# Distribute

The distribute method is for distributing artworks, either to each other, or a target artwork or an artboard 🤞.

# Basic Distribute Operations

To distribute as you would using the algin panel you simply specify the distribute property.
In addition to left, right, top, bottom, and center you can distribute by the four corner points, topLeft, topRight, bottomLeft and bottomRight. When the distribute property is set to center or one of the four corner anchor points it will by default distribute both horizontally and vertically. To distribute the artworks just horizontally or vertically, set the direction property to h or v.
To distribute by spacing, set the distributeSpacing property to either, h, v or hv.
To specify the spacing between the artwork set the gap property.

# Distribute to Artboard

To distribute to an artboard, set either the case sensitive artboardName or the artboardNumber properties.

# Key Artwork

To set the key artwork, use the keyArt property and the other artwork will be distibuted relative to the key artwork.
When a keyArt is set, if a gap is given, the artworks to be distributed will be distribute with even gaps around the keyArt, artwork to the left of the key will be moved left and to the right, right.
When a gap is not given, the artworks will be distributed within the key art.

# Preview Bounds

The usePreviewBounds property is used to determine whether to use the preview bounds which include the artwork's stroke width and effect dimentions or the artwork's geometric bounds which do not. The default setting should match the "User Preview Bounds" value in your Illustrator General Settings.

Distribute

Before distribute

Offset Distribute

After distribute
keyArt: rectangle usePreviewBounds: false

Distribute

After distribute
keyArt: rectangle usePreviewBounds: true

# zOrder

If set to true, the items on either side of the key art will be distribute by their z-order, with front most items positioned to the left.

Distribute

Z-Order of Artwork

Offset Distribute

Before distribute

Distribute

After distribute
keyArt: axis zOrder: false

Offset Distribute

After distribute
keyArt: axis zOrder: true

# Distribute Properties

Property	Description
distribute / anchorPoint	The anchor point to distribute from. If used without setting other parameters, acts the same as clicking the distribute icons on the Distribute panel. If set to `left` it will horizontal distribute left, etc. If set to `bottomRight` it will vertical distribute bottom and horizonta distribute right, as they would if you click on the `bottom` and then `left` distribute icons on the distribute panel. If set to `center` you it will center distribute both horizontally and vertically 🤞, to center distribute just horizontally or vertically, set the `direction` property to `h` or `v`. Valid Values: `tl` `topLeft` `1`, `t` `top` `2`, `tr` `topRight` `3` `l` `left` `4`, `c` `center` `5`, `r` `right` `6` `bl` `bottomLeft` `7`, `b` `bottom` `8`, `br` `bottomRight` `9`
distributeSpacing	Distributes the artworks by seprating them an equal distance. Valid Values: `h` `horizontal`, `v` `vertical`, `hv` `vh` `horizontalVertical` `verticalHorizontal`
gap	The gap that between each artwork Example Values: `100`, `2"`, `1mm` etc.
direction	The direction to distribute the items. In most cases it does not need to be set as it will be inferred from the distribute anchor point, for example `left` will default to a `horizontal` direction and `top` to a `vertical` direction. It needs to be used for `center` to limit the direction to `horizontal` or `vertical` or to override a default direction. Valid Values: `h` `horizontal`, `v` `vertical`, `hv` `vh` `horizontalVertical` `verticalHorizontal`
keyArt / key / target	The tag search of the key artwork that the other artworks will be distributed either to its bounds are around it. If used with gap the the other artwork will be placed at the given gap around the key artwork and if used without gap the other artwork will be distributed as per its bounds Example Values: `cow`, `cat`, `dog`
skip	`skip` is a generic property for all methods, when set to true, the method will be skipped. See * and Skip for details. Valid Values: `true` or `false`
tagSearch	The tag search of the items to distribute
usePreviewBounds	Whether to use the preview bounds which include the artwork's stroke width and effect dimentions or the artwork's geometric bounds which do not. Valid Values: `true`, `false`
zOrder	If set to true, the items on either side of the key art will be distribute by their z-order, with front most items positioned to the left.

# Sample Distribute Spreadsheet

# distribute.csv

								description
dartyLogo								description
distribute								text
distribute	distributeSpacing	keyArt	artboardNumber	direction	gap	usePreviewBounds	zOrder	replace

center								Center X & Y distribution of art tagged "dartyLogo", with each object between the start & end objects' centers evenly spaced horizontally & vertically.
left								Horizontal distribution of art tagged "dartyLogo", with each middle object's left-coordinate distributed evenly on the X axis.
	h							Center X distribution of art tagged "dartyLogo", with each object between the start & end objects' centers evenly spaced horizontally.
	hv	axis					FALSE	Horizontal & vertical distribution of art tagged "dartyLogo", with all objects distributed within the bounding area of all artwork tagged "axis", without honoring the stacking order of the objects in the layer panel.
	hv	axis					TRUE	Horizontal & vertical distribution with all objects distributed within the bounding area of all artwork tagged "axis", which honors the stacking order of the objects in the layer panel.
left		axis			40px	TRUE	TRUE	Horizontal distribution of art tagged "dartyLogo", which honors the stacking order and puts 40 pixels between each object's left/right sides, with alignment from the left bound of the bounds of all artwork tagged "axis". Uses preview bounds
left		axis			40px	FALSE	TRUE	Horizontal distribution of art tagged "dartyLogo", which honors the stacking order and puts 40 pixels between each object's left/right sides, with alignment from the left bound of the bounds of all artwork tagged "axis". Does not use preview bounds.
left		axis			40px		TRUE	Horizontal distribution of art tagged "dartyLogo", which honors the stacking order and puts 40 pixels between each object's left/right sides, with alignment from the left bound of the bounds of all artwork tagged "axis". Uses Illustrator's setting for preview bounds.
center			1	vertical				Vertical distribution of all the objects across the 1st artboard.
center			1	hv				Horizonal & vertical distribution of all the objects tagged "dartyLogo", across the 1st artboard. (If text-wrap is on the objects and they run into this text, they should make the text avoid the object(s))
bl				hv				Horizontal & vertical distribution of art tagged "dartyLogo", with the middle object's bottom-left coordinate being distributed evenly.
tr				hv				Horizontal & vertical distribution of art tagged "dartyLogo", with the middle object's top-right coordinate being distributed evenly.