● 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. 244 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide 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 the CTRL+A shortcut. 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 the UP, DOWN, LEFT, or RIGHT arrow key. Your object will be moved by the nudge value specified in the Rulers page of the Options dialog. You can customize the Nudge CHAPTER 9: Moving, Scaling, Rotating: Basic Transformations 245 9 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 9-5 246 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide 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, hold SHIFT while pressing the UP, DOWN, LEFT, or RIGHT arrow 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, hold CTRL while pressing the UP, DOWN, LEFT, or RIGHT arrow 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. CHAPTER 9: Moving, Scaling, Rotating: Basic Transformations 247 9 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. Hold ALT while 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. Hold SHIFT while doing this to change the width or height from the center of the object, or hold CTRL while 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 248 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide 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, holding CTRL to 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. Ill 9-6 CHAPTER 9: Moving, Scaling, Rotating: Basic Transformations 249 9 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. 250 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide Free Transform tool Ill 9-8 CHAPTER 9: Moving, Scaling, Rotating: Basic Transformations 251 9 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 252 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide 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 CHAPTER 9: Moving, Scaling, Rotating: Basic Transformations 253 9 FIGURE 9-8 The Transformation docker offers precision over position, rotation, size, and skew changes. Position Rotate Scale and Mirror Size Skew . change to display either the rotation or a skew cursor when held over a corner or side handle. A good 248 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide FIGURE 9-6 Dragging these handles changes the size of an object. 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 9-5 246 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide FIGURE. display CorelDRAW s ruler feature. 244 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide FIGURE 9-4 Select items in your document by using the Select All command. ● Select All Nodes You must have both the Shape