User Guide

Canvas 12 User Guide
Wireframe Displays the preview image in wireframe.
Background Select the background color of the image. By default the color comes
from the original file, or it's set to black.
Only opaque, solid colors can be used. ie. Transparent is not a
valid background color.
Precision drawing & dimensioning
This section describes precision drawing tools and techniques that can help you create scale
drawings, floor plans, architectural designs, and other types of technical drawings. This section
explains how to:
Display size information as you draw.
Set up the scale for scale drawings.
Add dimension objects to illustrations.
Use Smart Mouse to align objects.
Some of the techniques described elsewhere in this book also apply to precision drawing. For
information on document setup and using rulers, see "Document setup" on page 68.
Setting up a document’s measurement scale
Canvas offers a variety of options for creating scale drawings. You can use the Add unit feature to
define a new unit of measurement for a particular document or redefine an existing unit (see "Adding
and modifying units of measurement" on page 75). You can also set up a ruler to control the scale of
an entire document as well as customize scale settings for individual dimension objects (see "Setting
up rulers" on page 74). Other settings affect the format of measurement and position data.
The following settings affect the measurement of objects in a document:
Rulers: Set up a document’s overall drawing scale using the Ruler manager and document
scale. The document scale affects all object measurements, including those made with the
Dimensioning tools. The document scale also affects data in the Properties bar and Object
Specs palette (see "Setting up rulers" on page 74 and "Set document scale" on page 78).
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