Ok, this might be difficult to explain… If I have a rectangle in CC, and I want to extend it in one direction. I can select the two nodes at one end and drag it to a new position. Good so far.
The problem is, if snapping to the grid in this instance does not make sense, I need to be able to drag the rectangle in a straight line. This would be similar to ortho mode in AutoCad. In other words, I would think I should be able to hold down the shift key or the ctrl key and have the nodes move in a straight line in the desired direction. I don’t see the ability to do anything like this. The question is, am I missing something or is the functionality missing?
The View menu has a “Snap to Grid” option. I really wish it also had a “Snap to Node” option.
You could draw a horizontal line the length you want, position it on one of the points & drag to the other end.
One technique would be to set the grid to the size you want to extend, draw something that defines a point (polyline, circle…) on one of the points that will not move. Now move the whole rectangle using one of those points to grid point. Now extend the nodes to the next grid point. Move the whole thing back to where it was. Kind of tedious, but it works.
Is the rectangle aligned with the X-Y axis? If so, you can use the ‘Scale’ command, and UNcheck “Keep Proportions”. You can then change the height and width independently.
Also, in Scale mode, you can grab and drag edges, and the shape will stay rectangular.
Given a rectangle which one wants to make 1.5" wider (or the general case of an object which has one or more nodes which one wants shifted a specific distance):
