Chapter 3 - Grids and Rulers

3.1 Rulers

Rulers define a grid in your document for accurate layout and positioning of objects. Ruler commands are found in the Layout menu. The display of rulers is turned on and off by choosing Display Rulers.

Grid lines can be displayed in your document by choosing Display Grid Lines. Grid lines are a visual aid for object positioning. Where grid lines appears depends upon your current ruler settings.

Grid lines and rulers do not print with your document.

To assist you in aligning, positioning, and measuring objects in your document, choose Cursor Cross Hairs. You do not need to have rulers displayed to use cursor cross hairs. Cursor cross hairs are especially helpful when grid lines are turned off.

By default, pointer positions snap to the nearest grid point. This is called Grid Snap. Grid Snap is turned on or off by choosing Grid Snap from the Layout menu. To temporarily turn off Grid Snap, hold the Command key down when dragging or positioning an object.

You can modify your ruler settings through the Rulers dialog in the Layout menu. This dialog lets you define up to six different rulers and switch between those rulers as needed.

To learn about all of the settings and features of the Rulers dialog, turn on ShareDraw Help before you open the dialog.

In your document, the zero point of the horizontal and vertical rulers is initially set to the upper left corner of the document. To change the location of the zero point, first make sure your rulers are showing, then choose Unlock Zero Point from the Layout menu.

To change the zero point for one axis, click in that ruler at the point where you want the new zero point to be. 

The Set Rulers box is the intersection of the two displayed rulers. To move the zero point for both the horizontal and vertical rulers at the same time, click and drag from the Set Rulers box or from either ruler into the document drawing area. To reset the zero point to the upper left corner of your document, click in the Set Rulers box.

When the zero point has been moved, the Set Rulers box will display a small horizontal and/or vertical line.

To lock the zero point at its new location, choose Unlock Zero Point from the Layout menu again.

3.2 Size Information

You can display the dimensions of any object by choosing Show Size  from the Layout menu. Size readouts will appear in your drawing area when you click on an object, when you resize an object, and when you draw an object. The displayed dimensions always use the current ruler settings.

Information Bar, in the Layout menu, also turns on the display of object dimensions. This option causes the readout to appear in a special panel at the top of your drawing.

Show Size and the Information Bar do not print with your document.