Selecting, transforming, and shaping

To select multiple objects, select the firs object by clicking on it. Hold down SHIFT, and click the second object. The bounding box will enlarge to include the second object.

To marquee select, hold down the mouse button and drag across all the objects you want to select.

You can easily select objects hidden beneath other objects.

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Press ESC to deselect any objects.

Click the Pick tool.
Hold down ALT and click the middle of the polygon.
Drag the hidden object from beneath the polygon with the Pick tool.

When moving objects, you can quickly change the display from outline, to XOR, to full bitmap representation by using TAB. Switching between display views allows you to view and position objects with greater precision.

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Using the Pick tool, drag an object across the page making sure to cross other objects.
Press TAB repeatedly as you drag to see the different display states.

Copying objects is a fast and easy way to duplicate parts of your drawing.

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Select an object with the Pick tool.
Click the Edit menu, Duplicate.

Tip

To use the Smart Duplicate feature, move the duplicate to another position. Repeat the duplicate command. The second duplicate appears at a new position, offset by the same distance you dragged the first duplicate.

You can create two basic types of objects in CorelDRAW: regular objects and curve objects. You can apply basic shaping to regular objects. You can shape curve objects in many ways. For this reason, you may sometimes want to convert regular objects to curve objects. Curve objects are made up of nodes and segments.

Using the Pick tool and the Shape tool you can change the shape of an object by editing its nodes and segments.

Select an option:

Change an ellipse into an arc or pie-shape

Round the corners of a rectangle

Convert a regular object to a curve object

Shape a curve object by editing its nodes

Shape a curve object by bending its segments

Shape a polygon

You can easily change an ellipse into a pie-shape.

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Select the ellipse with the Pick tool.
Drag the node at the top along the outline of the ellipse, keeping the cursor inside the ellipse.

Tip

To create an arc from an ellipse, keep the cursor outside the ellipse as you drag the node.

To round the corners of the rectangle, do the following:

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Select the rectangle with the Pick tool.
Drag any corner node toward the center of the rectangle.

Note

If you watch the Property Bar as you drag the node, you'll see a slider move. You can also use this slider to round the corners of a selected rectangle.

You can shape a curve object directly. To shape a regular object, you must convert it to a curve object first.

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To convert the rectangle to curves, do the following:

Select the rectangle with the Pick tool.
Click the Convert To Curves button on the Property Bar.

The easiest way to shape a curve object is to move its nodes.

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Click the line with the Pick tool.
Drag a node from one position to another.

Note

As you drag, the segments adjacent to the node move. The way these segments move depends on the type of node you are dragging.

Another way of shaping a curve is by bending its segments. You can only bend curve segments. To bend line segments you must first change them to curve segments.

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Open the Shape Edit flyout and click the Shape tool.
Select the curve object with the Shape tool.
Click the center of the top segment. A black circle appears where you click.
Click the To Curve button on the Property Bar.
Using the Shape tool, drag the top segment (not on a node) up and to the right.
Drag a control point.

Notes

Notice the control points extending from the nodes at each end of the segment also move when you drag. You can change the angle of the control point and its distance from the node to shape the segment more precisely.

You can shape a polygon or a star using many of the same ways you use to shape a curve object. However, when you change one node of a polygon, the change is reflected in the all the polygon's nodes.

Click here to open a sample file.

Click the purple polygon with the Pick tool.
Drag a node towards the center of the polygon.

You can also create interesting patterns by experimenting with polygons, stars, and the Shape tool.

Click one of the polygon's sides (not on a node) with the Shape tool. A black circle appears where you click.
Click the To Curve button on the Property Bar.
Drag any segment or control point with the Shape tool.

The Eraser tool lets you remove portions of an object by dragging the mouse over the area you want to remove.

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Open the Shape Edit flyout and click the Eraser tool.
Click an object then drag across the object.

Note

Whenever you use the Eraser tool on an object, that object is converted to a curve object.

The Knife tool lets you quickly cut objects in two or create two subpaths from one path. You can also reshape objects by redrawing their paths. The Knife tool automatically breaks a path in an object at the point you select and converts the object to curves.

This procedure shows you how to reshape an object using the knife tool.

Click here to open a sample file.

Open the Shape Edit flyout, and click the Knife tool.
Position the knife cursor where you want to start cutting one of the objects. The cursor will snap upright when it's ready to cut.
Drag the mouse from where you want the cut to start to where you want the cut to end. Do not release the mouse.
Press TAB once or twice to toggle to the choice of cut you want.
Release the mouse.

