The SCSD routine has been described and offers a method to quantify perturbations of simple molecular components using symmetry-banded vector sets. We have shown previously that distortional vectors encode important chemical and photophysical information, and here are demonstrated to act as a simple method of parameter reduction and fitting for molecular shapes adopted by nearsymmetric molecules. A numerical structure description is of immense value to the crystallographer, assisting in understanding and relaying structural concepts across structural sets and series. The narrative structure that an additional small set of numerical values can provide, in the same manner as a constructed set of normal-coordinate vectors, allows for the non-specialist to interrogate and contextualize the shape of molecules to a useful level beyond pictorial interpretation.