Shapes

You can use shapes to add design elements to your page. The shapes available are Rectangle, Rounded box, Ellipse and Star.

Every shape you draw also acts like a frame that you can insert objects into, whether it is text, pictures, or PowerText. Drawing shapes and lines couldn’t be easier. Just use a tool from the selection available to draw the shape you want.

What do you want to know more about?

Drawing basic shapes

Drawing a straight line

Drawing a freehand line

Drawing a curved line

To draw the shape from its centre, hold down Shift as you drag the mouse pointer.

To draw a shape with equal proportions, hold down Ctrl as you drag the mouse pointer.

If you want to put anything into a frame or manipulate it in some way you need to select it first. You can select one frame at a time or select more than one if you want to give them the same effect.

What do you want to know more about?

Drawing a frame

Selecting a frame

Selecting more than one frame

Selecting all the frames on the page

Once you have drawn the shape you can use the Frame Properties dialog box to edit it, e.g. by changing the number of sides.

Alternatively, you can ungroup the shape to edit it manually.

What do you want to know more about?

How do I edit a basic shape?

How do I manually edit a shape?

How do I change the line style of a shape?

How do I change the fill style of a shape?

You can change the colour and effect of the line style and fill style to make your shape compatible with the other colours used in your documents. Your shape can also be resized, moved or rotated to create whatever effect you need.

What do you want to know more about?

Moving shapes

Rotating shapes

Cutting, copying and pasting shapes