The Combine command lets you fuse multiple curves, lines, and shapes to form a new shape.

The Group command lets you create a single unit using multiple objects. Each object in the group maintains its original properties.

Select an option:

Combine objects

Group objects

Combining objects lets you create new shapes by joining objects.

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Select the objects with the Pick tool (hold down SHIFT and click each object to select several objects at once.)
Click the Combine button on the Property Bar.

Note

When you combine objects, they all take on the properties of the last object selected .

Tip

To separate the objects, select the combined object and, click the Break Apart button on the Property Bar.

Grouping is particularly effective for protecting and maintaining connections and spatial relationships among objects. For example, you can group all the objects that make up the background or framework of a drawing and move them without disturbing their relative positioning. You'll also find grouping useful if you have a series of objects to which you want to apply the same formatting, properties, or other such as resizing or mirroring.

Click here to open a sample file.

Select several objects at once by holding down SHIFT and clicking each object with the Pick tool.
Click the Group button on the Property Bar.

Note

If you want to separate a group, you can select the grouped object and click the Ungroup button on the Property Bar which splits a group into its component objects.

There are several ways of transforming objects, which involves changing the appearance of objects without altering their basic shape.

This procedure shows you how to use the Free Transform tools and the mouse to change an object.

Select an option:

Learn how to use the Free Transform tools

Move an object using the mouse

Rotate an object using the mouse

Skew an object using the mouse

Stretch an object using the mouse

Create a reflection of an object using the mouse

CorelDRAW provides Free Transform tools to perform external rotation, angle reflection, external scale, and external skew operations on objects. This procedure shows you how to access the tools and how to rotate an object.

Click here to open a sample file.

Select an object with the Pick tool.
Open the Shape Edit flyout, and click the Free Transform tool.
Click the Free Rotation tool on the Property Bar.
Click the object again, holding down the mouse, to display the rotation line.
Drag to rotate the object.

This procedure shows you how to move an object using the mouse.

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Select an object with the Pick tool.
Drag the object to a new position.

Tip

Hold down CTRL while dragging the object to constrain its movement horizontally and vertically. Release the mouse button before releasing CTRL to maintain the constraints.

You can reposition an object by turning it around its center of rotation.

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Select an object with the Pick tool.
Click the object again to display the rotating and skewing handles, which appear as two-way arrows.
Move the cursor over one of corner arrows until the cursor changes to a curved arrow.
Drag one of the corner arrows in a circular direction.

You can skew or slant objects by dragging them with the mouse.

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Select an object with the Pick tool.
Click the object again to display the rotating and skewing handles, which appear as two-way arrows.
Move the cursor over one of straight side arrows until the cursor changes to a double arrow.
Drag to skew the object.

When you scale or stretch an object in CorelDRAW, you change its horizontal or vertical dimensions.

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Select an object with the Pick tool.
Drag one of the side handles to stretch the object.
Drag one of the corner handles to scale the object.

You can make a reflection of any object along either the horizontal or the vertical plane.

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Select an object with the Pick tool.
Hold down CTRL, and drag one of the side handles across the object. A dotted outline of the object appears when you reach the opposite side of the object.
Release the mouse button, then release CTRL.

The Arrange And Distribute command allows you to position objects in relation to each other.

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Select the objects with the Pick tool.
Click Arrange menu, Align and Distribute.
Click the Align tab
Enable the Top, Center, or Bottom check box to indicate how you want the objects to line up horizontally.
Enable the Left, Center, or Right check box to specify how you want the objects to line up vertically.
Enable the Edge Of Page, Center Of Page or Align To Grid check boxes.
Click the Distribute tab.
Enable the Left, Center, Spacing, or Right check box to specify how you want to distribute the objects horizontally.
Enable the Top, Center, Spacing, or Bottom check box to specify how you want to distribute the objects vertically.
Enable the Extent Of Selection or Extent Of Page check boxes.

Note

The Align and Distribute command positions objects relative to each other. For example, if you choose Align To Top, all objects move so their top edge is aligned with the top edge of one of the objects. If you select the objects by clicking them, the objects align with the last object selected. If you marquee select the objects, they align with the first object created.

Joining objects provides a quick and easy method to create new objects.

Select an option:

Create a new object from an area where objects overlap

Reshape an object by removing the overlapping area

Create a single object out of two or more overlapping objects

The Intersection command creates a new object out of the area where objects overlap.

Click here to open a sample file.