The Undo command will reverse the Weld effect altogether. Other than
that, there is only one way that a Weld can be taken apart, and that is
if the welded objects do not touch at all. In that case, Weld is the same
as Combine, and the objects can be broken apart. But if they touch, welded
objects become permanently fused and cannot be taken apart. They truly
become one object.
The Fourth Dimension of Object Conversion
There is one more way that multiple objects can be turned into
one: you can convert them to a bitmap. This is easy to doselect
the object(s), go to Bitmap Ø
Convert to Bitmap, and choose a resolution and color depthbut
impossible to undo (except to actually use Undo). When you convert
an object to a bitmap, you tell DRAW to forget anything it knew
about those objects and convert everything to a bunch of dots of
different colors. Shapes of rectangles...the radius of an ellipse...the
typeface and size of text...the qualities of a fountain fillthey
all get converted from intelligent vector objects to unintelligent
pixels. They are no different than a bitmap image you created or
acquired elsewhere and imported into DRAW.
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Locking and
Unlocking Objects
If you have ever spent an afternoon getting a drawing just the way you
want it and then accidentally changed something that cost you time, effort,
and frustration, you will appreciate the Lock command. Now you can ensure
that an object stays the way you want it to beno more accidental
click-and-drags, rotations, or deletions.
To lock your object, select it and choose Arrange Ø
Lock Object. The handles around the object change to little lock symbols
(see Figure 3.9). You cannot move, resize, recolor, or delete the object.
Its there for the durationuntil you unlock it with one of
the other commands in the Arrange menu.
When you are ready to unlock the object, select it and choose Arrange
Ø Unlock Object, or Arrange Ø
Unlock All Objects if you have multiple locked objects you want to unlock
all at once. Now you can modify, copy, or delete the object as needed.
Other Points of Interest
As you take your first few tours of DRAW, there are several other stops
you will want to make. The following tasks are easily learned and performed,
like all the other commands and functions discussed in this chapter.
Saving and
Opening Files
Saving your work is arguably your most important task in DRAWif
you didnt, nothing would be permanent. We wont insult your
intelligence by explaining how to do it. (The only time we have ever actually
done that in a book or magazine article was in 1986, when our lead author
attempted to show how to save changes in EDLIN. He reports that he no
longer remembers the command...)
FIGURE
3.9 In the real world, this family would have
lost its luggage six exits ago. With DRAW, however, you can lock the objects
so that they dont move...or fall all over the road.
The key to effective saving is first to establish an organized directory
structure. DRAW remembers the directories you last chose for saving and
opening files. So if you are consistent with your use of files and directories,
you will have far less navigating to do in DRAWs file windows.
Our only other advice: remember the hotkey Ctrl+S; it makes saving
as routine as a Mark McGwire home run.
Zooming
The easiest way to zoom in on your drawing is to press F4. This hotkey
takes into account all the objects in your drawing and chooses the closest
magnification that still allows you to see them all.
If you need to zoom in on just a piece of your drawing, youve got
two choices. To zoom on objects that are selected, click the Zoom tool,
move to the page, click Button 2, and choose Zoom to Selection from the
flyout. (Or better still, use the hotkey Shift+F2.) To zoom in on
a particular collection of objects that may or may not be selected, click
the Zoom tool and move to the page. Now any marquee you create on your
drawing becomes the zoom area, and DRAW will automatically calculate the
magnification.
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| TIP Efficient
DRAW users combine a bit of hotkeying and a bit of mousing to make
zooming much faster and easier. If you let the mouse go solo, you
would have to mouse all the way over to the toolbox, click the Zoom
tool, and then mouse back to the page to create the marquee. Instead,
get your nonmouse hand into the act: use it to press F2 (the hotkey
for the Zoom tool) while your mouse hand begins to draw the marquee.
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With DRAWs support for multiple drawings and multiple windows,
you can open the same drawing in two different windows, keeping one of
the windows zoomed out on the whole image while the other window is zoomed
way in on a particular area. To open a drawing in a second window, go
to Window Ø New Window. Then use one
of the Tiling commands, if you want, to arrange the windows.
Aligning
Elements
Align and Distribute is a two-tab dialog reached through the Arrange
menu. It gives you a variety of ways to automatically arrange objects
in relation to each other or to the page. For example, you can use the
Align tab to align the top edges of several objects to the center of the
pageall in one operation. If you do not align to a part of the page,
the last object selected will be the anchor, and other objects
will move to align to it.
The icons on the Align tab are fairly clear, but you may need to experiment
to understand how multiple options relate to one another. For example,
if you check Center of Page, then check the Left box, selected objects
will be aligned with their left edges along the center of the page. They
will also have their vertical centers aligned with the center of the page
unless you uncheck that box.
The Distribute tab works similarly, but allows you to space objects equally
across an area or the entire page. Both tabs have Preview buttons, so
you can see the effect of your actions before you commit yourself.
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