2020

BOXES, LINES, AND TABLES
Controlling line appearance
To control the appearance of active lines, use the controls in the following places:
Home tab of the Measurements palette •
Colors palette (Window menu) — for line color only •
In addition to color, shade, and opacity, you can control the following
characteristics for lines:
Line style: This option lets you control the general appearance of a line. Several •
line styles are included by default, and you can add new ones with the Dashes &
Stripes dialog box (Edit menu).
Width: You can specify the width of lines in any measurement system. You can •
also specify a Hairline width; the printed width of a hairline rule is .125 pt on a
PostScript imagesetter, with a wider value on some laser printers.
Arrowheads: You can apply arrowheads to lines using the Arrowheads drop-•
down menu.
You can also specify line appearance in an Item Style. For more about Item Styles,
see “
Item Styles XTensions software.”
Joining lines
You can merge two lines into one by selecting the Item tool , selecting the lines,
and choosing Item > Merge > Join Endpoints. The Join Endpoints command is
available when the endpoints of lines or text paths are within six points of each
other.
Joining, extending and closing open paths
You can click an endpoint of an existing shape and it selects that point and goes
into regular draw mode, so the next click adds a new point and a segment to the
selected line. You can add as many segments as you need.
Double-click and endpoint to finish the line as an open path.
Click an opposite endpoint to close the path (just like during the original draw
operation).
While drawing, if you click the endpoint of another open path then the path being
drawn and the path just clicked become joined. Using these techniques together,
you can begin to extend one path, and end up joining it with another.
Copying attributes from one line to another
To copy all of the attributes applied to a line to a different line:
Select the Item Format Painter tool on the Tool palette.
1.
Select the line whose attributes you want to copy to “fill” the eyedropper . 2.
126 | A GUIDE TO QUARKXPRESS 2020