Eliminate bounding box interference by snapping directly to your pointer (Illustrator CS2/CS3/CS4/CS5)

Many designers find precision alignment frustrating in Illustrator because they try to use an object's bounding box to snap to a particular guide or edge. However, this doesn't work because even though an object's bounding box snaps, the bounding box handles don't correspond to the edges of the object.

Illustrator always snaps to the pointer, so you need to click on the edge or point you want to align. You can avoid clicking on the bounding box by turning it off. Choose View > Hide Bounding Box. You can also switch to the Scale tool in the Tools panel, which lets you click on the necessary point or edge without bounding box interference.