Inserting Special Characters and Graphics in Text

Sometimes it is necessary to enter special typographic symbols into text. You can insert special characters into your text.

To Insert a Symbol:

1. While in Text Edit mode, place the text I-beam at the location in which you wish to insert the symbol.

You can identify whether you are in Text Edit mode by the Status bar or the following icon in the Properties bar: 

2. In the Properties bar, select a character from the Insert drop-down menu. Press the Character Map button for a wider selection of characters to insert.

Typographic Quotes

You can set a preference so Canvas X Draw inserts typographic (“curly”) quotation marks in text you type. For more information, see Setting Preferences.

Placing Graphics in Text Objects

Use the Insert Picture command to anchor graphics in a text object. This feature lets you use custom bullets, special illustrations for drop caps, and small logos within text. An inserted picture behaves like a text character.

• Inserted pictures move with the surrounding text.
• Indent and justification settings apply to inserted pictures.
• An inserted picture’s baseline and kerning can be adjusted.

• An inserted picture rotates and skews with the surrounding text.

  Text with an inserted picture

Some text formatting features do not apply to inserted pictures.

• If you scale the surrounding text, an inserted picture does not distort or scale with the text.
• Spread and Overprint commands do not affect inserted pictures.
• Strokes or inks applied to the text don’t affect inserted pictures.
• Inserted pictures might not be imported from the Clipboard by other applications.

Inserting a Picture into Text

The Insert Picture command is available when any object is on the Clipboard and the insertion point is in a text object.

When the insertion point is in a text object and you choose the Insert Picture command, Canvas X Draw inserts the contents of the Clipboard as a raster image into the text.

Since Canvas X Draw converts the Clipboard contents to a raster image when you use Insert Picture, you cannot edit objects that have been inserted into text; e.g., if you insert a multigon object into text, you can’t use editing handles to reshape or scale it. If you insert text characters using the Insert Picture command, the inserted text characters are not editable.

To Use the Insert Picture Command:

1. Select the object or objects that you want to insert into text.
2. Choose Edit | Cut or Edit | Copy to place the selection on the Clipboard. If you selected multiple objects, they become a single composite graphic when inserted into text.
3. Select the Text tool.
4. Click in the text where you want to insert the graphic. An insertion point appears where you click.
5. Choose Text | Insert Picture. The Clipboard contents appear at the insertion point.

How Inserted Pictures Affect Leading

When you use the Insert Picture command, the leading of the paragraph might change, depending on the Line spacing method:

• If the Line spacing is defined by Percentage, Canvas X Draw adjusts the Line spacing to fit the picture based on the defined percentage, if necessary.

• If the Line spacing is defined by Points, the spacing between lines stays the same, regardless of the size of the picture.

  	Line spacing set to 100%
  	Line spacing set to 12 points

See also:

• Setting Preferences