Repositioning components by specifying x and y coordinates

Hi - I’m not sure if this is a bug or if I’m missing something. I’m using Glyphs 3.0.4 (3108), and when I add a component and disable automatic alignment, I’m able to reposition the component using arrows, including the SHIFT and CMD + arrow options. However, I am unable to type in x/y coordinates, e.g. if I want the component to sit on the baseline I have to use arrows to move it, I cannot simply type in ‘0’ on the y-axis for the bass of the component.

Does it also occur in the latest beta? Go to Glyphs > Preferences > Updates, activate both checkboxes and press the Update button.

1 Like

The same thing seems to occur even after updating. I can place the cursor in the coordinates fields, but cannot type anything.

What component is that in what glyphs?

And what keyboard layout do you use?

It happens with all components and all glyphs. I use the MacOS Australian keyboard layout.

I’ve noticed that I can type in the x and y coordinates under the component name, but this is always relative and by default shows 0,0 for all components, regardless of how they are positioned. So if I have a component with a descender that terminates at -576 on the y access and want it to sit on the baseline, I have to set the y coordinate to ‘576’.

The coordinates to the right, that show the true position of the component, cannot be altered directly, although I can click on them and they look like I should be able to type new coordinates. Perhaps that is by design, but that is what I am finding confusing.

Can you send a screenshot of what dialog and text fields you mean?

I hope this helps.

I thought that we are speaking about different things.

I’ll think about getting the absolute values to work.

1 Like

The absolute values do work with the arrow keys.

Yes, I noted that in my original post. It just struck me as strange that I have to use the arrow keys in this case which takes quite a bit longer rather than just, say, specifying that the base of the glyph should be at y=0, if I want the component to sit on the baseline.

The rightmost view shows the bounding box of all selected elements. So specially changing the size could lead to unexpected results. But at least the positioning should work.

I have the same problem, I would also like to type in the specific x and y values to position the component, but its not working. Did you find a solution for that?

There are X/Y fields in this info box:

Bildschirmfoto 2023-09-21 um 22.28.00

Those do work unless the component is auto aligned.