The Align panel answers "put this somewhere exact". Everything acts on the current selection and is one undo step.
Anchor Point
A 3×3 grid of the layer box's corners, edge centres and middle. Click a spot to move the anchor there. The layer stays where it is on screen. These are the same nine spots the Anchor Point tool snaps to with ⇧-drag.
For layers with depth (extruded or 3D models) a second row sets the anchor's depth:
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Front | Anchor at the front of the layer's geometry. |
| Center | Anchor at the middle of its depth. |
| Back | Anchor at the back. |
Align Layers
| Control | What it does |
|---|---|
| Selection / Comp | What to align to. Selection: the selection's bounds (a single layer aligns to the comp). Comp: every layer aligns to the composition bounds. The choice is remembered and shared with the Move tool's options bar. |
| Align left edges / horizontal centers / right edges | Horizontal alignment. |
| Align top edges / vertical centers / bottom edges | Vertical alignment. |
| Center | Center horizontally and vertically in one click. |
| Distribute horizontally / vertically | Even spacing. Needs 3 or more layers. |
Offset in Time
| Button | What it does |
|---|---|
| Offset Layers… | Stagger the selected layers in time, one after another. |
| Offset Keyframes… | Stagger the selected layers' keyframes, leaving the layers where they are. |
Both need 2 or more selected layers and open the same Offset dialog as the Animation menu.