User manual

7-14 FileMaker Pro User’s Guide
Drawing lines and shapes
Use the drawing tools in the tool panel or Tools toolbar (choose View
menu > Toolbars > Tools) to draw lines and shapes to emphasize parts
of your layout.
1. In Layout mode, select the tool you want to use in the tool panel
or Tools toolbar.
2. Position the crosshair pointer on the layout where you want the
line or object to begin.
1 For a line, drag the pointer until the line is the length you want.
1 For a rectangle, square, rounded rectangle, oval, or circle, drag the
pointer diagonally until the object is the size you want.
FileMaker Pro draws the object with the default line width, pen
color, and pattern, and it fills the object with the current fill color and
pattern (for all objects except lines). You can change these attributes
before or after you draw the object. (See “Setting color, pattern, line
width, and object effects” in the next section.)
Keep these points in mind:
1 Use the following techniques to work with the tools:
1 All objects have a border. (The border of a line is the line itself.)
All objects except lines have a fill, the area within the border.
1 You can also change the appearance of a field, a text object, or an
inserted graphic, for example by changing its size, border width, or
fill pattern.
1 Windows: You can also link to or embed an OLE object. For more
information about how FileMaker Pro treats OLE objects, see the
FileMaker Pro onscreen Help. Choose Help menu > Contents and
Index, click the Index tab, and type OLE objects,editing.
Setting color, pattern, line width, and object effects
Use the fill, pen, line width, and object effects palettes in the status
area to change the appearance of objects, including fields, buttons,
and portals, on the layout.
1. In Layout mode, select one or more objects to change.
With this tool These options are available
Line tool For a horizontal or vertical line, press Shift as you drag the
pointer. For a diagonal line (at 45 degrees), press Ctrl
(Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as you drag the pointer.
To create a vertical line that continues across more than one
layout part, draw overlapping lines in each part.
Rectangle tool For a square, press Ctrl (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as
you drag the pointer.
Rounded
rectangle tool
For a rounded square, press Ctrl (Windows) or Option
(Mac OS) as you drag the pointer.
Oval tool For a circle, press Ctrl (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) as
you drag the pointer.
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Line tool
Oval tool
To Do this
Use a tool once Click a tool to select it. (The tool becomes gray.)
Keep a tool selected, or
locked
Double-click a tool. (The tool becomes black to
indicate it remains selected until you select a different
tool.) To specify a preference to keep layout tools
locked, see “Setting layout preferences” on page A-2.
Switch between the tool
last used and the
selection tool
Press Ctrl+Enter or Enter on the numeric keypad
(Windows) or press Enter (Mac OS).