when 摆 and 放 mean place ①摆和放can both mean place sth on sth‘s surface and you can see it,ex,我把书放在桌子上，我把书摆在桌子上you can see the book on the desk，or 桌子摆在墙角 ，桌子放在墙角，you can see the desk on the floor, sometimes there is a little bit difference,when you use 摆,the purpose more than 放,摆including a little meaning of show（so somebody will see）,but you can exchange them often,amount time there is a Prepositional complement after 摆and 放，so the difference is really small. 摆 and 放both mean put sth in sth and you can see it，书放在书架上，书摆在书架上，首饰放在展示柜里，首饰摆在展示柜里。 ②放means put sth in sth and you cannot see it,ex我把钱包放在皮包里。you can not say 我把钱包摆在皮包里。（because when the wallet in the purse，you cannot see it ） if you are not sure which one you should use,you'd better choose 放in this meaning. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- besides that 摆means show totally：摆脸色 摆摊 显摆 etc. means shake：摇摆 摆脱 （鱼）摆尾 etc. 放 let sth/sb out：放话 放人 释放 etc.

摆有“故意”的意思，是为了这么做而做的，比如摆盘子，摆桌子，都是有目的的为了美观而做的。摆倾向与把东西俺一定规律陈列开，比如把书摆在桌子上，你可能是把一捆书拿来然后一本一本的摆开。 放却是“随意”的意思，没有什么目的，只是单纯的那么一个动作，比如把书放在桌子上，你可能把书拿来就直接放在桌子上，没有分开。