places where the paths share a tangency. Small magenta dots will be drawn at spots where the tool has detected points of collision. The snap tolerance is 12 pixels by default but can be changed (see Rotate To Collision: Preferences).

Rotate to Collisions Tool Example

Pressing one or more modifier keys while dragging artwork changes or adds tool functionality:

Shift: Constrains the rotation of the dragged artwork to increments of 45°. Since this takes precedence over the snapping behavior, it is provided for convenience only, since the same operation could be accomplished with the native Rotation tool.

Option/Alt: Duplicates the dragged artwork instead of moving it.

Command/Ctrl: Overrides collision snapping. This is provided for convenience only, since the same operation could be accomplished with the native Rotation tool.

The following non-modifier keys can be pressed while rotating artwork to toggle or change various tool preferences on the fly (i.e., without having to go to the Rotate To Collision Preferences dialog):

Up/Down Arrows: When the Use Collision Spacing preference is active, increases or decreases the spacing value by the native Keyboard Increment amount.

A: Toggles the Add Points to Paths at Collisions preference.

L: Toggles the Snap To Locked Paths preference.

S: Toggles the Use Collision Spacing preference.

X: Toggles the Snap To Pre-Drag Path Positions preference.