| Starting and Opening
Drawings |
CorelDRAW lets you start a new drawing from a blank page,
from a template, or from an existing drawing.
A blank page gives you the freedom to specify every aspect of a drawing.
A template provides you with a starting point and leaves the amount of
customization to you. The templates included with CorelDRAW are available
under the following categories:
Full page
Label
Booklet
Side-fold
Web
Browse
Basing a new drawing on an existing drawing lets you reuse objects and page
settings without having to recreate them. CorelDRAW lets you open existing
drawings saved to a variety of file formats. For information about the file
formats CorelDRAW lets you open, see "File formats.” |
| Using the basic
features of CorelDRAW |
CorelDRAW has a virtually unlimited number of tools and
capabilities to help you
create drawings. The following table provides you with the basic features of
CorelDRAW so that you can get started. |
| Undoing,
redoing, and repeating actions |
You can undo the actions you perform in a drawing, starting
with the most recent action. Reverting to the last saved version of a
drawing also lets you remove one or more actions.
If you accidentally undo an action, you can redo it. Customizing the undo
settings lets you increase or decrease the number of actions that you can
undo or redo.
You can also repeat an action you apply to create a stronger visual effect. |
|
Example
Saving drawings |
CorelDRAW lets you save a drawing as you work. When you
save a drawing for the first time, you must specify a filename, drive, and
folder. CorelDRAW offers advanced options that let you assign notes,
keywords, and thumbnails to drawings so that you can find them more easily.
You can also save textures, blends and extrusions with a drawing. This
option increases the size of your drawing, and therefore uses more of your
computer's resources. If you want to reduce the size of a drawing, you can
rebuild each of these special effects every time you open a drawing as well
as compress bitmapped images and vector graphics.
By default, drawings are saved to the CorelDRAW file format; however,
advanced save options let you choose other file formats as well. For
example, if you want to use a drawing in Corel WordPerfect, you can save it
to the Corel WordPerfect Graphic (WPG) format. If you are saving a drawing
to use in another application, you must save it to a file format that is
supported by that application. You can also save a drawing to a previous
version of CorelDRAW.
Drawings can also be saved as templates, letting you create drawings based
on the properties of saved drawings.
CorelDRAW also lets you save selected objects in a drawing. If you are
working on a large drawing, saving only the selected objects can decrease
the time it takes to load a drawing, and reduce the demands on your
computer's memory.
To protect changes to a drawing as you work, you can specify autobackup
settings. When you save automatically, you specify a time interval in which
a backup of the current drawing is saved. |
|
Example
Specifying the
page layout |
You can begin working on a drawing by specifying settings
for the size, orientation, and layout style of the page.
There are two options for specifying a page size: choosing a preset page
size or creating your own. You can choose from hundreds of preset page sizes
ranging from legal paper and envelopes to posters and Web pages. If a preset
page size does not meet your needs, you can create a custom page size by
specifying a drawing's dimensions.
The orientation of the page can be landscape or portrait. Landscape
orientation defines whether the drawing's width is greater than its height,
while portrait orientation defines whether the drawing's height is greater
than its width. Any pages you add to a drawing project assume the current
orientation; however, you can give single pages in a drawing project a
different orientation. The options you choose when specifying the page
layout can be used as a default for all new drawings you create. You can
also adjust the orientation settings of the drawing to match the standard
paper size for printing. |
|
Example
Choosing a page
background |
You can choose the color and type of background for a
drawing. For example, you can use a solid color if you want a uniform
background, or if you want a more intricate or dynamic background, you can
use a bitmapped image. Some examples of bitmapped images include textured
designs, photographs, and clipart.
When you use a bitmapped image as the background, you must link it to the
drawing or embed it in the drawing. If you link a bitmapped image to the
drawing and later change the source of that image, the change is
automatically applied to the drawing. This means that if you send the
drawing to someone else, you must also send all the linked bitmapped images
so that the drawing reflects any changes and displays accurately. If you
choose to embed a bitmapped image in a drawing, changes to the source image
aren't updated in the drawing.
You can also ensure that the bitmapped image used as the background can be
printed and exported, and because the bitmapped image is tiled across the
drawing page, you can change the size of the bitmapped image to create
smaller or larger tiles.
If you no longer need a background, you can remove it. |
| Adding,
renaming, and deleting pages |
CorelDRAW lets you add a page to a drawing, rename it
anytime, and delete a single page or an entire range of pages.
You can also rearrange the order of pages after you have created a multipage
drawing. |
| Accessing
drawing information |
| You can access drawing information such as the number of
pages in a drawing, and the types of objects it contains, as you work. You
can also save and print this information. |
| Setting up the
rulers |
The rulers display in the drawing window by default and can
help you size, align, and draw objects precisely. You can hide the rulers or
move them to another position in the drawing window. You can also customize
the ruler settings to suit your needs. For example, you can set the ruler
origin, choose a unit of measure and specify how many marks or ticks display
between each full unit mark.
By default, CorelDRAW applies the same units used for the rulers to the
duplicate and nudge distances. For more information about nudging, see
"Positioning objects."Main You can change the default so that you can
specify different units for these and other settings. |
| Calibrating the
rulers |
You can specify that one inch on your screen equals one
inch of "real" distance. You'll find this tool particularly useful if you
are drawing in 1:1 Zoom mode, as it lets you work using real world distances
as opposed to relative distances that depend on screen resolution.
Before you can perform this procedure, you must have a clear plastic ruler
for comparing real-world and on-screen distances. This ruler should use the
same unit of measurement you set for the grid and rulers. For information
about using the rulers and the grid, see "Setting up the rulers.” |
| Setting up the
grid |
The grid is a series of intersecting dashed lines or dots
you can use to precisely align and position objects in the drawing window.
You can set the distance between the grid lines or dots by specifying the
frequency or spacing. Frequency refers to the number of lines or dots that
display between each horizontal and vertical unit. Spacing refers to the
exact distance between each line or dot. High frequency values or low
spacing values can help you align and position objects more precisely.
You can have objects snap to the grid so that when you move an object it
jumps between the nearest grid line or dot. |
|
Example
Setting up
guidelines |
Guidelines let you align and position objects with
precision. There are three types of guidelines: horizontal, vertical, and
slanted. By default, CorelDRAW displays guidelines you add to the drawing
window; however, you can hide them at any time.
You can add a guideline wherever you need one; however, you can also choose
to add preset guidelines. There are two types of preset guidelines: Corel
presets and user defined presets. |
