User Guide

Canvas 12 User Guide
Working with objects
This section explains how to work with objects in Canvas. It tells you how to select objects with
selection tools or the Find command. It describes common actions, including how to copy, group,
lock, move, arrange, flip, and align objects, plus effects you can apply to all objects, including
scaling, rotation, and skew. It also tells you how to use the object position data in the Object Specs
palette.
Types of objects
An object is a distinct item such as a circle, an image, or a paragraph of text. There are different
types of objects with unique properties, and some commands apply only to some types of objects.
But objects in Canvas also share many properties. You can perform common operations, including
selecting, moving, rotating, copying, and deleting, using the same methods for all types of objects.
The following object categories are used in Canvas:
Vector objects: Geometric shapes such as lines, circles, rectangles, polygons, and smooth
curves. Canvas defines them internally by formulas, and they print smoothly on all printers.
Paint objects: Rectangular containers for pixel-based images, such as photos, screen
captures, and scanned artwork. Each pixel that makes up an image has a color (or grayscale)
value.
Text objects: Containers for text that can be formatted at the character and paragraph
levels. Text objects can be empty or contain up to a page of text, and they can be linked
together.
Group objects: Collections of objects that have been united with the Group command. A
group object can be made from more than one type of original object.
Selecting objects
When you select an object, you distinguish it from other, unselected objects, so that when you
choose a command or apply a color, Canvas knows to apply it to the selected object. In most cases,
you select objects first, then apply a command or attribute. If you can’t apply an attribute, or a
command is not available, check to be sure you have correctly selected an object first.
Canvas provides several tools and commands for you to select objects. Use the most convenient
method for each situation. The Selection tools are the primary object-selection tools. You can also use
the Select All and Find commands from the Edit menu to select objects.
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