Control Key Stops Snap To Behavior
You’re dragging something near a guide… SNAP! It snaps right to the edge. If that’s what you wanted, then it’s terrific! But if you were trying to get it close, but not on that point, then it’s a hassle. Undo, turn off View > Grid & Guides > Snap to Guides, then try again. What a pain.
Instead, if you’re using a Mac, try holding down the Control key. Yes, the Control key on the Mac. Unfortunately, it doesn’t appear to work in Windows. But on the Mac, if you hold that down while dragging something (that is, start dragging, then hold it down), InDesign temporarily disables the Snap to behavior.
And it doesn’t just disable the snap behavior of objects; it also stops panels from snapping to (docking to) the side of the screen or (in CS4) document windows from snapping into others (so they don’t become tabbed windows) and it temporarily turns off Smart Guides.
Why doesn’t this work on Windows? Well, the Control-drag does appear to stop panels from docking to the sides of the screen in Windows. But it doesn’t appear to have any effect on object-dragging, smart guides, etc. I’m not entirely sure why.
(Adobe responded privately that it’s because the Control key is “already used” in Windows, but that doesn’t make sense to me… holding down the Ctrl key on Windows after you start dragging doesn’t do anything special, does it? Seems to me that they could make a way for this to work. Anyone have suggestions?)
Good tip!
Adobe’s response that the Ctrl key is “already used” in Windows makes zero sense. In fact, it is used in Photoshop for the very purpose of temporarily turning snap off. Perhaps the ID team could ask the PS engineers for a little advice…
It is even better: With ‘Snap to Guides’ deactivated, you can temporarily turn the snapping on, while dragging with the Ctrl key down. I don’t think you can do that in Photoshop.
Excellent point, Florian! Thank you.
Great tip! I really wish it applied to Windows as well as I work back and forth between both machines using the Adobe CS software.
Is there no way to make it work in Windows? I found that unchoosing “snap to guides” doesn’t always work either. Sometimes it continues to snap anyway. This happens when I am trying to change the size of a figure by dragging.
Actually, it does work in Windows if you do it slightly different. Instead of dragging *then* holding down Control, like described above for a Mac, in Windows just hold down Control and drag. Snap is turned off!
This works for me on a PC using InDesign CS4. Love it, especially sense there doesn’t seem to be a way to turn off the snap in the preferences.
I find Ctrl+Shift+; and Ctrl+Shift+’ help very much. Its the hotkey to toggle the snap. First one for guides, second for grid.