Operation Manual

Applying Special Effects 205
Applying envelopes
An envelope distortion is one that you can apply to any object to change its
shape without having to edit its nodes. You can use envelopes to bend text into a
wave, arch, trapezoid, or just about any other shape. You can edit envelopes into
custom shapes and apply them to other objects for corresponding effects.
With the Envelope Tool, an object’s nodes can be moved in order to create
custom envelopes or to allow preset envelopes to be applied to the selected
object. The displayed context toolbar, shown while the tool is active, offers
various options to customize the envelope—envelope shape, line colour, width,
and style can all be altered. It also lets you pick from a range of pre-defined
envelopes of various shapes, remove the selected object's envelope or apply curve
adjustments on the envelope's boundary.
To apply an envelope:
1. Select the object(s) you want to be enveloped.
2. Click Envelope Tool on the Drawing toolbar's
Transform flyout.
3. From the context toolbar, select an envelope preset from the Preset
Envelopes flyout. The first item, User Defined envelope, retrieves the
last drawn custom envelope shape used in your current DrawPlus
session.
To remove an envelope:
• Select the envelope with the Envelope Tool, then choose Remove
Envelope from the Envelope context toolbar.
To create/edit your own envelope:
• Select the object(s) with the Envelope Tool.
• Drag the nodes and handles accordingly.