# Align tool points / center

**URL:** <https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/align-tool-points-center/39605>\
**Category:** Modeling Questions\
**Created:** [October 15, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/align-tool-points-center/39605 "2025-10-15T15:57:14Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![tdcsf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@tdcsf](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/tdcsf)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 3:57pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/align-tool-points-center/39605/1 "2025-10-15T15:57:14Z")

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I’m curious as to how by default the align tool figures out the center of the object to be aligned.

 ![Screenshot 2025-10-15 at 8.11.26 AM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/4/4/44a217b8d9150805b47fb02dabaef2f353b91936.jpeg)

In the above object (overlapping disks) the points along the bottom are the centers of each circle, their intersections and a fifth point which is “the center of the body” which is what the default align face uses – however, this is different than that body’s center of rotation.

As an example, here is the same object, duplicated and rotated and then aligned to the body

 ![Screenshot 2025-10-15 at 8.29.42 AM](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/flex002/uploads/shapr3d/original/3X/c/0/c02b8e3b0cc4059e78d9fed49290b05afbfc7afb.jpeg)

which will be different than aligning, then rotating the body. I’m trying to figure out what that center of the body is – is that a visual weight?

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**Author:** ![SCALEMODEL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@SCALEMODEL](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/SCALEMODEL)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 5:50pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/align-tool-points-center/39605/2 "2025-10-15T17:50:04Z")

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I think it’s based on combination of things.

But I would be curious how should it Align from your perspective.

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**Author:** ![tdcsf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d6d6ee/32.png) [@tdcsf](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/tdcsf)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 6:34pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/align-tool-points-center/39605/3 "2025-10-15T18:34:17Z")

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Doing some experiments – I think the “center of the body” is the centroid, while the gizmo appears at the center of rotation of the bounding box. So I think if I want to visually center, I’d want to use the centroid

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SCALEMODEL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/77aa72/32.png) [@SCALEMODEL](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/u/SCALEMODEL)\
**Post date:** [October 15, 2025, 7:21pm UTC](https://discourse.shapr3d.com/t/align-tool-points-center/39605/4 "2025-10-15T19:21:19Z")

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The logic by default should be some kind of center of MASS.