In the tutorial I'm watching the instructor has just created a new rectangle. With that layer selected, he goes up to the "Path Alignment" dropdown in the tool bar - having already selected "Align to Canvas" from it - then selects "Vertical Centers." Here:
When I try to do the same, all of the options above "Align to Selection/Canvas" are greyed out, so I'm unable. I definitely have the layer selected as well as "Align to Canvas," but they are still greyed out. Can anyone guess why?
Thank you.
You need to make a selection or choose another layer which will be a Reference for alignment. Then that buttons will be highlighted.
From what I could guess based on the screenshot, the reason you aren't experiencing the same thing could be that you haven't selected the same tool. There is a frustrating kink I've learned that goes with alignment.
In one case, if you have the Move tool selected and you don't have a 'marching ants' selection on the screen, the align tools will all be grayed out.
This requires a marching ants selection space to align to.
On the other hand, if you are using the path or direct selection tool you then have direct access to the alignment tools, BUT (and here is the quirk you might be experiencing), it only works with shape layers like the rectangle shape layer shown below. It will be grayed out with normal layers.
Note: After experimentation, the same isn't true in Photoshop CS6 or lower. The options are greyed out always with the path or direct selection tool. It isn't until Creative Cloud where they allow manipulation of align with these tools in the upper tool bar.
Not sure if you ever figured this one out yet or not. I just discovered a work around for this. With the layer selected (in the layer panel, nothing else), use the rectangular marquee tool to draw a square around the entire canvas. Once you see the marching ants, switch to the direct selection tool and the alignment tools should be active. You can then align your object. So far this is just for centering an object or aligning it with the entire canvas, and it works for the entire layer. This is for CS6. Hopefully this helps!
You need to select the path or shape that you want to align or arrange using the Path Selection Tool in CS6 version to enable those options.
