manual/_manual/15_editing-and-arranging/04_snap-to-the-grid.html

---
layout: default
title: Snap to the Grid
menu_title: Snap to 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>Snap Modes</h2>
<p>Ardour supports three different types 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.</dd>
  <dt><kbd class="menu">Grid</kbd></dt> 
  <dd>activates normal snapping. All positions of objects are restricted 
  to points of the grid. (See <a href="#gridunits">Grid Units</a> below 
  to change these points). 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 point. New objects will always be created at 
  grid points, too.
  </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 grid points will snap to the grid point. 
  In order to move an object very close to a grid point, it may be necessary 
  to zoom in to prevent snapping to that point.</dd>
</dl>

<h2>Syncing Regions to the Grid</h2>
<p>
  By default, a region's beginning will snap to points along the timeline, 
  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 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>Snap positions to the nearest marker.</dd>
  <dt><kbd class="menu">Region Starts</kbd></dt>
  <dd>Snap positions to the nearest region start (see below).</dd>
  <dt><kbd class="menu">Region Ends</kbd></dt>
  <dd>Snap positions to the nearest region end.</dd>
  <dt><kbd class="menu">Region Syncs</kbd></dt> 
  <dd>Snap positions to the nearest region sync point.</dd>
  <dt><kbd class="menu">Region Bounds</kbd></dt>
  <dd>Snap positions to the nearest region start or end.</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>