Setting Up Rulers

You can set up rulers for a document using various units of measure and display the rulers at the top and left of the document window. Rulers help you track the pointer’s movement and let you create alignment guides in the layout area.

When you create a new document, you can also set the document’s drawing scale. Canvas X Draw bases the rulers and all object measurements on the drawing scale. Canvas X Draw uses scale measurements in the Properties bar, and in Dimension objects. You can also change these settings for the document in the Preferences dialog box. (See Setting Preferences.)

To Display and Hide Rulers:

Toggle the Rulers checkbox in the Properties bar. The rulers must be displayed if you want to create alignment guides in the layout area.

To Set Up Rulers:

1. Choose Layout | Rulers.
2. In the Ruler dialog box, select a unit of measurement from the Document unit drop-down list. This unit is displayed in the rulers and the Properties bar.
3. Define the drawing scale in the Document scale section. You can use the Pre-defined scales or establish a custom scale; e.g., if you set the drawing scale to 1 inch = 1 foot, and draw a line 1 inch long on screen, Canvas X Draw displays the line’s length as 1 foot.
4. Choose the formats for the numbers, angles, coordinates, and area. For the number format, you can choose from no decimals to two decimals, or even use fractions.
5. Click OK.

Adding and Modifying Units of Measurement

You can further customize the rulers by adding units of measurements or modifying the definitions of existing ones.

The Add unit feature is a document-based function; i.e., any units that you add pertain to that particular document and will not be available when you open another document.

To access these functions, choose Canvas X Draw | Preferences to open the Preferences dialog box. Under the Measurements manager, click on Define Units.

To Delete a Unit of Measurement:

Select the unit in the menu and click the Remove button.

To Add a Unit of Measurement:

1. Click the Add button.
2. In the Add Unit dialog box, enter the Unit name, Plural name, as well as Abbreviation.
3. Set up the new unit’s drawing scale by using the Length and Minor divisions controls.
4. Click OK to add the unit to the menu.

To Modify a Unit of Measurement:

You cannot change the unit name or plural name.

1. Click the Modify button.
2. In the Modify Unit dialog box, change the unit’s Abbreviation, if needed.
3. Set up the unit’s new drawing scale by using the Size and Subdivisions controls.
4. Click OK to close the dialog box.

Assigning X/Y Position to Points

If you are trying to recreate a portion of an illustration, you may need to move the zero points or assign an X/Y position to a specific point in the drawing area.

To Assign a Position:

1. Place the cursor over the intersection of the rulers in the upper left corner. The cursor changes to a double-sided arrowhead.
2. Click and drag the cursor to the location in the Canvas X Draw work area where you want to assign the X/Y position.
3. In the Assign Position dialog box, enter the X/Y coordinates in the fields or use the scroll boxes.
4. Click OK. The Rulers shift to reflect the assigned position.

To Change Rulers:

You can change the current document unit and drawing scale by using the Units and Drawing Scale menus in the Properties bar. To view these items, deselect all objects.

To Use ‘Tear-Off’ Rulers:

When rulers are displayed, you can move a copy of a ruler into the layout area to measure specific areas of an illustration. When you tear off a ruler and move it, Canvas X Draw takes a snapshot of the ruler and pastes it into the document as a paint object. A tear-off ruler isn’t active like the rulers displayed at the window edges.

To Place a Tear-Off Ruler in a Document:

Point to the ruler you want to tear off, press the Option key and drag a copy of the ruler into the document.

See Also:

• Setting Preferences