CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide part 52 ppsx

Applying Outline Pen Properties By default, when you create an open or closed path, it’s given a ½-point-wide outline in black, with no fancy extras.. In a number of areas in CorelDRAW,

Chapter 15 covers only half the story about how you can flesh out a visual idea by using CorelDRAW Although an object can usually live its life just fine without an outline, the attributes you can apply to a path can add a touch of refinement to an illustration The right outline color can help visually separate different objects Additionally, you can

simulate calligraphic strokes without using artistic media when you know how to work with the Outline Pen dialog; you can even make a path a dashed line, complete with arrowheads for fancy presentations and elegant maps In fact, an outline, especially an open outline, can live its life in your work just fine without defining a filled object! You don’t have to draw the line at fills and effects in your CorelDRAW artwork This chapter shows you the ins and outs of properties you apply to your paths, from beginning to end

Download and extract all the files from the Chapter16.zip archive to follow the tutorials in this chapter.

Applying Outline Pen Properties

By default, when you create an open or closed path, it’s given a ½-point-wide outline in black, with no fancy extras Part of the rationale for this default is that vector paths can’t really be seen without some sort of width In contrast, bitmap artwork by definition is made

up of pixels, written to screen and written to file; so when a user draws an outline, it always has a width (it’s always visible) Happily, vector drawing programs can display a wide range

of path properties, and unlike with bitmap outlines, you can change your mind at any time and easily alter the property of an outline

In a number of areas in CorelDRAW, you can apply a property such as color, stroke width, and other fun stuff to an open or closed path (and even to open paths that don’t touch each other but that have been unified using the Arrange | Combine command) The following sections explore your options and point out the smartest and most convenient way to travel

in the document window to quickly arrive at the perfect outline When an open path or an object (which necessarily has to be described using a path) is selected on the page, the property bar offers a lot of options for outline properties Some shortcuts for performing simple property adjustments are also covered on the long and winding path through this chapter

Outline Pen Options and the Property Bar

Although it doesn’t offer all options for path properties, the property bar is probably the

most convenient route to outline properties It actively displays a selected path’s current

properties, which you can change when a path is selected The property bar, shown next while a path is selected, has width, style, and arrowhead options—you can make an open path with a head, tail, two heads—it’s up to you Other options give you control over

wrapping text around an object, showing or hiding a bounding box around a path, and items not directly related to the look of the outline Closed paths, naturally, can’t have arrowheads,

but your options for dashed lines and other attributes are available for rectangles, ellipses, all

the polygon shapes, and for freeform closed curves you’ve drawn by hand

The following tutorial walks you through the use of the property bar when you draw

a path

Going Long and Wide

1. Choose any drawing tool—the default Freehand tool is fine—just drag a squiggle

and then pressSPACEBARto switch to the Pick tool; the path is selected now

2. On the property bar, choose an outline thickness using the Outline Width selector, or

enter a value and then pressENTER

3. For arrowheads (on an open path), click the Start or End Arrowhead picker, and then

choose an arrowhead style from the pop-up The Start option applies an arrowhead

to the first node of the path; the End option applies it to the last Therefore, this

might not be the direction in which you want the arrow to point You just have to

perform a little mental juggling

4. To apply a dashed or dotted-line pattern to the path, click the Line Style selector, and

then choose from one of the presets Creating custom dashed patterns is covered

later in this chapter

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Freehand Smoothing

Show/Hide Bounding Box

Start Arrowhead Picker Line StyleSelector

End Arrowhead Picker

Auto-Close Curve

Outline Width

5. Try increasing and decreasing the outline width, and see what happens to dashed line styles and arrowheads; they scale proportionately to the width of the outline

As you apply outline properties from the property bar to your object or path, the effect is immediately visible, making this method both quick and convenient to use

To quickly set the color of an object’s outline, right-click over any Color Palette color well when it’s selected.

Using the Outline Tool

The toolbox method is a different way to define the properties of a path The Outline pen tool isn’t really a tool; rather it’s a flyout selector of options, shown next If you’re working on outlines a lot in a design, the Outline pen tool—like all the toolbox tools—can be floated as a palette Just right-click first over the toolbox area and uncheck Lock Toolbars, and then drag the flyout (by the tread marks at the top of it) into the workspace At the lower left in the illustration, you can see access points to the Outline Pen dialog, which offers options not available on the property bar; to the Outline Color dialog (which is a one-shot deal); and to the Color docker, which has some options similar to those in the Outline Color dialog, but here the docker is a persistent element, always available to use Also, you have ten preset widths for

outlines, and an X, which removes a path’s outline width, making it invisible If you want

labels on the various commands instead of iconic representations, right-click over an empty area of the toolbar once it’s floating, and then choose Customize | Outline Flyout Toolbar

Opens Outline Pen dialog

Opens Outline Color dialog

Opens Color docker

Click-drag to float Outline tool as a toolbar.

