Opening and Saving Templates You can open any template file that has a .CDT extension you’ve saved from X5 or from any previous version for editing, and change its actual template format and/or its content. Use the File | Open command and choose CorelDRAW Template (CDT) as the file type. Before the file opens, a dialog (shown at right) will ask whether you want to open the template as a new document or for editing. If your aim is to open a new document based on the template content and structure, leave New From Template selected in combination with the With Contents option. If your intention is to edit the template file itself, choose Open For Editing. When saving an edited template file, performing a Save command automatically saves the file as a template without opening any dialogs—and without the need to re-specify the file as a CDT template file in the Save dialog. Additionally, a CDT file you opened will appear on the File | Open Recent list, and if you choose it, it will simply open without the dialog shown in the illustration. Clipboard Commands As you probably already know, the Windows Clipboard is a temporary “place” that’s capable of storing the last objects copied and is a feature of your computer’s operating system. While the data you copied or cut is stored in your system’s RAM, you can “paste” duplicates of the data into your document. The three most common Clipboard commands you’ll likely use are Copy, Cut, and Paste—each of which is accessible either from the Edit menu or from the standard toolbar, as shown here. Cut, Copy, and Paste are also standard Windows commands, so you can use the keyboard shortcuts CTRL+C (Copy), CTRL+V (Paste), and CTRL+X (Cut) to speed up your work. To create duplicates of your selected objects immediately, press the + key on your keyboard’s numeric keypad. Copies immediately are placed in front of the selected objects in the document and in exactly the same page position. This action does not use Windows’ Clipboard, so your current Clipboard contents remain intact. 64 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide Ill 3-4 Cut Copy Paste Ill 3-5 Copying vs. Cutting Each time an object is copied to the Windows Clipboard, the previous Clipboard contents are overwritten. To copy selected objects onto your Clipboard, choose Edit | Copy. Better yet, click the Copy button on the standard toolbar, or use the standard CTRL+C shortcut. The older Windows SHIFT+INSERT shortcut also works. After being copied, the items remain unaltered in your document. Windows 7 only supports a Clipboard Viewer under a virtual machine such as one running XP, so Windows 7 users can’t see important content that might be on the Clipboard from moment to moment. However, Karen Kenworthy offers a free Clipboard Viewer at http://www.karenware.com/powertools/ptclpvue.asp. It’s a good idea to download it and to thank Karen. The Cut command automatically deletes the selected items from your document and puts a copy on the Clipboard. To cut items, click the Cut button in the standard toolbar, choose Edit | Cut, or use the standard CTRL+X shortcut. The older Windows SHIFT+DELETE shortcut also applies. If what you’ve copied to the Clipboard is something that you will use again in this document or that might be useful in future creations, consider saving it to the scrapbook covered later in this chapter, or as a symbol, which is covered in Chapter 13. Paste vs. Paste Special Copies of items on your Clipboard can be placed into your current document by using the Paste command. Each time you use the Paste command, another copy is pasted. When an item is pasted into CorelDRAW, it is placed on the very top or front of the active layer. To paste Clipboard contents, perform one of these actions: click the Paste button in the standard toolbar, choose Edit | Paste, or use the CTRL+V shortcut. The older Windows SHIFT+INSERT shortcut also applies. Paste Special in the Edit menu is used to place “unusual” data into a CorelDRAW document: text that is specially formatted, a graphic that the Clipboard doesn’t completely understand, or data that CorelDRAW has no way of clearly understanding as text, vector art, or bitmap data. Windows Clipboard can assign any of 27 data types, frequently more than one type, to media that is copied to it; one of the ways that the mechanism Paste Special operates is to offer you a choice as to how the media on the Clipboard is interpreted by CorelDRAW as it puts a copy of this media on a page. CHAPTER 3: CorelDRAW’s Ins and Outs: Importing, Exporting, and Saving Design Work 65 3 Paste Special should be used on three occasions (possibly more) when you need something in a CorelDRAW document that wasn’t created in CorelDRAW and pressing CTRL+V results in nothing pasted: ● When you’ve copied formatted text from WordPerfect, MS Word, or a desktop publishing application, and you do not want the text