Finding a Rotation Angle

Ever open a piece of art and wonder what angle you used to rotate something? You're not alone, and it has been a feature that has long been missing. Below is one technique on how to find out the angle of some pieces of art.

Version: Any

Here, I've opened a document that has a rotated object in it. By looking at the Info Toolbar (FreeHand™ 8 shown) it does not show me the angle I used when I originally did this (at lower right). This can be very frustrating, but you can come up with the angle very easily with one quick step.

First turn on Snap to Point in the View menu. Next, select the line tool and start drawing a line from the original upper Left point of the art to the original upper Right point of the art (line example highlighted in yellow for clarity). With Snap to Point turned on, your cursor will show you where the point is exactly. As you can see, the angle shows in the Info Toolbar, 20°.

Of course this tip works better with square type of objects, but for an ellipse, it's just as easy if you have Snap to Point turned on. Just put the crosshair over the Left edge of the ellipse until you see your pointer change, then click+drag across the center of the ellipse to the Right edge and see the cursor change again (It's also good to turn on the Snap to Point Sound in the preferences to hear the snap). This will give you the angle you need and you don't need to ungroup the shape.

This isn't perfect but it is effective. It's best to zoom in on the shapes to get a more accurate reading from the Info Toolbar, and always make sure to turn on Snap to Point.