manual/_manual/05_ardours-interface/09_the-grid-controls.html

---
title: Grid Controls
---



<img class="left" src="/images/toolbar-grid.png" alt="Editor toolbar's grid">



<p>

  Ardour's editor utilizes a <dfn>grid</dfn> to assist in the placement

  of regions on the timeline, or with editing functions that need to happen

  at a specific point in time.  You can choose if you want the cursor and

  various objects to snap to this grid, and how you want the snapping to

  behave. You can modify the grid units to fit your needs.

</p>



<h2>About Snapping</h2>



<p>There are two ways to think about aligning material to a grid.

  The first and most obvious one is where an object's position is clamped

  to grid lines. In Ardour, this is called <dfn>absolute snap</dfn>

  and is commonly used when working with sampled material where audio

  begins exactly at the beginning of a file, note or region.</br>

  The second, <dfn>relative snap</dfn>, is used when an object's position

  relative to the grid lines is important. In music, this allows you to

  move objects around without changing the "feel" (or timing) of a performance.</br>

  Absolute snap is the default method of snapping in Ardour.</br>

  While dragging objects you may switch from absolute to relative snap by

  pressing the absolute snap modifier key(s).</br>

  You may also disable snap entirely by using the snap modifier (see below).</br>

  Note that in relative snap mode the reference point is taken to be the distance

  to the nearest grid line.</br>

  Note also that when an object lies exactly on a grid line, there will be no difference

  between relative and absolute snap modes.</br>

  The realtive snap and snap modifiers (along with other modifier keys) may be set in

  <kbd class="menu">Edit &gt; Preferences &gt; User Interaction</kbd></br>

  For common use patterns, it is recommended that you assign a unique key for

  one snap modifier and two keys for the other in such a way that they share an otherwise unused key.

  For example, you may choose the snap modifier to be the <kbd class="mod2">&nbsp;</kbd> key and the

  relative snap modifier to be the <kbd class="mod2">&nbsp;</kbd> and <kbd class="mod4">&nbsp;</kbd> keys.

</p>.



<h2>Snap Modes</h2>

<p>

  Using the above modifications, Ardour supports three different modes of snapping to the grid:

</p>



<dl class="wide-table">

  <dt><kbd class="menu">No Grid</kbd></dt>

  <dd>disables the grid. All objects move freely in this mode.</br>

  In <kbd class="menu">No Grid</kbd> mode, you may temporarily activate the grid by pressing the

  snap modifier (for absolute snap) or switch to relative snap by pressing the relative snap modifier.</dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Grid</kbd></dt>

  <dd>activates normal snapping. All positions of objects snap to

  the grid. (See <a href="#gridunits">Grid Units</a> below

  to change the grid). If you try to move an object in "Grid"-mode, it

  does not change its position until you move the mouse far enough for the

  object to reach the next grid line.</br>

  Sometimes you may wish to maintain an objects' position relative to the grid line.

  In order to do this, use the "snap relative" modifier.

  When holding down this modifier during a drag, the dragged object will jump

  while maintaining its original distance from the line.</br>

  New objects will always be created at grid points.</br>

  Holding down the snap modifier will disable the current grid setting and allow you to move the object freely.</br>

  </dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Magnetic</kbd></dt>

  <dd>is a less strict type of snapping. Objects can still be moved to any

  position, but positions close to the relative or absolute grid points will snap.

  In order to move an object very close to a snap point, it may be necessary

  to zoom in to prevent snapping to that point, or to use the snap modifier to disable snap completely.</br>

  As with Grid mode, the snap modifier will disable snap completely while the

  absolute snap modifier will move the "notch" of Magnetic snap to the grid lines.</dd>

</dl>



<h2>Syncing Regions to the Grid</h2>

<p>

  By default, a region's beginning will be used as the reference for both types of snapping,

  but you can change this behaviour by setting a <dfn>sync point</dfn> in

  the region. Select the region(s) and press <kbd>V</kbd>. This will set

  the sync point to your edit point.</p>



<h2 id="gridunits">Grid Units</h2>

<p>

  The selector next to the grid mode selector defines the size of the grid

  elements. You can set your grid to several different units:

</p>

<dl class="wide-table">

  <dt><kbd class="menu">CD Frames</kbd></dt>

  <dd>A CD Frame is 1/75th of a second. Snapping to CD Frames (using absolute snap) can be used to avoid issues with CD track

  lengths.</dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Timecode Frames/Seconds/Minutes</kbd></dt>

  <dd>The duration of a frame depends on the timecode settings for the

  session.</dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Seconds/Minutes</kbd></dt>

  <dd>These are absolute time units, unaffected by sample rate or timecode settings</dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Beats/N</kbd></dt>

  <dd>Set the grid to units of 1/N beats, where N can be 128, 64, 32, 16, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2. The duration of a grid unit will depend on the tempo and meter in effect at that point in the timeline.</dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Beats</kbd></dt>

  <dd>Set the grid to whole beats. The duration of a grid unit will depend on the tempo and meter in effect at that point in the timeline.</dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Bars</kbd></dt>

  <dd>Set the grid to whole bars. The duration of a grid unit will depend on the tempo and meter in effect at that point in the timeline.</dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Markers</kbd></dt>

  <dd>The grid lines are the markers.</dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Region Starts</kbd></dt>

  <dd>The grid lines are constructed from region start points (see below).</dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Region Ends</kbd></dt>

  <dd>The grid lines are constructed from region end points (see below).</dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Region Syncs</kbd></dt>

  <dd>The grid lines are constructed from region sync points.</dd>

  <dt><kbd class="menu">Region Bounds</kbd></dt>

  <dd>The grid lines are constructed from region start or end points.</dd>

</dl>



<p>

  To use Region starts/ends/syncs/bounds as snap choices, you must have

either

</p>



<ul>

  <li><em>No</em> tracks selected, which means that Ardour snaps to regions on any track, or </li>

  <li>Several tracks selected, which means that Ardour only snaps to regions on those selected tracks.</li>

</ul>



<p>

  If you are moving items on a track, and only the current track is selected,

  then you will only be able to snap to other regions on the same track.

  This means that enabling

  <kbd class="menu">Edit &gt; Preferences &gt; Editor &gt; Link Selections of Regions and

  Tracks</kbd> will make the "Region" grid unit unusable.  Avoid the use of this option if

  you are going to use any of the Region grid units.

</p>