Magnetic assistance
Screen-space tolerance acquires a nearby eligible target and releases from raw pointer intent.
Precision placement
Varve keeps deliberate movement, magnetic assistance, and one-shot arrangement separate so a precise command stays precise.
Exact nudging
Focus the canvas with an eligible selection, then press an Arrow key. Arrow uses the configured small amount; Shift + Arrow uses the independently configured big amount. Values accept positive fractions and are stored in canonical geometry units, while Settings displays them in your General unit preference.
Camera zoom, camera rotation, device scale, and object rotation do not change the requested displacement. With snapping disabled, an object at x = 10.25moved right by 1 ends at x = 11.25. Keyboard nudging does not reparent an object or apply pointer snapping.
Open Settings → Nudging & Movement to edit the two amounts or restore their defaults. Numeric fields and the Inspector's position controls provide pointer-friendly alternatives to a physical keyboard.
Scoped snapping
Pointer movement uses the current world-space pointer proposal, then applies at most one common correction to a multi-selection. Candidate scope is the active editing surface; moving roots and their dependent descendants are excluded. Current targets include visible object edges and centers, page/frame bounds, ruler guides, document/layout grids, and the explicit pixel-grid mode where enabled.
Configure pointer snapping in the Inspector's Document → Snappingsection. The tolerance is 1–32 CSS pixels, with separate switches for object geometry, page/frame bounds, and ruler/layout guides. Reset snapping restores those viewport preferences; document-grid snap and integer pixel snap remain separate controls in Document Grid.
Temporary bypass
Hold Ctrl on Linux/Windows or Cmd on macOS during a drag to bypass snapping without changing the drag origin.
Explainable feedback
Transient guides retain target identity, source feature, target feature, correction, and category so a stale lock cannot describe a replacement.
Grid and pixel alignment are separate from ordinary magnetic snapping. Turning on a visible grid does not round all document coordinates, and moving an object with Arrow keys does not silently snap it to an integer.
Selection handles use these same scoped line targets. With proportional resize enabled, a snapped edge or corner keeps the original aspect ratio and fixed opposite anchor; Varve never rounds width and height independently.
Alignment and distribution
In the Inspector's Align & Distribute bar, choose the reference before executing an operation: selection bounds, a containing frame, an explicit page, or a key object. The active reference is visible in the control, and the key object remains stationary. A single eligible object can still align to a page or valid frame.
| Mode | Meaning | Availability |
|---|---|---|
| Equal gaps | Equal edge-to-edge gaps across a fixed span; object sizes remain part of the calculation. | Three or more eligible objects |
| Equal centers | Equal intervals between reference centers; it is not an equal-gap operation. | Three or more eligible objects |
| Fixed gap | Places objects with the entered signed gap after stable spatial ordering. | Two or more eligible objects |
| Tidy Up | One-time grid arrangement that does not create persistent auto layout. | Two or more eligible objects |
Commands preserve dimensions, transforms, styles, parentage, and paint order. A completed command is one undo entry; Escape or pointer cancellation restores a spacing preview. Guides describe the applied result and its reference rather than a stale pre-command snapshot. See Auto Layout when children are intentionally flow-managed.
Focus and accessibility
Arrow keys belong to the focused text field, number field, slider, toolbar, dialog, or IME composition. The canvas only owns them when it has focus. If a keyboard is not available, use the numeric Position & Size controls, Align & Distribute actions, or fixed-gap field; these paths do not require a drag.
For the complete current bindings and platform modifier labels, seeKeyboard Shortcuts. For grid origins, subdivisions, and pixel-grid semantics, see Grid Systems.