Distribute text elements within a rectangle

Question

I have two text boxes and a rectangle.  I want to evenly distribute the two text items vertically within the rectangle.  I select text A, then text B, then the rectangle, then right click Distribute -> Distribute Vertical Centers.  Sometimes absolutely nothing happens, sometimes it moves all three elements.  It seems to depend on the relative starting positions of all three elements and it looks like what it keeps trying to do is make the vertical centers of all three elements an equal distance apart.  I want the rectangle to not move and the text elements to move within the rectangle.  Is this possible in Pro with these tools?   Is there a way when selecting items for these tools to tell the program which element to hold at a fixed position?  Do I have to break the rectangle into two separate lines for this tool to work?

Jesse Wickizer · Answer

You could duplicate the boxes and snap them to the edges of the rectangle. Then distribute centers of only the boxes and they'll be evenly spaced inside the rectangle.

KeithAddison1 · Answer

I may do that if it turns out I'm not just missing a way to do this.  I tested and it does what I want if instead of using a rectangle I make two lines to delineate where I want the text distributed within.  This isn't a practical solution; to implement it I'd need to break a bunch of rectangles into lines for no other "good" reason in already busy layouts.

abaldenweck@blm.gov_BLM_EGIS · Answer

I think the problem is that you're aligning to page, not to another object.

I think it'd probably be easiest to just do the math using the Placement tabs.

That being said, if you made an Idea for this, I'd upvote it because it would make a lot of things easier.