Select Window > Type > Tabs to open the Tabs panel.
Last updated on
Sep 11, 2025
Learn how to align graphic objects with the Tabs panel in Adobe Illustrator.
You can position the Tabs panel anywhere in the work area. However, it's usually helpful to align the Tabs panel with a type object.
Select the magnet icon to move the panel directly over the selected text object, with the 0 point aligned with the left margin.
Tip
Drag the resize handle at the bottom right of the panel to adjust its width.
Snap tab stops to the ruler units
By default, you can position tab stops anywhere along the tab ruler.
Select the panel menu .
Select Snap to Unit, or hold Shift as you drag a tab stop.
Set tabs
Tab stops apply to an entire paragraph. When you set the first tab, Illustrator deletes all default tab stops to the left of that stop. As you set more tab stops, Illustrator deletes all default tabs between the tabs you set.
Select a type object to set tab stops for all paragraphs in the object.
In the Tabs panel, select a tab-alignment button to specify how text aligns relative to the tab’s position:
- Left-Justified Tab: Align horizontal text to the left, keeping the right margin ragged.
- Center-Justified Tab: Center text on the tab mark.
- Right-Justified Tab: Align horizontal text to the right, keeping the left margin ragged.
- Decimal-Justified Tab: Place text in alignment with a specified character, such as a period or a dollar sign. This option is useful for creating columns of numbers.
A. Left-Justified Tab B. Center-Justified Tab C. Right-Justified Tab D. Decimal-Justified Tab
Tip
To change tab ruler units, select Edit > Preferences > Units to set General units for all documents, or use Document Setup to set units just for the current file. These settings control the tab ruler's measurement system.
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