CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide part 29 ppt

However, moving objects in CorelDRAW is a lot less stressful, and you basically have two options: to move objects directly by using the Pick tool and dragging, or to use the keyboard arr

● Select All Text Choosing Edit | Select All | Text instantly selects all text objects both on and off the current document page Both artistic and paragraph text objects become selected after using this command (unless they have been grouped with other objects, in which case they are ignored) Text objects applied with effects (such as contour or extrude effects) also become selected using this command

● Select All Guidelines Guidelines are actually a class of document page objects, different from objects you draw, but objects nonetheless To select all guidelines on your document page, choose Edit | Select All | Guidelines Selected guidelines are indicated by a color change (red, by default) To select guidelines, they must be visible and cannot be locked; use the Tools | Object Manager to edit the properties of guidelines before you try to select them If guidelines you’ve placed aren’t currently visible on your page, choose View | Guidelines

Guidelines can be created using a click-drag action from your ruler onto your document page Choose View | Rulers to display CorelDRAW’s ruler feature.

FIGURE 9-4 Select items in your document by using the Select All command

● Select All Nodes You must have both the Shape tool and an object selected (closed

or open paths qualify) to use this Select All command Choose Edit | Select All |

Nodes to select all of the object’s path nodes For a quicker method in the same

situation, use theCTRL+Ashortcut Special CorelDRAW objects such as rectangles,

ellipses, and polygons can’t be selected this way because their shapes are defined

dynamically by “control” points instead of nodes

Shapes are often made up of two or more paths that are combined To select all the

nodes on a combined path, first select the object, and then double-click the Shape

tool on the toolbox.

Moving Objects

When moving objects, it’s important to lift using your legs and position yourself carefully to

avoid back injury However, moving objects in CorelDRAW is a lot less stressful, and you

basically have two options: to move objects directly by using the Pick tool and dragging, or

to use the keyboard arrow keys to precision-nudge objects in four directions

For information on moving and transforming objects, see the section “Applying

Precise Transformations” later in this chapter.

Using the Pick Tool

Holding the Pick tool over certain areas of a selected object will cause the tool’s positioning

cursor to become active, as shown in Figure 9-5 This means a click-drag action on the area

will move your selected object(s) in any direction As you drag your object, you’ll see a

preview outline, indicating its new position When the mouse button is released, the move is

complete

If you’re having difficulty selecting and/or moving an object because it’s too small,

you can increase your view magnification using the Zoom tool, or use the keyboard

nudge keys, covered next.

Using Nudge Keys

As an alternative to using the Pick tool, you can also move selected objects by a distance

you specify by nudging You use your keyboard arrow keys; to nudge a selected object,

press theUP, DOWN, LEFT,orRIGHTarrow key Your object will be moved by the nudge

value specified in the Rulers page of the Options dialog You can customize the Nudge

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distance by opening the Options dialog (CTRL+J), clicking to expand the tree directory under Document, and clicking to display the Rulers options page, as shown here:

Ill 9-5

FIGURE 9-5 Moving objects with the Pick tool offers a preview before you actually move

them

Positioning state of Shape tool cursor Preview outline

Nudge increment options

You have eight possible directions in which to nudge your artwork In addition to

using an arrow key, you can also press two neighboring arrow keys to perform a

diagonal nudge.

Using nudge keys, you can perform moves according to this value, or by larger or

smaller values These respectively are referred to as super and micro nudges Like “normal”

nudges, these values are set in the Rulers options page Here are the techniques for using

super and micro nudges:

● Super nudge This action moves a selected object in larger increments than a

normal nudge To use super nudge, holdSHIFTwhile pressing theUP, DOWN, LEFT,

orRIGHTarrow key on your keyboard By default, this causes your selected object to

move by 0.02 inch

● Micro nudge The pint-sized version of a typical nudge is the micro nudge, which

moves your object in smaller increments To use micro nudge, holdCTRLwhile

pressing theUP, DOWN, LEFT,orRIGHTarrow key on your keyboard By default,

micro nudges cause the selected object to move by 0.005 inch

Transforming Objects

A transformation is any type of object shape or position change, short of actually editing

the object’s properties This includes changing its position, size, skew, and/or rotating or

reflecting it Dragging an object directly in a document is more intuitive than precision

transformations—but both approaches to transformation have their own special advantages

In this section, you’ll learn how to apply transformations using both techniques

Transforming Objects Using the Cursor

For the intuitive method, the Pick tool is what you need to transform objects by the simple act of

click-dragging Depending on the type of transformation you need to apply, you can click-drag

any of the four, black, square selection handles that surround the selected object or group of

objects to change an object’s size proportionally, by width only and by height only Dragging any

middle selection handle or side handle scales the object disproportionately—“smoosh” and

“stretch” are the more common terms for disproportional scaling; see Figure 9-6

During transformations, CorelDRAW keeps track of the object’s transformed size,

position, width, height, scale, and rotation angle CorelDRAW remembers your object’s

original shape from the time it was created, regardless of how many transformations have

been applied to it You can remove all transformations and restore the object to its original

state in a single command: choose Arrange | Clear Transformations to return your object to

its original shape immediately

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While transforming objects, you can constrain certain shape properties by holding modifier keys Here are the effects of holding modifier keys for constraining a transformed object’s shape:

