Skip to content
AutoLayout PRO

Render Offset

A visual-only translation applied to this element after the layout pass writes its position. Does not affect Hug/Fill sizing, sibling positions, or any layout calculation. Equivalent to CSS transform: translate(x, y). Inspector: SIZE & POSITION → Render Offset.

var layout = GetComponent<AutoLayout>();
layout.RenderOffset = new Vector2(0, -4);   // nudge up 4px without disturbing the layout

In the inspector it’s two compact fields (X, Y) just under Margin.

When to use it

  • Shake / wobble / bounce animations driven by an Animator or tween — the element jitters visually but every sibling stays put.
  • Hover lift — animate RenderOffset.y from 0 to -4 on pointer-enter for a “lifts off the page” feel.
  • Per-frame procedural nudges — small offsets you don’t want round-tripping through the layout engine.

How it behaves

  • Layout-space Y — positive Y is down, matching every other position field on AutoLayout. The setter handles Unity’s Y-flip for you.
  • No dirty propagation — writing RenderOffset never invalidates the layout. Cheap to animate at 60 FPS.
  • Survives reflow — when the layout does rebuild (because some other property changed), the applier re-incorporates the current offset, so an animated value isn’t snapped back to zero.
  • Animator-friendly — set up an AutoLayoutTweenRenderOffset clip and the transitions system will route the change through your tween provider.

When not to use it

  • Don’t use it to position an element relative to its parent — that’s what Margin, Absolute Position, or sibling Gap are for. Render Offset is a delta on top of the resolved layout position, not the position itself.
  • Don’t use it to make space for another sibling — siblings don’t see it.
  • Tweening — the imperative one-shot animations API; includes AutoLayoutTweenRenderOffset
  • Transitions — declarative animations; TransitionTarget.RenderOffset routes value changes through the tween provider
  • Margin — when you do want siblings to react to the offset
Docs for AutoLayout PRO v1.0.0 Changelog