Scaling and Corner Radii are now anchored towards the absolute top left, not shape's relative top left.

Here are videos that demonstrate what I’m talking about:

Hi, ​@Griff L'Ecuyer! I can appreciate how the differences in origin are making it more difficult for you to intuitively make changes. Thanks for including the screen recordings - they make it much easier to see what you’re describing. 

Out of curiosity, what is the preferred behavior for you here? I’m checking with our team to see what is expected, but I’d like to know what you think as well. Thanks!

​@adamsmasher Thanks for your reply! My preferred behavior is that the shortcuts for adjusting the size—i.e. Cmd + Up/Down/Left/Right— all follow the pattern of how shapes scale using the width and height panel. The shortcut should scale those shapes relative to the rotation of the shape.

While we’re on the topic, I think a better solution here is more customization on what that point of origin is. Right now, Figma only provides 1 point of origin—the top left corner of an object—whether it’s the absolute top-left using the shortcuts, or relative top-left when using the W/H panel. But either method still requires workarounds to precisely scale from any other point of origin.

In Adobe Illustrator, there is a tool called the Reference Point in their Transform panel that allows you to adjust that point of origin for all transformations, including rotation and scaling (labeled “I” in the image below). That feature applied to objects in Figma would be exceptionally useful for more predictable object scaling and rotation. In Illustrator, the default point of origin is from the center, not top-left like Figma.

Figma has a tool that looks similar, called “Constraints”, which defines how objects are transformed when the parent frame is scaled. But the actual function of that tool is very different than setting a point of origin for object transformations.

I’ve noticed similar behavior and I agree that consistency is really important when working with rotated objects. Figma’s strength has always been its predictable editing workflow, especially for detailed design work like icon creation.

Having resize shortcuts and corner radius adjustments behave differently from the regular transform logic can definitely slow down precision workflows. Hopefully Figma can bring back a more consistent object-relative approach or provide a setting to choose between absolute and relative anchors.

Thanks for the suggestion, ​@Griff L'Ecuyer, and thanks for your post as well, ​@James Vince. I’ve shared the feature suggestion in the discussion around your feedback. If I hear anything else I can share I’ll post again to let you know!