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Radius
Diameter
Bounds creation
With the
BOUNDS CREATION button selected, drag on the canvas to draw an ellipse.
Hold down "Ctrl" while dragging to create a circle rather than an ellipse.
Select the
RADIUS option to draw circles. The start point of a drag determines the
circle’s center.
Select the
DIAMETER option. Now the start point of a drag determines the position of
the edge of the circle.
You can convert an ellipse into a circle at any time by double clicking on a control handle.
Making shapes editable
Choose "ARRANGE -> CONVERT TO EDITABLE SHAPES" ("Ctrl + Shift + S") to convert
predefined objects like bitmaps and rectangles, ellipses, quickshapes, and text into
shapes. This lets you edit their outline like a normal shape.
This has several applications:
• You can manipulate just a part of predefined objects after making them editable.
• You can manipulate text in almost unlimited ways, adding new curves and
ornamentation almost at will. Note that you cannot edit text converted to shapes
as it ceases to be text.
• You may want to send a .xar file to someone who does not have that particular
font. As converted text is just a collection of lines and curves; it does not need to
use the original font.
However, the disadvantage is that you can no longer edit the objects with their
original tools.
For more information on text refer to "Text handling (on page 178)".
You can also convert lines (open shapes) to the equivalent closed shape, by selecting
the line and then "
ARRANGE -> CONVERT LINE TO SHAPE". If you have a straight line
with a 10 pixel line width, converting it to a shape will change it into a filled
rectangular shape with no outline width.