Unlock to float

any toolbar.

Set display options for floating toolbar Right-click over vacant area to reveal options for toolbar.

Exploring the Outline Pen Dialog

Use the Outline Pen dialog for total control over a single object’s outline or over a selected

group It includes the same set of options available in the property bar, plus several more

The Color eyedropper tool can be used to sample and apply outline properties

between objects.

The Outline Pen dialog includes options for specifying outline color, editing arrowhead

and outline styles, and setting nib shape and transformation behavior; this is the only place

in CorelDRAW where you’ll find all these options together To open the Outline Pen dialog,

shown in Figure 16-1, the quickest way is to double-click the Outline well on the status bar,

but you can also choose the dialog from the Outline flyout (pressingF12gets you there, too).

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FIGURE 16-1 The Outline Pen dialog has comprehensive options for outline properties

Double-click here

on the status bar to

open the dialog.

Interactive nib shape control

Setting Outline Color

Using the Color selector in the Outline Pen dialog, you can choose a color for your selected

path(s) Pen color affects only the color of the object’s path; object fills are not changed.

Outline color can be set only to CorelDRAW’s uniform colors from the drop-down palette

To access every color collection and color model for outlines, click the Other button at the bottom of the palette The Outline Color dialog provides access to all CorelDRAW’s color palettes, including custom swatches and the Color Mixer

If you want color control and don’t need to fuss with dashed outlines, arrowheads, or other outline attributes, don’t choose the Outline Pen dialog—click the Outline Color dialog button on the Outline Flyout in the toolbox And if you’re not particular about a specific shade of color, right-click a color well on the Color Palette to set an outline color

Choosing Outline Styles

For a quick way to apply a dashed- or dotted-line pattern to the path of a selected object, the Line Style selector offers more than 28 preset variations

Click to display the main color dialog.

Applying an outline style causes a pattern to appear along the entire path, which is a must

for anything you need to visually suggest to the reader that they go running for the scissors:

coupons, tickets, you name it Styles are repeating patterns of short, long, and a combination

of dashes that apply to the entire path Line styles can be applied to any open or closed path

object, as well as to compound paths—paths that look like two or more individual paths, but

are bound using the Arrange | Combine command The quickest way to apply a dashed style is

to use the Pick tool and the property bar Style selector when one or more paths are selected, as

shown here

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Click here to remove

outline properties.

Preset styles

Click here to open

Edit Line Style dialog.

Once you have a nice custom outline set of properties defined and want to apply all the parameters to a different path, you can copy outline properties of one path to another by right-clicking and dragging one path over on top of the target path (this doesn’t move your original path; it’s a special editing technique) Release the mouse button when a crosshairs cursor appears over the target path Then choose Copy Outline Here from the pop-up menu.

Creating and Editing Outline Styles

If you’re looking for a special dashed-line style, one of your own invention, you can always

build it Choose Other from the Style selector in the property bar while a curve is selected,

or within the Outline Pen dialog click the Edit Style button Both actions open the Edit Line Style dialog, shown here:

Creating a custom line style of dots and dashes is a fairly intuitive process, very similar to drawing a line in a paint program; your cursor serves as both a pencil and an eraser Click a black dot to erase it, click a white (space) dot to add to or begin a line Once you save a style by clicking Add, it becomes available throughout CorelDRAW wherever outline styles are offered

Your only limitation—read the legend at the bottom left of the editor—is that you can’t create a

sequence consisting of more than five dashes or dots; two or more single dot marks count as a single dash To create and save your own custom outline style, follow these steps

Drawing a Dotted Line Style

1. Create and/or select a path to serve as a host for your new line style, open the Outline Pen dialog (F12), and then click the Edit Style button, or click the Other button at the bottom of the Style selector on the property bar

Click to draw or erase part

of the dot/dash pattern. Drag to increase blank spacebetween pattern dots/dashes.

Preview window Five-dash limit!