formatted. Suppose you’ve created a table and used fancy bullets and an equally fancy font in your word- processing program, and you want the text imported to CorelDRAW via the Clipboard only. You want to reformat the data in CorelDRAW with different fonts, you don’t want bullets, but you also don’t want to retype the text. You use Edit | Paste Special, and then choose Rich Text Format, or better still you choose Text, and then click OK. ● When you’ve copied data from an application that creates things that are completely inappropriate for CorelDRAW to import. For example, you own a 3D modeling program and want to use a model you’ve created in a CorelDRAW page. CorelDRAW has no 3D tools, but it will accept a special pasted interpreted bitmap copy of the model. In this case, the Special Paste of the model cannot be edited in CorelDRAW, but the bitmap interpretation of the model program’s data can be scaled, moved, rotated, and the document will print with the bitmap and any other CorelDRAW media on the page. ● When you want to update data you need to paste, especially with text. By default, CorelDRAW’s Paste Special dialog is set to Paste, not to Paste Link, and you really need to think carefully and read this section twice before choosing Paste Link and then clicking OK. Paste Link embeds, for example, a section of MS Word text that can be later edited using MS Word, and not CorelDRAW. The data you Paste Special and Paste Link falls into that fuzzy category of data that doesn’t actually “belong” to the CorelDRAW document—the data requires both a valid link to its source, and that the application that was used to create the data is still installed on your computer a month from now when it’s editing time. A linked pasted object is not directly editable in CorelDRAW, although it can be printed, moved, and scaled as an embedded object. To edit the object, you double-click it with the Pick Tool, and the program you used to generate this media pops up…and you can edit away. When you’re finished editing, you save the document in the program, you can close it, and when you come back to CorelDRAW, the media has been updated. If you work extensively with CorelDRAW and a word processor, and your client requests revisions as often as leaves fall from a tree, the Link Paste Special feature can be a charm. However, if you don’t save documents regularly or uninstall programs frequently, do not use the link feature. The next time you open the document, the link might not be linked, and there goes part of your design. Figure 3-6 shows the Paste Special dialog and the different options on the list when (at left) a 3D model has been copied to the Clipboard, and when (at right) a word-processing document has been copied. 66 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide Paste Special does not have a keyboard shortcut assigned to it by default. It can be handy to assign it one yourself by using the Customization | Commands section of the Options dialog. Undoing and Redoing Changes Albert Einstein might have said (under his breath) that for every action, there is an equal and opposite mistake. Then again, Mr. Einstein probably never used CorelDRAW, so he was unaware that you have several ways to undo a mistake. Or to redo something you originally thought was a mistake, and even to back up and undo a mistake you made a dozen steps ago. It’s a shame that Life isn’t as forgiving as CorelDRAW. Basic Undo Commands Choose Edit | Undo or use the standard CTRL+Z shortcut. To reverse an Undo command, choose Edit | Redo or use the CTRL+SHIFT+Z shortcut. CorelDRAW takes both of these commands further by offering Undo and Redo buttons in the standard toolbar; they can be CHAPTER 3: CorelDRAW’s Ins and Outs: Importing, Exporting, and Saving Design Work 67 3 FIGURE 3-6 Paste Special is for data that cannot be imported as regular data, and for when you want to use an editor other than CorelDRAW. Paste 3D model data as a picture. Paste Link text as a Word document. used either to undo or redo single or multiple commands. The buttons even have drop-down menus, as shown next. Clicking the toolbar button applies to the most recent action; clicking the toolbar button’s drop-down arrow lets you choose a specific Undo or Redo command. To reverse either an Undo or Redo action using the drop-downs, click one of the listed commands. Doing so takes your composition back or forward to the point you specified in the drop- down. Undo and Redo drop-downs show your most recent actions at the top of the listing. Ill 3-6 You can customize the number of Undo levels CorelDRAW performs. The default setting records your 20 most recent actions, but this value can be set as high as 99,999 actions (provided your system has the available resources). To access Undo options, open the Options dialog (click the Options button on the standard toolbar), and then at left click Document | General. Using the Undo Docker For even more control over your most recent actions, you might try the Undo docker opened by choosing Window | Dockers | Undo. The Undo docker, shown in Figure 3-7, provides different views of your drawing as it appeared before certain recent actions. The Undo docker can also be used to save your recent actions as a Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) macro, which is terrific when you want to apply, for example, a dozen complex edits to different objects in different documents (on different days!). The Undo docker displays your most recent actions in reverse order of the Undo and Redo drop-down menus, with recent actions placed at the bottom of the docker list. Selecting a command on the list shows you a view of your document as it appeared before your most recent actions were performed. Clicking the Clear Undo List icon clears the entire list of actions in the Undo docker list, providing you with a clean slate. You cannot clear or delete some of the actions; clearing is an all or nothing decision. By default, an alert dialog, shown in the following illustration, appears, warning you that clearing the Undo list can’t be undone. Having a robust Undo list 68 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide Click to undo/redo last action. Click to open drop-down menu. Most recent action can be a much-needed safety net, so don’t clear the list unless you have so many undos in the list that it is bogging down your system resources. Ill 3-7 When you save and then close a file, the Undo docker list is automatically cleared—you will be starting fresh when you reopen the document. If you Save the document but don’t close it, and continue to work on the file, the actions in the Undo docker remain, and your new actions continue to be added to the list. The Undo docker is also a great way to create VBA macros. Clicking the Save List To A VBA Macro button in the docker opens the Save Macro dialog, where you provide a name and description for the new macro and store it either with your open document or to CorelDRAW’s main Global Macros list. Keep in mind when naming your macros that spaces are not valid characters, but underscores are. Scrapbooks, An Old Favorite If you are a longtime user of CorelDRAW, you may also be a fan of the Scrapbook docker, which can be used to store and retrieve drawings, photos, text, or floating photo objects. Many users have found it useful for searching through vast collections of clip art. The Scrapbook CHAPTER 3: CorelDRAW’s Ins and Outs: Importing, Exporting, and Saving Design Work 69 3 FIGURE 3-7 The Undo docker features all sorts of ways to undo or redo recent actions. Actions arranged from the oldest action at the top to the most recent at the bottom Save list to a VBA macro Clear Undo list docker is still available for you to use, but is no longer installed by default—the Symbol Manager docker is proving to be a better feature for storing work because in X5 all the Corel clip art and your own work can be searched for using XP and Vista’s native search engines. But it’s natural to stick with what works for you; if you want to use the Scrapbook, you can use CorelDRAW’s customization options to bring the Scrapbook out into the open. Here’s how. Revealing the CorelDRAW Scrapbook 1. Click the Options button on the standard toolbar, and then choose Workspace | Customization | Commands in the tree on the left. 2. Click the Search icon (the one with the binoculars on it) next to the drop-down list in the center of the dialog. 3. In the Find What field of the Find Text dialog, type in Scrapbook and then click the Find Next button. The Scrapbook command is highlighted in the list of commands. Click the close box for Find Text. 4. Click-drag the Scrapbook command out of the list, and drop it on the toolbar or menu of your choice. The standard toolbar is a good location if you use the Scrapbook often. 5. Click OK to close the Options dialog. Ill 3-8 70 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide Drag icon to add it to a toolbar. Importing and Exporting Files CorelDRAW’s Import and Export filter collection is one of the largest in any graphics application. Here is a list of the document types that version X5 can import and export. Support for new file formats: ● Microsoft Publisher (versions 2002, 2003, and 2007) ● Microsoft Word 2007 ● AutoCAD DXF ● AutoCAD DWG (versions R2.5 to 2007) ● Corel Painter 11 Enhanced export options when working with Adobe products including: ● Adobe Photoshop CS4 and previous versions ● Adobe Illustrator CS4 (you can now choose to export text to Illustrator as Curves or as Text; compressed Illustrator files are not currently supported) ● PDF 1.7, PDF/A (an ISO-approved format for long-term document archiving) ● Adobe Acrobat Filters are data translators for files created in other applications or in formats not native to