Chapter 7
Understanding Outlines

Featuring

While not quite as sensational as fill patterns, outlines are every bit as fundamental to the way that DRAW operates. Perhaps even more so—after all, you can place an outline around every single object you create in DRAW.

So first, let’s define a few terms. Every object created in DRAW has an outer perimeter or path, but not necessarily an “outline.” In DRAWspeak, the outline is the visible line that follows the path of an object, and the Outline Pen is the tool used to create or modify visible outlines. So even though all objects have outside edges to them, they only are said to have an outline if you can see it.

NOTE A line or shape with no outline or fill? “What for?” you may ask. Although not a visible part of the drawing, this type of object can still be very useful. For instance, you might use an invisible rectangle to set the exact boundaries of a graphic whose elements must remain a particular size when imported or linked to another document. As you’ll see in Chapter 10, invisible lines or objects are often used to fit text to a path. And when you’re enveloping and creating powerclips (see Part IV), the possibilities become endless.

Accessing DRAW’s Outline Tools

DRAW’s controls for creating outlines have remained notably unchanged in the last few versions. That means that either Corel got it right the first time, or its engineers have run out of creative ideas for it. Kidding aside, outlining remains a straightforward operation.

To set the outline thickness for a selected object, do one of the following:

•  From the Outline flyout, click the first icon to open the Outline Pen dialog (or just press F12), and adjust the value for Width, as shown in Figure 7.1.

•  For any selected object that is considered a generic curve (i.e., not a rectangle, circle, polygon, or string of text), use the drop-down list of line widths on the property bar. You can choose one of the listed values, or type in your own.

FIGURE 7.1  Setting the width of an outline is performed through the Outline Pen dialog, which has looked pretty much the same since version 3.0.

To set the color of an outline:

•  Right-click the desired color on the on-screen palette.

•  From the Outline flyout, click the second icon to open the Outline Color dialog (or press Shift+F12).

•  From the Outline Pen dialog (where you set the width), click the drop-down Color list at top-left to pick a color from the current palette. Or click Other to head to the Select Color dialog.

	TIP Advanced users and keystroke-lovers will find the third option to be the fastest. Watch how cleanly you can do it: after pressing F12 to reach Outline Pen, press the spacebar to open the drop-down Color list. Use your arrow keys to scroll the color choices, and when you find the right one, press Enter. Then press Tab to move to the Width setting.

Finally, you can reach width and color settings from the Properties sheet, accessible from the object’s context menu.

The Outline flyout has seven preset outline widths, including no outline at all (shown as an ×). You can leave the Outline flyout connected to the toolbox, or you can detach, reshape, and move them into any desired position on the screen

If you want to set the outline color of multiple objects, drag and drop a color from the on-screen palette to each outline. This is similar to your ability to drag and drop colors into objects to fill them, the difference being your drop point: as you approach the outline, the interactive cursor changes to a colored square outline, indicating that you will color the outline when you release the mouse.

Penning an Outline

While the property bar is handy, we predict that force of habit and more complete services will compel most users to journey to the Outline Pen dialog. That one dialog (thanks to the Color button) is a literal one-stop shop for outlining objects. Here are the settings offered there.

Outline Width

The Width settings give you total control over the thickness of an object’s outline. You can designate anything from an impossibly thin 0.001 millimeter to an absurd 36 inches. And you can use any of DRAW’s standard measuring units—inches, millimeters, picas and points, points, ciceros and didots, didots, feet, yards, miles (!), centimeters, meters, and kilometers. Additionally, our lead author whined and nagged and Corel’s engineers added pixels to this list for those who produce Web-based graphics and want to keep all their measurements in units that make sense to the screen.

You can either dial up the numbers on the spin buttons next to the Width field, or place your cursor in the box and type the value yourself. To abbreviate the tip we gave to speed demons above, here is the fastest way:

1.  Select an object and press F12 to invoke the Outline Pen dialog.

2.  Tab once to select the Width field and highlight the current value.

3.  Type in a new value.

4.  Press Enter to OK the dialog.

Regardless of the route you choose to get there and the way you enter the values, the Width field provides the most flexibility for setting Outline Pen widths.