Working with the Stage

The Stage takes up the largest part of the document window. It displays the visual items (layers) of the currently selected slide. A visual item may be an image, a movie, or a title. These visual items can be freely moved, sized, and rotated on the Stage.

The Stage displays directly above the Storyboard/Timeline view. When a single slide is selected in the Storyboard/ Timeline, the slide is displayed in the Stage. If only a single layer is selected, then it has a white outline (stroke) in the Stage.

If Animation is turned in for this slide, then the Stage displays two parts. The left side displays the start of an animation and the right side displays the end or finish of the animation. Using different positions and zoom values on the left and right sides defines the animation for a layer. For more detailed information, see The Stage and Working With Layers.

Moving a Layer

There are several options to move a selected layer:

Drag the selected layer to move it to the desired position.
Press the ⌘ and arrow keys to move by a single pixel.
Right-click on the layer and select Edit Geometry from the context menu, to enter the position values numerically.

Zooming a Layer

There are several options for zooming a selected layer:

Drag the Zoom jogwheel left or right to zoom the selected layer.
Option-click the selected layer and drag up or down to zoom the selected layer.
Press the ⌘+ or ⌘- keys zoom up or down in small increments.
Right-click on the layer and select Edit Geometry from the context menu, to enter the zoom value numerically.
Clicking and dragging one of the corner points of a selected layer both zooms and re-positions it.

Rotating a Layer

There are several options for rotating a selected layer:

Drag the Rotation jogwheel left or right to rotate the selected layer.
Clicking just outside the borders of a layer, and then dragging around its center rotates a layer.
Cmd-click the selected layer and drag around its center to rotate the selected layer.
Right-click on the layer and select Edit Geometry from the context menu, to enter the rotation value numerically.

Magnetic Guidelines

While moving, zooming, and rotating layers, sometimes green or yellow guidelines show up and the layer snaps to these guidelines. Green guidelines are for Stage edges or center, while yellow guidelines indicate layer edges or center. With the help of these guidelines it is easy to quickly align layers on the Stage:

Using the green guidelines you can zoom a layer to the Stage boundaries
Using the yellow guidelines, you can align one layer with another layer
Using the yellow guidelines, you can align a layer on the Start and Finish sides of the Stage

If you want to temporarily disable automatic snapping to these guidelines, then press the Ctrl key while moving, zooming, or rotating the layer.

Copy & Paste Geometry

Sometimes you want to apply the position, zoom and rotation values of a layer to another layer. In this situation, right-click on the layer, and select Copy Geometry from the context menu. Then right-click another layer, and select Paste Geometry from the context menu. Both layers now have the same position, zoom, and rotation values. Use this technique to:

Use this technique to apply the same geometry to a layer on the left and right side of the Stage. This way to effectively disable animation for a single layer.

Use this technique to apply the same geometry to a layer of the following slide. This is useful to achieve some special effects. You will know when you need it.