Locking Nodes

Some grids often become complicated, particularly if you are working on a grid for a curtain. By locking some nodes in place, it becomes easier to manipulate the nodes around it without disturbing those already specifically placed.

To lock a node in place, activate your grid, and then control click over the node you wish to lock. This will open a contextual menu.

Choose Lock grid node. The node will become red, and you will be unable to move it until you control click on it again, and choose unlock grid node.

Locked nodes are saved when the document is saved. If the whole grid is moved, then the locked node origins are ignored and will move with the rest of the grid. They will remain non-editable once the grid is moved to it’s new location.

To unlock multiple nodes in one go, control click on a locked node and choose Clear all locks from the contextual menu.

Twisting grids

This is a very useful editing technique for turning flat, rectangular grids around to fit a different angle, such as a bed that has been photographed at an angle.

1. Choose the grid selection tool and move the cursor to one of the corners of the grid.
2. Hold down ⌥ (option key) on the keyboard and the cursor will change to a double headed arrow icon.
3. Click on the corner of the grid and drag it to the new position needed.
4. Repeat Steps 1 to 3 with the other corners until the grid is facing the right direction and follows the angles of the object. It may be useful to to draw guide lines prior to twisting the grid so that you can follow the angle and perspective of the object.

Identifying the grid origin

When creating new grids or editing someone else's grids, it is important to know where the starting point of the grid is. This is because when designs transfer into grids, they use the origin of the grid as the starting point of the transfer and thus determine the direction that the pattern appears on the grid. The starting point, or origin, of a grid is indicated with a red node at the corner.