Using the Properties Bar

Using the Properties Bar

Using the Properties Bar

Use the Properties bar to quickly modify the document setup, create some vector objects, modify tool settings, apply a filter or effect to an object, cache objects, or apply text formatting.

If you hide the Properties bar, you won’t be able to display the Dynamic Help window.

To Show the Properties Bar:

Choose Window | Show Properties Bar.

To Hide the Properties Bar:

Choose Window | Hide Properties Bar.

Viewing and Modifying Document Setup

When no items are selected in a document, the Properties bar displays document setup information. You can quickly and easily change the various document controls.

Document Setup Options

Paper

Select a standard paper size, or select Custom to enter a custom width and height.

Units

Select the unit of measure to use in the document.

Width and Height

Displays the height and width of the document. If you change these measurements, Paper is changed to Custom.

Click the Orientation icon to change the orientation between portrait and landscape.

Drawing scale

Select a drawing scale or set a custom scale for the document.

Number format

Select a number format.

Coordinates

Select a format for displaying coordinates.

Grids

Displays a background grid. This can be helpful for laying out objects in a document.

Guides

Displays any guides used in the document. To add a guide, drag the cursor from the vertical or horizontal ruler across the document.

Rulers

Displays the vertical and horizontal rulers.

Breaks

Displays page breaks.

Margins

Displays page margins.

Print area

Displays the printable area.

Text boxes

Displays text boxes.

Spelling errors

Displays spelling errors.

Select Across layers

Enables selections of objects across more than one layer.

Changing Tool Settings

When you select a tool, its settings automatically appear in the Properties bar. Use the menus, checkboxes, and scroll boxes to change the tool settings.

For example, if you select the Brush tool, the following settings appear in the Properties bar:

Modifying Object Properties

When an object is selected, the Properties bar automatically displays the object’s reference point, coordinates, height, width, rotation, and skew settings. You can also change the object’s opacity and transfer mode.

For example, if you draw a simple rectangle object, the following settings appear in the Properties bar:

Common Object Properties

X and Y

Displays the X and Y coordinates.

For line objects, the Properties bar displays the X/Y coordinates for the start of the line and the end of the line, the length of the line, and the angle of the line.

Coordinate arrows

Displays the default coordinate format for the document.

Reference point

Displays the reference point for the object. This is the point on the selected object (or its bounding box) that position data is based on.The reference point is also the fixed point used in an object’s transformation.

Width and Height

Displays the height and width of the object.

Scale

Click the down arrow to change between scaling the object proportionally or not proportionally. Proportional scaling means that if you change the width of the object, the length is adjusted automatically so that the object retains the same proportions.

Transform

Click the down arrow to transformed and untransformed dimensions.

Rotation

Click the down arrow to change the direction or rotation. Enter a degree value in the Rotate field and press Enter. If you are rotating an image, you can also use the Image Hard Rotate options.

Skew

Click the down arrow to change between horizontal and vertical skew. Enter a degree value in the Skew field and press Enter.

Opacity

Move the opacity slider to the right or left depending on the desired transparency. For vector objects, you can also choose to apply the effect on the stroke and fill or only the fill by clicking on the Transparency button.

For text objects, you can change the opacity and transfer mode by using the Transparency palette (Window | Palettes | Transparency).

Transfer

Select a Transfer mode. See Using Transfer Modes.

Transparency

Select transparency on the object's stroke and fill, or just on the fill.

SpriteEffects

Select a SpriteEffects effect. See Using SpriteEffects.

Make Lens

Click this button to make the object a lens. You can then apply SpriteEffects to the lens. The effects appear on objects that are viewed through the lens. See Creating a Lens from an Object.

SpriteEffects Palette

Click to open the SpriteEffects palette. See Using SpriteEffects.

Anti-alias Object

Select this checkbox to smooth the edges of the object.

Scale by Area/Perimeter

Click to open the Scale By Area/Perimeter dialog box, where you can select scale settings.

Shift + click multiple objects to display their combined Area and Perimeter measurements.

To Move an Object:

Do one of the following:

  • Click on the object to select it, then drag it to the new position.
  • Click on the object to select it, then modify the X/Y coordinates and (optionally) the reference point in the Properties bar.

To copy an object and paste it in the same position on a different page, you can do so by copying the object and then pressing Shift+Ctrl+V, or choosing Edit | Paste in Place or pressing Shift and choosing Edit | Paste.

To Resize an Object:

Do one of the following:

  • Click on the object to select it, then drag the object handles to resize it.
  • Click on the object to select it, then enter values in the width and height fields in the Properties bar.

To Cache Vector Objects:

Caching can be used to speed up the display of complex objects, which is useful when a document contains complex objects that you do not need to edit often. When you cache an object, Canvas X Draw stores a low-resolution preview in memory. The preview can be displayed quickly when you move the object or change views. You can cache any type of object for faster display. To cache vector objects, group the objects first. The Cache Object checkbox only appears if the vector objects are grouped.

  1. Group the selected vector objects.
  2. Click the Cache Object checkbox.
  3. Enter a value in the PPI field.

You can also group vector, image, and text objects and then cache the grouped object.

To Align Objects:

When you select more than one object the Align options are displayed on the Properties bar. You can choose to align left edges, right edges, tops, bottoms, vertical or horizontal centers, or the centers of the objects.

  1. Select more than one object.
  2. Click the Selection Rectangle icon if you would like to align the objects based on their bounding boxes.
  3. Click one of the Align icons on the Properties bar.

When there is one object selected in the document, Align functions work based on the document bounds.

Modifying Images and Paint Objects

When an image or paint object is selected, the Properties bar automatically displays image and paint object settings such as filters, adjust options, and export options.

Common Image and Paint Object Properties

Filters

Select a filter to apply to the object. The last five used filters appear at the top of the menu on the Properties bar. If you don’t click on the arrow icon to open the menu, the last filter used will be applied.

Adjust

Select an Adjust filter to apply to the object.

Export

Select an option to export the object to a different format.

Crop

Select a crop and scale default size, or select Custom to define a special crop size. See Changing Image Size.

Resolution

Enter a resolution in pixels per inch (PPI).

Preserve Data

Click the checkbox to prevent resampling when the resolution is changed.

Image Mode

Select an image mode. See Image Modes for Canvas X Draw Paint Objects.

Cache Object

Select the paint object and then click the Cache Object checkbox. Enter a value in the PPI field.

When a cached paint object is placed into Paint Edit mode, it returns to the original resolution.

Res

Enter a resolution in pixels per inch (PPI).

Formatting Text

When using various tools to create or select text objects, the text formatting options appear in the Properties bar. See Formatting Text with the Properties Bar.

You can also format text using the Type palette (Text | Type) and the Text menu settings.

To Cache Text Objects:

  1. Group the selected text objects.
  2. Click the Cache Object checkbox.
  3. Enter a value in the PPI field.

See also:

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