2. In the Edit Line Style dialog, you see a horizontal pattern generator featuring a slider

control, a preview window, and a set of command buttons

3. In the pattern generator, drag the slider left or right to change the style length Click

(or click-drag to make a long dash segment) on the small squares to the left of the

slider to set the on/off states of the pattern If you want to erase a segment, you click

or click-drag on the black square(s) you’ve drawn As you do this, the preview

window shows the new pattern

4. Click the Add button to add the new style to the list (or click Replace to overwrite

the style currently selected in the Style selector) to return to the Outline Pen dialog

New styles are added to the bottom of the selector list

5. Verify that your new line style is available by choosing it in the selector and clicking

OK to apply your new outline style; it will be at the bottom of the drop-down list,

and as with the preset styles, there is no name for custom styles—you search by the

look of the saved thumbnail The line style you created is now applied to the object

If the pattern applied to a path doesn’t exactly match its length—for example, the pattern

is longer than the path it’s applied to—you might see a “seam,” especially when applying

outline styles to closed paths (as shown next) You have two ways to cure the problem One

is to go back to the style editor, and then to increase or decrease the length of the pattern

This is a trial-and-error edit, but it doesn’t change the path to which the style is applied The

other method (a desperate measure) is to lengthen the path by using the Shape tool, or to

scale the path by using the Pick tool In either of these edits, you change your design and not

your custom preset—it’s your call, but editing the style is usually the best way to avoid

seams on a case-by-case basis

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Style length adjusted Seam visible

Click-drag to scale the saved style.

Setting Outline Arrowheads

Arrowheads are both heads and tails on an open path, and although you have a handsome

collection of preset arrows, they can be almost anything you decide to draw Most of the preset styles are arrowheads, but some are symbols that represent a tail Figure 16-2 shows several of the styles, and many of the tails match the visual style of the arrowheads When applied, arrowheads can be set to appear at the start and end points of open paths, at both ends, one end, or by default, at neither end

Here’s a trick to defining the size of an arrowhead or tail proportional to your line Select the line, then pressALT+ENTERto display the Object Properties docker, and then click the Outline (the pen) tab

● If you check the Scale With Image check box, whenever you use the Pick tool to scale a line with an arrowhead, the line’s width will increase or decrease, but the arrowhead remains a constant size

● If you leave Scale With Image unchecked as a property, the arrowhead scales with the width of the line when you scale the path using the Pick tool

If you don’t scale a path but instead change its outline width using the box on the property bar, no object scaling is really taking place The path is the same length when you change its width, and this trick doesn’t apply This is your ticket to making an arrowhead exactly proportional to the path’s outline

FIGURE 16-2 CorelDRAW includes these arrow styles, and you can design your own Heads,

you win

The quickest way to apply an arrowhead is by using the Start and/or End Arrowhead

selectors in the property bar when an open path is selected, as shown here

Applying an arrowhead to a closed path has no visible effect unless the path is

broken at some point.

Creating Custom Arrowhead Styles

Realistically, CorelDRAW could not have the ideal arrowhead (and tail) for your (and every

other user’s) assignment as a preset, or the preset selector would need a head and a tail

itself—from here to the moon! That’s why you have the Tools| Create | Arrow command—

don’t choose the command yet; you’ll need to draw the arrowhead first, as covered in the

following tutorial The best arrowhead should be simple in its construction and needs to be a

single or compound path Fill makes no difference in creating the arrowhead because a

finished and applied custom arrow style gets its color from the outline color you use on the

selected path in your drawing The orientation of the arrowhead needs to be in landscape,

too, before entering the Create command In other words, the top of your custom arrowhead

design needs to face right, not face the top of the page

To create a new arrowhead and save it, follow these next steps If you’d like a jump-start,

open Shovel.cdr first It contains the elements needed to make both a head and a tail

Drawing, Saving, and Editing an Arrowhead Style

1. Give some thought and planning to what would make a good arrowhead and tail

Shovel.cdr has a drawing of the business and the user ends of a common garden

shovel This works for designs of gardens (an arrow pointing to “dig here”), treasure

hunts, and certain civil engineering projects Allowing about 3" for your symbols to

be used as arrowheads seems to work well and gets you around the need to edit the

size later When you’ve drawn your arrowhead (a tail is optional for this tutorial),

rotate it so its pointing side faces the right of the drawing page

2. With the shape selected, choose Tools | Create | Arrow

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Arrow start (first

node on path)

Arrow end (last node on path)