Aligning, Ordering, Grouping, and Hiding Symbols

The Symbol menu provides various options for formatting and arranging your symbols.

Menu Item	Function
Format [Ctrl+T]	Opens the Symbol Format dialog, which allows you to control appearance and content of the selected symbols (see Symbol Format Properties).
Get Format	Copies the format of the selected symbol, making it available for applying to other symbols. Only available if a single symbol is selected.
Apply Format	Applies the format copied with Get Format to the selected symbols.
Shadow [Ctrl+W]	Applies the standard shadow effect specified in the Symbol Format dialog to the selected symbols.
Adjust to Text [Ctrl+J]	Expands or shrinks the width of the selected objects to fit the length of their names.
Normal Size	Applies the default size specified in Display Preferences to the selected objects.
Fit to Page	Opens the Fit to Page dialog, which gives the number of pages currently used and allows you to specify a display scale, the number of pages to use, or to center the symbols on pages.
Auto-Layout	Rearranges the symbols in the diagram (see Auto-Layout).
Align	Provides various means for aligning the selected symbols (see Aligning Selected Symbols).
Disposition	Arranges the selected symbols in various ways: Horizontal [Ctrl+H]/Vertical [Ctrl+L] – Straighten selected link objects and makes them horizontal or vertical where possible. Flip Horizontal/Flip Vertical – Reverses the relative positions of two or more selected symbols. In the case where `Table_1` is directly above `Table_2`, selecting them and then choosing Flip Horizontal, will reverse their places so that `Table_2` is now directly above `Table_1`. Arrange Symbols – Spaces the selected symbols evenly. Arrange Connectors – Straightens the selected link symbols and centers their endpoints in the objects that they connect. Arrange Attach Points - Centers the endpoints of the selected link symbols in the objects that they connect. Arrange Attached Text – Reverts labels associated with the selected link symbols to their default positions.
Order	Promotes or demotes the selected symbols in relation to other overlapping symbols in the diagram. You can: Bring to Front Send to Back Bring Forward Send Backward By default, when you place a free symbol such as a note on a design object symbol such as a table, the free symbol is placed behind the object, as free symbols are usually used as backgrounds. When symbols overlap, it may not be possible to select the symbol in the background, even if its handles are visible, without moving the symbol in front of it.
Group Symbols	Groups selected symbols, allowing them to be selected, moved, and resized as a single block.
Ungroup Symbols	Separates selected objects that were previously grouped together.
Hide Symbols	Hides (makes invisible) the selected symbols. You may want to do this to make a large model more readable, or to focus on only a particular part of a model.
Show Symbols	Opens the Show Symbols dialog, which lets you select symbols in the diagram to show or hide (see Showing and Hiding Symbols).
Protect Symbols	Protects the selected symbols, making them impossible to select and edit.
Unprotect Symbols	Unprotects the selected symbols, making them available to select and edit.