Aligning a building to a property line or rotating a parking layout to match a site's angle rarely works from a shape's center. Use the Base point tool (icon looks like an arrow moving away from a pivot dot) to reposition a shape relative to a point you choose instead.

Base Point Move

Select the shape.
Click the Base point tool, then choose Base Point Move (or press B).
Click a point on the shape to set it as the base point.
Click again where you want that point to land, or type a distance.

Hold Option/Alt while placing to leave a copy behind instead of moving the original.

Base Point Rotate

Select the shape.
Click the Base point tool, then choose Base Point Rotate (or press Shift + B).
Click a point on the shape to set the pivot.
Click a second point to set a reference direction.
Click a third point, or type an angle, to set the rotation and finish.

Scale

Scale resizes a shape evenly from a point you choose, like growing a building footprint to hit a target floor area while one corner stays on the setback line.

Select the shape. OR skip this step and click the shape at the point you want to scale from.
Click the down arrow on the Base point tool and choose Scale.
Click the base point. The shape grows or shrinks toward and away from this point.
Click a reference point. OR type a scale factor, like 1.5, and press Enter to finish.
Click where the reference point should land. OR type the new distance from the base point and press Enter.

Scale changes a shape's footprint only. Its height and levels stay the same. Press Tab to lock the direction to your reference point.

Scale 1D

Scale 1D stretches a shape in one direction only, like lengthening a building along the street frontage without changing its depth.

Select the shape. OR skip this step and click the shape at the point you want to scale from.
Click the down arrow on the Base point tool and choose Scale 1D.
Click the base point. This point stays fixed.
Click a reference point. The line from the base point to this point sets the direction to stretch in.
Click where the reference point should land. OR type the new length and press Enter.

Hold Option/Alt when you finish Scale or Scale 1D to keep the original and scale a copy. Press Esc to cancel.

Orient

Select the shape.
Click the Base point tool, then choose Orient.
Click two points on the shape to define its reference direction.
Click two more points to set where that direction should land. Giraffe rotates and moves the shape to match.

Mirror

Mirror reflects a shape across a line you draw. Use it to make a matching neighbour from one townhouse plan, or to flip a parking layout to the other side of a driveway.

Select the shape. OR skip this step and click the shape after you start the tool.
Click the down arrow on the Base point tool and choose Mirror, or press Shift+M.
Click two points to draw the line to mirror across. Giraffe reflects the shape across that line.

Hold Option/Alt when you click the second point to keep the original and mirror a copy. Press Esc to restart the line.

Flip horizontally and Flip vertically

Flip horizontally and Flip vertically reflect a shape in place, with no line to draw. Use them to turn a building around on its own footprint.

Select one or more shapes. OR skip this step and click the shape after you choose the command.
Click the down arrow on the Base point tool and choose Flip horizontally or Flip vertically.

Flip horizontally swaps the top and bottom of the selection. Flip vertically swaps its left and right. Giraffe flips across a line through the selection's center, and that line follows the angle of your grid.

You can also find these actions in the ••• menu's Move submenu. Flip horizontally and Flip vertically are also in the right-click menu under Edit.

Base Point Tool