Comments on: Making FileMaker Object Grids Behave

By: Tony Ryan

Tony Ryan — Thu, 06 Dec 2007 22:48:52 +0000

Hi Geoff
I use the grid always but I set it to 5px increments.
Now all my objects are placed in intervals of 5px and their size is always in increments of 5px. I can quickly see if something doesn’t line up the info box when any measurement does not end in 0 or 5.

Of course some objects just won’t fit squarely but I always try where possible.

IMO. Once you get used to it there is no turning back.

By: Alex Barattieri

Alex Barattieri — Thu, 08 Nov 2007 22:09:58 +0000

The grid allows me to work faster, without bothering about alignement. So I usally have it turned on. But there are times, when the layout ‘grows up’, that a tip like this is really helpful. Thank you.

By: Ron Greene

Ron Greene — Wed, 07 Nov 2007 22:35:59 +0000

Geoff: I’m with you! LONG LIVE THE GRID!! So many times I hear a developer talk down the grid and complain that they don’t have as much control with it. Then I see their work and think, “yeah, I can SEE that you don’t use the grid.”

As for the use of a 6-pixel grid, I think it’s perfect. Why? Because it’s divisible by both 2 and 3 (and any multiple, natch). This makes it very flexible.

If only FileMaker would let me check that most wonderful of all settings, “always align pasted objects to grid” …

By: Matt Petrowsky

Matt Petrowsky — Wed, 17 Oct 2007 22:49:36 +0000

Geoff, thanks for this post. I’ve personally NEVER used grids because they always bugged me and I have QuicKeys set up for aligning objects quickly.

However, I must say, you’ve inspired me to adjust my ruler settings to a setting which accounts for a default value of space between buttons. After aligning my first button off the 0,0 grid, I’ll likely work without the grid for designing the layout. When it comes time to place a new button relative to another I’ll quickly toggle the grid on, place the second button - and then turn it back off.

Thanks for the info!

By: Geoff Coffey

Geoff Coffey — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 20:59:53 +0000

@fenton: I think for me the bigger advantage of the grid is not alignment, but spacing. It is usually pretty easy to ling things up visually (if they’re off by one pixel it is pretty obvious if they’re reasonably close). But it is hard to tell if they’re equally spaced. The “distribute” options in the alignment window work well for a set of items, but not when you want to add another item to an existing collection and keep the spacing perfect.

With grids, I just know tacitly that these sorts of things are one grid-unit apart, and some other objects should be two units apart. Once everything is snapped to a single grid (per the tip on this page) then it is super-easy to put stuff in a tab control and be sure they’re correctly inset from the top and left. Or to put a collection of fields together and know they all have the correct spacing between them.

For me at least, it is really hard to see if something has the right amount of space. When I don’t use grids, I find I’m always overlapping edges, then pressing the arrow key the prescribed number of times to get it into place. With grids it is just much easier for me to throw it in place and move on.

By: Fenton Jones

Fenton Jones — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 19:31:58 +0000

While I can see how people might want to do this, I always set my Rulers grid to 1 pixel. I use an Cmd-Opt-Arrow key combo to align selected objects. Combined with the Cmd-drag to select objects touched, you can line up a lot of objects quickly.

There’s obviously 2 different types of people in the world, those that align their objects first, and those that align them after. But I don’t like to button my shirts sequentially either :-]

By: Geoff Coffey

Geoff Coffey — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 18:15:18 +0000

@paul: I know many people in your same camp. No hard feelings

I think the theory behind the 6-pixel thing is that it divides 72 evenly and works well with a 72 DPI basis assuming you’re in to Inches. For example, 3 notches is 1/4 inch, 6 notches is 1/2 inch, 12 notches is 1 inch, and so forth. I may be making this up though. And you can always change it if you prefer a different grid size.

By: Paul Spafford

Paul Spafford — Mon, 08 Oct 2007 18:00:05 +0000

Hey Geoff,

Nice article.

I have never used Object Grids — they just bug me — and I probably never will. Who in the hell decided that 6 pixels was a good default? If it had been 5 or 10, I might not have been so quick to discard Object Grids.

Anyhow, thanks for the article. I always enjoy your input on the lists.

Paul