CorelDRAW provides tools that let you create many different types of objects.

This tutorial shows you how to draw some basic shapes and lines you'll use to create a drawing in CorelDRAW.

Select a topic:

Draw a rectangle or a square

Draw an ellipse or a circle

Draw a polygon

Draw a star

Draw a spiral

Draw graph paper

Draw a line or curve with the Freehand tool

Draw a line or curve with the Bezier tool

Draw a line or curve with the Natural Pen tool

The Rectangle tool lets you draw rectangles and squares.

1. Click the Rectangle tool, then position the cursor where you want the rectangle to appear.
2. Drag diagonally to draw the shape.

Tip

Hold down CTRL while you drag to create a square. Release the mouse button, then release CTRL.

The Ellipse tool lets you draw ellipses and circles.

1. Click the Ellipse tool, then position the cursor where you want the ellipse to appear.
2. Drag diagonally to draw the shape.

Tip

Hold down CTRL while you drag to create a circle. Release the mouse button, then release CTRL.

The Polygon tool lets you draw polygons, stars, and polygons as stars. A polygon is a shape with three or more sides.

1. Open the Object flyout, and click the Polygon tool.
2. Position the cursor where you want the polygon to appear.
3. Drag diagonally to draw the shape.

Tip

Hold down CTRL while dragging to draw a polygon with equal sides.

Release the mouse button, then release CTRL.

The Polygon tool lets you draw polygons, stars, and polygons as stars. In CorelDRAW, you can also create complex, multi-sided polygons, or stars.

1. Open the Object flyout and click the Polygon tool.
2. Position the cursor where you want the star to appear.
3. Drag diagonally to draw a polygon.
4. Click the Polygon/Star button on the Property Bar to convert the polygon to a star-shaped polygon.

Tip

Hold down CTRL to draw a polygon with equal sides.

The Spiral tool lets you draw spiral shapes. There are two types of spiral: symmetrical and logarithmic. With a symmetrical spiral, the distance between each revolution is constant. With a logarithmic spiral, the distance increases as the spiral progresses outward.

This procedure describes how to draw a symmetrical spiral.

1. Open the Object flyout, and click the Spiral tool.
2. Type a number in the Spiral Revolutions box on the Property Bar to indicate the number of revolutions you want for the spiral.
3. Click the Symmetrical Spiral button on the Property Bar.
4. Position the cursor where you want the spiral to appear.
5. Drag diagonally to draw the spiral.

Note

The spiral appears tighter when you use more revolutions. The default setting is four revolutions. The settings you select remain until you change them.

Tip

Hold down CTRL while you drag to draw a circular spiral. Release the mouse button, then release CTRL.

The Graph Paper tool lets you draw a grid pattern.

1. Open the Object flyout and click the Graph Paper tool.
2. In the Graph Paper Columns and Rows box on the Property Bar, type the number of columns you want, press TAB, type the number of rows you want, then press ENTER.
3. Drag diagonally to draw the graph paper.

Note

The default setting is 4 columns and 3 rows. The settings you that select remain until you change them.

Tip

Hold down CTRL and drag diagonally to draw square graph paper. Release the mouse button, then release CTRL.

The Freehand tool lets you draw lines and curves by dragging the mouse like a pencil on paper.

1. Open the Curve flyout, and click the Freehand tool.
2. Position the cursor where you want to start a line.
3. Drag along the path you want, as you would with a pencil on a piece of paper.
4. Release the mouse button to finish drawing the line or curve.

Tips

Draw a straight line by clicking once for the starting point, then, positioning the cursor where you want the line to end, and clicking again.

Create a continuous line with nodes by double-clicking to create each node. Click once to end the line.

The Bezier tool lets you draw lines and curves by placing each node with the mouse.

1. Open the Curve flyout, and click the Bezier tool.
2. Drag from the point at which you want to place the first node. As you drag, two control points move in opposite directions from the node.
3. Release the mouse button.
4. Drag from the point at which you want to place the next node. A segment appears between the two nodes you've created. As you drag, two more control points appear, The position and angle of the control points affects the shape of the segment you've just created and the next segment you add.
5. Repeat step 4 to add nodes to the curve.

Note

The distance between the control points and the node determines the height or depth of the segment that you are drawing. The angle of the control points determines the slope of the segment. Hold down CTRL as you position the control points to move them in 15 degree increments.

The Natural Pen tool lets you draw closed paths that look like curves. You can use any of the Natural Pen's four types or modes:

Fixed Width mode

Pressure mode

Calligraphic mode

Preset mode

This procedure shows you how to draw a curve using the Fixed-Width mode.

1. Open the Curve flyout, and click the Natural Pen tool.
2. Click the Fixed Width Natural Pen Type button on the Property Bar.
3. Type a width in the Natural Pen Width box on the Property Bar, then press ENTER.
4. Position the cursor where you want the curve to start.
5. Drag along the path you want, as you would with a pencil on paper.

Tip

Hold down CTRL as you place the end of the line to constrain the angle of the line to 15-degree increments.