All the commands in this menu operate on the object currently selected from the
edit icon. The items
are only available if an object or group of objects have been selected (ie the red bounding box is
visible)
The actions performed by this menu are similar to those that can be done freehand from edit mode. The advantage of these commands over the interactive method is that the transformation is mathematically precise and can be repeated by the use of the Again command. The same transformation can be applied to another object (this does not apply to the Envelope Object command because that transformation can't be described by a matrix).
Move the current object over a certain distance or to a certain position.
hit or do the item or press <t> and a menu will appear with the following options :
Scale the object an exact factor.
If the scale settings are one the object will stay the same. A number smaller than one will make the object smaller and a number greater than one will enlarge the object.
If the number is negative the object will be mirrored about that axis. If the factor is minus one, the object will only be mirrored, not scaled. If it is a large negative number, the will be enlarged and mirrored. If it is a small negative number, the object will be made smaller and mirrored.
If both scale factors are equal you will retain the original ratio but disproportional settings will cause a distortion of the object.
When scaling the object, the top left corner will remain at the same position.
The scale will be stored so you can redo it with Again.
When you scale an untransformed paragraph text, you only change the size of the frame, not the
object as such. This means that after a scale, the paragraph object will have to be reformatted.
Rotate the object(s) over an exact angle.
Slant the object over an exact angle.
It is advisable to slant in only one direction at a time.
Transform the object by changing the envelope (=bounding box) and pretend the object is tied to it, so it will change along. You can only move the four corner points of the bounding box.
You can only envelope path objects !
This transformation cannot be expressed by a transformation matrix, so the object has to be recalculated. A circle will no longer appear round,... You can convert any object to curves though, because a path object can be used to represent anything. So, if you try to envelope any other kind of object, you will be asked whether you want to convert them to curves, or quit the operation.
An envelope can't be redone for the same reasons.
This command is also different from the other because changing is done interactively. It is the only possible way to do so. So after selection of this command you will enter the envelope mode, and the bounding box will be drawn with a node on each corner.
Select a node with a hit and move it. As it is moved you can see how the bounding box is changed and, if you don't move the pointer for a while, a preview will be shown of the object. A hit will confirm the new position of this corner, a do to confirm the envelope and return to the editing mode. A do outside the envelope will calculate the object and return to the editing mode.
During envelope editing, you are always working on the same envelope and constantly changing it. If you press <esc> or indicate Undo the whole envelope will be undone, not just the last change ! The preview of the enveloped object is always line drawn, even when editing in preview mode (cfr. Display).
Normally a path object consists of only one subpath. To make a path contain more than one subpath, you have to combine path objects. A combined object is a new path object, containing the previous ones, and only one set of attributes.
You need more than one path object to combine them. You can select the objects to be combined by entering Edit mode and then Doing Keep. If you then point to the bounding boxes of each object that you wish to combine they will be selected together and that selection will be noted on the status line. You can only combine path objects. To combine any other objects you will have to convert them to curves.
The advantage of combined objects is that you can create objects with a hole in them. (The best way to demonstrate this is to draw a circle with the fill off and then, using the same axis draw another larger one with the fill on. If these are converted to curves and then combined the result is a ring with a hollow centre)
Will break a combined path apart in separate subpaths again. This command is the reverse of Combine Object. This will do nothing if you have removed the subpaths !
This command will reverse the direction of a path object. This is useful in combination with the next command. You can reverse the direction of a transformed path, so you can make sure that all paths in a combined object (before removing the subpaths) are in the same direction, that they all follow each other. The direction of the paths can be seen by examining the nodes of the paths. A startpoint is marked as a a black square and all subsequent nodes are green squares. Reversing the path will result in the exchanging of the positions of these nodes on the line although the line remains in the same place on the screen.
This will remove the subpaths in a combined path (it must have more then one subpath, else the command will be ignored). This command allows you to create an outline by copying path objects, and using Reverse Path. Normally copying and combining will also create an outline, but each subpath is filled separately, not as one entity. That's why you have to remove subpaths, but then you will have to make sure that all paths that seem to follow each other really do. So use Reverse Path for that.
E.g. you can draw one tooth of a cog-wheel, then use rotate and translate to create the whole cog-wheel. Combine the object, and fill it. Now only all the teeth are filled. Now remove the subpaths, and the cog-wheel will become one path. It will now be filled as a whole.
Will close all the subpaths. Is done automatically if the object is filled.
A group is a group of objects, that belong together. E.g. like a car, which is drawn with a whole bunch of objects, that all have different attributes. The tires are black, the body is gray or white, etc. But it does belong together. You can select the objects to be grouped by entering Edit mode and then Doing Keep. If you then point to the bounding boxes of each object that you wish to combine they will be selected together and that selection will be noted on the status line.
A group can be transformed but can no longer be edited any more. Each object in the group keeps its own set of attributes but they can't be changed while they are still part of the group (see below).
The inverse command of the previous. Will ungroup a group, so the objects can be edited separately again.
Will remove an object from the page.
Snaps an object to grid. So this command can only be selected if you are using a grid. The actions that are taken are dependant on the type of object currently selected.
All the nodes are snapped to grid. Normally the bounding box will also be snapped to grid, because all the nodes lie on the grid. Of course, if the thickness isn't hairline, the bounding box will be larger.
The centre of the circle and the radius will be changed so that they will lie on the grid. Normally the centre will be snapped to grid. The radius will be snapped to the grid, but only in the horizontal direction. Otherwise it could turn into an ellipse.
An already transformed circle will only have its centre snapped to grid.
If the circle is smaller than one rectangle of the grid, the circle will be made to fit the rectangle in the x-direction.
The upper left corner and the side are snapped to grid.
If the square was already transformed, only the upper left corner will be snapped to grid.
The rectangle will completely be snapped to grid.
If the rectangle was already transformed, only the upper left corner will be snapped to grid.
Of a headline, only the baseline and the first character's origin are snapped to grid. When it already is manually kerned or transformed, this could seem to have little or no effect.
For a transformed paragraph the frame is snapped to the grid. For an untransformed paragraph it is only the upper left corner.
The position of the bitmap is snapped to grid. Not the size, because that could affect the ratio of the picture.
Only the position of the group is snapped to grid, not the size, because that could affect the original ratio of the group.
The selected object will be moved to the front of the page. It will be drawn on top of every
other object.
The selected object will be moved to the back in the list of objects that are drawn on the
page. This means that it will be drawn first, and every other object that is drawn could cover
it.
This will reverse the order in which the current objects are drawn, but they will maintain their position on the page. Their order when compared to other objects is NOT affected, only the order when compared to each other is reversed.
E.g. you select two objects and reverse their order. The one that was on top, will now be drawn
beneath the one that was below it. If, however, they both were under or above other objects, that
will NOT have changed.
This command converts any object to a path object. This is necessary if you need to envelope or combine it. It can also be useful for text objects which can then be modified with edit nodes, or drawn outline.
When you convert a text object to curves the object will be drawn darker than before. That's
because text is only filled internally and the outline is not drawn,
which is not supported by LINEdesign. The outline will also
be drawn which will make it more bold. This can also be used to create special effects,
e.g. draw the outline in another colour and/or with a thickness (as shown below).
This command is only provided in the edit menu because many Pointer Environment programs can be terminated by pressing <f3-q>. It will do exactly the same as <f2-q>.