CorelDRAW. Import filters take the data from other applications and translate that data into information that can be viewed and edited from within CorelDRAW. Export filters translate data from your CorelDRAW document to a format recognized by a different program or publishing medium. As with Import filters, Export filters frequently contain dialogs where you set up options to export the precise data you need for the target application or publishing medium. When you export a file, the new file format may not support all the features that CorelDRAW’s native file format (CDR) supports. For this reason, even when exporting work, you should always save a copy of your work in CorelDRAW’s native file format. Set Up Color Management Before Importing Earlier, in the “Create a New Document that Suits You” section, the importance of color management was discussed. Enabling and using a color profile is your best bet to ensure color consistency between your monitor, CorelDRAW, and your personal or commercial printer. Because CorelDRAW can import so many different graphics file types, especially documents created with Adobe products, you will want to be alerted when importing a photo CHAPTER 3: CorelDRAW’s Ins and Outs: Importing, Exporting, and Saving Design Work 71 3 that was tagged with a color profile. Go to Tools | Color Management | Default Settings right now. In Figure 3-8 you can see four check boxes toward the right of the dialog: check them. You can always uncheck these alert options if you feel pestered by them in your work, but you really shouldn’t. When you import, for example, a coworker’s Photoshop PSD file, the chances are very good that this image was saved with a color profile. The chances are also fairly good that this color-profile tagged photo won’t have the same color profile as the CorelDRAW document you’ve created. When an imported image has a profile that doesn’t match the current CorelDRAW document’s color profile, the imported photo might look dull, overly saturated, or too dark or too light. And it will print that way, and then you have an unhappy client, coworker, or most importantly, you have an unhappy you. Fortunately, it only takes two seconds to be happier. Now that the alerts have been checked, here’s what happens when you import a PSD, TIFF, JPEG, and even CDR and Corel CMX documents that have been embedded with a color profile: you click to import it (the exact method is covered in the following section), and before anything happens, a dialog appears. In this box, you’re told exactly what color 72 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide FIGURE 3-8 Enable an alert that gives you the chance to correct a mismatched or missing color profile when you import a document. Check to display attention box on opening and pasting. profile the incoming document is tagged with, what your current document’s color profile is, and you have three options (shown next) to choose from to remedy the mismatch: ● Ignore the import’s color profile and assign it the CorelDRAW document’s profile. This is not the best solution if the imported photo or graphic is really important to the design and your client. ● Convert the document’s color profile to match your CorelDRAW document’s color profile. This is a much better option; see “Create a New Document that Suits You” for the reason why and the color conversion CorelDRAW uses. ● Convert the CorelDRAW document’s colors to accommodate the imported document’s color profile. Don’t choose this option if you’ve worked for hours on other native elements in your CorelDRAW document design, but consider this option if the import is the first element you’re working with in a new document. Ill 3-9 Click OK with the confidence that you’ve just accessed one of the most powerful, new features in CorelDRAW X5. Importing Files and Setting Options You import a file by clicking File | Import, clicking the Import button on the standard toolbar, or using the CTRL+I shortcut. All of these moves open the Import dialog (see left, Figure 3-9), which can show thumbnails, provide information such as date and file size depending on which Windows view you have the panes set up for, and options for importing CHAPTER 3: CorelDRAW’s Ins and Outs: Importing, Exporting, and Saving Design Work 73 3 . as 99 ,99 9 actions (provided your system has the available resources). To access Undo options, open the Options dialog (click the Options button on the standard toolbar), and then at left click Document. General. Using the Undo Docker For even more control over your most recent actions, you might try the Undo docker opened by choosing Window | Dockers | Undo. The Undo docker, shown in Figure 3-7 , provides different. this color-profile tagged photo won’t have the same color profile as the CorelDRAW document you’ve created. When an imported image has a profile that doesn’t match the current CorelDRAW document’s