You can select and modify any drawing object using the lasso (the default) or the rectangular marquee selection tool. When you select a drawing object, a bounding box appears around it and you can then change its properties (colour, shape, angle) or its position in the drawing space.
Once you select an object, you can change its properties interactively in the view or change them in the Pen Tab or Text Tab. You can also copy, cut and paste selections.
To activate the Select tool:
1. Activate the Select tool. Do one of the following:
2. Make a selection:
button.You can use keyboard shortcuts to have more control over selections:
To deselect objects:
When this tool is active, press [Shift] to deselect an object while keeping the other selections active.
To permanently use the rectangular marquee selection tool:
1. Select Edit > Preferences.
2. Click the Drawing View tab.
3. Turn off the Select Tool Is Lasso check box.
4. Click OK to confirm your changes.
The selection tool is a lasso by default. To temporarily use the rectangular marquee selection tool, press the [Alt] key while selecting a drawing object.
If you take a close look at the bounding box that appears around selected objects, you will notice that there are small boxes in each corner, in the centre of each side, and on the right side of the bounding box. These boxes act as handles that you can use to change drawings.
Depending on the handle you select, you can make different types of changes to the selected object. When you pass your pointer over a handle or over the object, the pointer changes to indicate the type of change you can make.
: changes the current position of the selected lines/shapes.
: changes the size of the selected lines/shapes.
: changes the angle of the selected lines/shapes.
: changes the width and height of the selected lines/shapes.
If you drag a handle beyond its opposing handle on the bounding box, you will flip the drawing object either horizontally, vertically or diagonally. For greater precision in flipping drawing objects horizontally or vertically, use the Flip Selection Horizontally and Flip Selection Vertically commands. For more information on using these commands, see Flipping Drawing Objects.
You can use keyboard shortcuts to have more control over the resizing and rotation of drawings:
You can change the pivot point, or centre of rotation and scaling effects. This might come in handy if you want to rotate or scale a drawing from a corner, rather than from the centre.
To change the pivot point:
1. Select the drawing object you want to transform.
2. In the bounding box, drag the pivot point to a new position.
3. Scale or rotate the drawing object.
You can use keyboard shortcuts to have more control over the resizing and rotation of drawings:
|