Operation Manual

266 | CorelDRAW X8 User Guide
Using symbols for objects that appear many times helps to reduce file size.
Symbols are created from objects. When you convert an object to a symbol, the new symbol is added to the Symbol manager docker, and
the selected object becomes an instance. You can also create a symbol from multiple objects. Most objects in CorelDRAW can be converted
to symbols, with some exceptions. For more information, see “Unsupported object types ” on page 271.
The symbols that you create in a drawing are saved with the CorelDRAW (CDR) file. In addition, you can create symbol libraries, which
contain symbols that can be shared between drawings. For more information, see “Managing collections and libraries ” on page 269.
You can edit a symbol; any changes you make affect all instances in the drawing. The selection handles for symbols differ from those for
objects. Selection handles for symbols are blue; selection handles for objects are black. When you insert a symbol from an external library,
a copy of the symbol is added to the active drawing, but it remains linked to the source symbol. You can edit a linked symbol or you can
decide to break the link to the external library and make the symbol internal. When the link is broken, the local copy of the symbol remains
in the drawing as an internal symbol, and it can be edited independently from the symbol in the external library.
You can delete a symbol. When you delete a symbol that is used in a document, all instances of the symbol are removed from the document.
You can also delete all symbols that are stored in the document library but are not used in the document.
To create a symbol
1 Select an object or multiple objects.
2
Click Object Symbol New symbol.
3 Type a name for the symbol in the Create new symbol dialog box.
Symbols cannot span layers. If you convert objects on different layers to a symbol, the objects are combined on the topmost object’s
layer. For more information about layers, see “Working with layers” on page 255.
Not all objects can be converted to symbols. For more information, see “Unsupported object types ” on page 271.
You can also convert an existing object or objects to a symbol by dragging the object or objects to the Symbol manager docker. To
open the docker, click Object Symbol Symbol manager.
To edit a symbol
1 In the Symbol manager docker, choose a symbol from the list.
To open the Symbol manager docker, click Object Symbol Symbol manager.
2
Click the Edit symbol button .