● To change object size (scale) Click-drag any corner handle to change an object’s

size proportionally, meaning the relative width and height remain in proportion to

the original object shape HoldALTwhile dragging any corner selection handle to

change an object’s shape disproportionally, meaning width and height change,

regardless of original proportions

● To change width or height only Click-drag any side, top, or bottom selection handle to change the size of the object in the drag direction HoldSHIFTwhile doing this to change the width or height from the center of the object, or holdCTRLwhile dragging to change the width or height in 200-percent increments

When transforming an object using the Pick tool, click the right mouse button during the transformation, and then release both mouse buttons to “drop a copy.” The active object you’re dragging becomes a copy, applying the transformation to a duplicate, not the original When combined with the CTRL key, this technique is a quick and easy way to mirror a duplicate and make symmetrical compositions.

You can also rotate or skew an object using Pick tool states that become available after

you click a selected object a second time—you click an object once that is already selected

to display rotation and skew controls around the object This action causes an object (or group of objects) to look like Figure 9-7

You control the point around which objects are rotated or skewed, by moving the center origin marker (anchor point) of an object or group of objects Your cursor will change to display either the rotation or a skew cursor when held over a corner or side handle A good

FIGURE 9-6 Dragging these handles changes the size of an object proportionally or otherwise

Original Proportional scaling Disproportional scaling

creative example of offsetting the original center of an object is shown in the following

illustration The spade shape is a simple extrusion, and by putting its origin at the crosshairs

in this illustration, holdingCTRLto constrain rotation to CorelDRAW’s default of 15 degrees

while rotating, and then right-clicking to transform a duplicate, a wonderfully intricate

pattern can be made in less than a minute

To flip a selected object quickly, either vertically or horizontally, use the Mirror Vertical and Mirror Horizontal buttons in the property bar while using the Pick tool.

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FIGURE 9-7 Clicking a selected object will cause these rotation/skew handles to appear

Skew handle

Rotation cursor

Skew handle Rotation handles

Center origin marker (anchor point) Skew cursor

Using the Free Transform Tool

The Free Transform tool is the middle ground between controlling transformations entirely

with mouse gestures, and the hands-off controls of the Transformation docker When you use the Free Transform tool, the property bar offers four modes of transformation: Free Rotation, Free Angle Reflection, Free Scale, and Free Skew Here, Free Angle Reflection is used to mirror the drawing’s original location and left-to-right orientation

Ill 9-7

To transform a selected object in one of these four modes, click to select the mode, and then use a click-drag action on your object A live preview of the new object’s shape appears While using Rotation or Angle Reflection modes, a reference line appears as you drag to indicate the object’s angle transformation from its original state

Using Free Transform and then applying a little transparency can yield compositions that contain believable reflections Free Transform works with bitmaps as well as native CorelDRAW vector objects

Free Transform tool

Ill 9-8

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Copying Effects with the Attributes Eyedropper Tool

You can copy transformations between objects using the Attributes eyedropper tool

To do this, choose the tool, have both the objects in view, and use these steps:

1. With the tool selected, click the Transformations button on the property bar, and then check the individual properties you want to sample Click OK to close the flyout and save your choices

2. Click the item whose transformation properties you want to sample and apply

to a different object Groups of objects do not qualify; however, the PowerClip items in the illustration you see next—the silverware drawings—do indeed qualify because a PowerClip is seen as a single object

Object being transformed

New object

shape preview

Free Transform tool cursor

Reference line

Applying Precise Transformations

The Transformation docker is terrific for applying multiple transformations with a single command The docker has five Transformation buttons: Position (Move), Rotate, Scale And Mirror, Size, and Skew, as shown in Figure 9-8 To open the Transformation docker, choose

Individual objects can be changed even when they’re grouped With the Pick tool, hold CTRL to select within a group See Chapter 11 for details on using PowerClips.

Ill 9-9

3. After an object has been sampled, your cursor becomes an “apply” cursor—a paint bucket Click the object you want to apply the transformation to The rotation, scale, and/or position is immediately copied to the new object The Attributes eyedropper is persistent: you can continue applying attributes to other objects; click the select (eyedropper) icon on the property bar to redefine attributes you want to apply and continue; or choose a different tool, and your transformation work is done

4. Remember that the knife in a formal table setting always has the cutting edge facing left; fortunately, this is a simple transformation

Apply Select

1

2

Window | Dockers | Transformations, or choose Arrange | Transformations, choose a

command, and then click the button that applies to your task

For all transformations, the procedure is the same: click the button for the type of

transformation, enter the values you need, and then click the Apply button in the docker to

transform the selected object(s) In this section, you’ll learn what each area does for you and

the options offered for each

Using the Transformation Docker

Options in the Transformation docker vary by transformation type In the illustrations shown

in the next few pages, examples show only the specific transformation being discussed

Positioning (Moving) Objects

Options for the Position page will move your object selection a specified distance, either

vertically (V), horizontally (H), or to a specific point on your document page, as shown in

Figure 9-9

While the Relative Position option is selected, entering new values and clicking the

Apply button causes your objects to move by a specified distance If the Relative Position

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FIGURE 9-8 The Transformation docker offers precision over position, rotation, size, and

skew changes

Position

Rotate Scale and Mirror Size

Skew