I spend a lot of my time working on Diagrams in Sparx EA, a few years ago I set up the following keyboard shortcuts to make it quicker (for me anyway) to modify the layout of Elements in my diagrams.
In addition to setting up the keyboard shortcuts to help me manually layout the elements in my diagrams, I sometimes make use of Sparx EA’s Diagram Layout Tool.
| Effect | Command | Keyboard Shortcut | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sorted by Command to make it easier to set up in Sparx EA EA 12.1 -> Tools -> Customize -> Keyboard -> Category = ElementLayout EA 13 -> Start -> Workspace -> Preferences -> Customize -> Keyboard -> Category = ElementLayout |
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| Position | Across | Alt + – | Space selected elements evenly horizontally (left/right) |
| Position | Align Horizontally | Ctrl + Shift + Alt – | Align selected elements by their Horizontal Center (up/down) |
| Position | Align Vertically | Ctrl + Shift + Alt = | Align selected elements by their Vertical Center (left/right) |
| Z-Order | Back | Ctrl + [ | Move selected elements backward in the Z order |
| Position | Bottom | Ctrl + Alt + Down | Align selected elements on right boundaries |
| Size | Default | Alt + Z | Reset selected elements to the default size |
| Position | ElementLayoutAlignmentLeft | Ctrl + Alt + Left | Align selected elements on left boundaries |
| Position | ElementLayoutAlignmentRight | Ctrl + Alt + Right | Align selected elements on right boundaries |
| Position | ElementLayoutMoveDown (do not edit, leave blank) | Shift + Down | Move Down |
| Position | ElementLayoutMoveLeft (do not edit, leave blank) | Shift + Left | Move Left |
| Position | ElementLayoutMoveRight (do not edit, leave blank) | Shift + Right | Move Right |
| Position | ElementLayoutMoveUp (Up in EA 13, do not edit, leave blank) | Shift + Up | Move Up |
| Position | ElementLayoutSpaceEvenlyDown | Alt + = | Space selected elements evenly vertically (up/down) |
| Z-Order | Forward | Ctrl + ] | Move selected elements forward in the Z order |
| Size | Height | Ctrl + Alt + – | Make selected elements the same height |
| Size | Narrower (do not edit, leave blank) | Ctrl + Left | Make selected elements narrower |
| Size | Shorter (do not edit, leave blank) | Ctrl + Down | Make selected elements shorter |
| Size | Taller (do not edit, leave blank) | Ctrl + Up | Make selected elements taller |
| Z-Order | To Bottom | Ctrl + Alt + [ | Move selected elements to the Bottom of Z order |
| Z-Order | To Top | Ctrl + Alt + ] | Move selected elements to the Top of Z order |
| Position | Top | Ctrl + Alt + Up | Align selected elements on top boundaries |
| Size | Wider (do not edit, leave blank) | Ctrl + Right | Make selected elements wider |
| Size | Width | Ctrl + Alt + = | Make selected elements the same width |
| Grouped for Reference | |||
| Size | Default | Alt + Z | Reset selected elements to the default size |
| Size | Width | Ctrl + Alt + = | Make selected elements the same width |
| Size | Height | Ctrl + Alt + – | Make selected elements the same height |
| Size | Narrower | Ctrl + Left | Make selected elements narrower |
| Size | Wider | Ctrl + Right | Make selected elements wider |
| Size | Shorter | Ctrl + Down | Make selected elements shorter |
| Size | Taller | Ctrl + Up | Make selected elements taller |
| Position | ElementLayoutMoveLeft | Shift + Left | Move Left |
| Position | ElementLayoutMoveRight | Shift + Right | Move Right |
| Position | ElementLayoutMoveDown | Shift + Down | Move Down |
| Position | ElementLayoutMoveUp (Up in EA 13) | Shift + Up | Move Up |
| Position | Align Vertically | Ctrl + Shift + Alt = | Align selected elements by their Vertical center (left/right) |
| Position | Align Horizontally | Ctrl + Shift + Alt – | Align selected elements by their Horizontal center (up/down) |
| Position | ElementLayoutAlignmentLeft | Ctrl + Alt + Left | Align selected elements on left boundaries |
| Position | ElementLayoutAlignmentRight | Ctrl + Alt + Right | Align selected elements on right boundaries |
| Position | Top | Ctrl + Alt + Up | Align selected elements on top boundaries |
| Position | Bottom | Ctrl + Alt + Down | Align selected elements on right boundaries |
| Position | ElementLayoutSpaceEvenlyDown | Alt + = | Space selected elements evenly vertically (up/down) |
| Position | Across | Alt + – | Space selected elements evenly horizontally (left/right) |
| Z-Order | To Top | Ctrl + Alt + ] | Move selected elements to the Top of Z order |
| Z-Order | To Bottom | Ctrl + Alt + [ | Move selected elements to the Bottom of Z order |
| Z-Order | Forward | Ctrl + ] | Move selected elements forward in the Z order |
| Z-Order | Back | Ctrl + [ | Move selected elements backward in the Z order |