Aligning Layers¶
This tutorial will show you how to use the tools in the alignment panel to align two image layers.
NOTE The user must have View Anchor and Add Anchor turned on to place and add anchors.
Moving Layers¶
Open the
Digital Logic
project.In the Layers window, set the
m1
andCA
image layers to visible. Set a orange color for theCA
image layer.In the Layers window, right-click on
m1
to bring up the context menu. ChooseReset Warp
.Go to the
Alignment
tab and clickMove
.Click and drag to move the
m1
layer around. If you want to undo a move, useCtrl+Z
.
Using Anchors¶
The Move, Scale, and Warp tools work for smaller image layers, but they are difficult to use with large image layers. On the other hand, the anchor system allows users to align two large image layers very quickly.
Select
View Anchors
.Click the add button in the Anchors window. Leave anchor mode as
Interlayer Alignment
and setm1
as the target layer, andCA
as the reference layer. Click the Create button.Select the
m1 - CA
group in the Anchors window. ClickAdd Anchor
.In the upper left corner, click and drag to move the
m1
layer until it is lined up with theCA
layer. An anchor point will be added when the mouse button is released.Continue to add anchors until the
m1
layer is aligned to theCA
layer. For this small layer, 20 points are enough. The anchor system relies on the warp resolution, so it is important to increase the warp resolution for large image layers, so that the anchor system has plenty of warp points to move around.
Layer Orthogonal Tool¶
Using this tool allows the user to straighten the image. To do this, click the + sign in the Anchor Groups and then select the layer that is to be straightened. The easiest way to straighten the image is to try and find a line or straight segment that runs through the whole image. Left clicking and dragging the orthogonal anchor through the straight line will force the image to become straightened to that line. When using the orthogonal tool, most images only require two lines, one horizontal and one vertical.
Cell Alignment¶
The “cell” alignment type for anchor groups is used to align a collection of cells to an image layer. The primary use case for this form of alignment is in conjunction with the “fill with memory grid” tool, which creates a grid of child cells within a parent cell. The created cells may not be perfectly aligned with the structures they are meant to bound, but there could be too many to adjust by hand. By using a cell alignment anchor group, these cells can be aligned in the same way that two layers can be aligned. When creating the group, the user must select a stationary image layer and a parent cell. The parent cell is the cell containing the child cells which are misaligned with the stationary image layer. Once the anchor group has been created, the standard anchor tools can be used to place anchors to align the cells to the image. There is one caveat, though. Because aligning cells can be a long-running operation, the system will not automatically execute an alignment operation after a cell anchor has been placed. Instead, the cells will snap back to their former position to allow the user to continue to add anchors. The apparent cell alignment will not improve unless the user clicks the “align anchors” button to perform the alignment.
More Information¶
For more information please click this link View Anchors