This column is being written to demonstrate practical uses of CorelDraw for those working within the awards and engraving industry. For those new to Corel, I suggest concentrating on the basics from books, media, seminars or tutoring, with the aim of becoming productive as soon as possible. In other words, earn while you learn! And the most effective way to learn is by repeated use, gaining proficiency and then moving forward adding new skills. These articles try to focus on skills relevant to your needs. Procedure descriptions are somewhat generic due to wide variation in Corel versions. Consult your version documentation as needed.

In the October 2009 issue of A&E, my article provided a quick overview of CorelDraw aimed at those new to using the software. I want to continue along those lines, this time providing a more expanded view of manipulating objects in Corel.

The recognition industry uses CorelDraw primarily as a graphic design tool, arranging words and images in such a way as to effectively communicate information to visually support the meaning intended. There are times and certain businesses within the industry that actually manufacture useful objects or components of manufactured items. It is possible, for instance, to cut guitar picks out of plastic that can actually be used to play music.

A colleague of mine was hired to make some intricate part used inside of pianos on his laser. However, most of us, most of the time are finding or creating images, choosing various fonts and then figuring out how to arrange these in such a way as to convey a particular message or sentiment effectively. One unusual aspect of what we do is to create such layouts within unusual shapes and on a wide variety of materials. We’re also often engaged in personalizing each object rather than printing large quantities of a single design.

For the most part, we use Corel to cut out unusual shapes, as a layout tool and for creating illustrations. In my last article, I demonstrated how to access pre-fab shapes (rectangles in this instance), move them around on the page and create and format text. Sounds simple! Is simple! With a few rectangles and some type, I could create an effective design for a sign or award, cut it out of appropriate materials, engrave it and end up with a useful product.

The difficulty using Corel comes from our curiosity, imagination and inventiveness. What if we did this or used those materials? How well can we match the design to the content of the message? I wonder what would happen if we tried this? Is there some way we could streamline the production of this piece? What tangled webs we weave!

So, yes, Corel is very easy to use but there is a lot to learn if we hope to accomplish all the crazy ideas we come up with. The more we learn about Corel’s many features, the better prepared we are to solve all the wonderful problems we create for ourselves. That being said, there is generally no need to rush that process as long as we know enough to remain productive. Sometimes we learn new and useful features by accident or intuition, sometimes from discussing our work with others, sometimes through reading, study, seminars, etc., and sometimes through trial and error. Gradually our knowledge of Corel’s many features increases, allowing us to become more productive.

Many of my articles focus on particular features that are more complex, but I also try, as in this case, to focus on more basic issues to accommodate those who are just starting out in this business as a shop owner or employee. So let’s see how else we can get in trouble.

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Manipulating Objects

Objects in Corel are any lines or shapes we apply to the page or create from scratch (that includes text since each letterform is an outlined shape). An image can be a single line or shape or, as is often the case, can be made up of many of these objects arranged to form the image.

Once the object is on the page, though, we often want to manipulate it in some way to better serve our needs. Simple manipulations are definitely something anyone just starting out should take the time to master, since we use these features so often in our work. It is also easy to do—just select the object with the Pick tool (solid arrow icon in the tool bar) and apply the desired function.

Scale (Resize)

Click on an object’s corner selection markers, hold and drag out, away from, or in, toward center, to scale in proportion, or do the same on side markers to scale vertically or horizontally only. Type in the specific percentages in vertical and horizontal scaling boxes in the properties bar to scale by specific amounts.

Move

Click on the object and drag it to a new location or use arrow keys to move it horizontally and vertically in increments. Both Scale and Move were illustrated in the October issue.

Copy/Paste

Edit/Copy (Ctrl/C on the keyboard) followed by Edit/Paste (Ctrl/V), duplicates the selected object to make one or any number of copies of the object (continue clicking Ctrl/V for more than one copy). Also, selecting an object and pressing the plus sign (numeric keypad only) places a copy of the object right on top of the original. (See Figure 1)

Rotate

Click on the object twice until the corner selection markers become curved arrows. Click, hold and drag on arrows to manually rotate the object to any position. In the properties bar above the page, type the rotation angle in the Angle of Rotation box to rotate the object by specific amounts.

Skew

Click on the object twice until the side selection markers become opposing arrows. Click, hold and drag on the arrows to manually skew the object to any position. In the properties bar (if available) above the page, type skew angles in the Skew Angle boxes to skew the object by specific amounts. (See Figure 2)

Mirror (Flip)

With the object selected, click on either the Horizontal or Vertical Mirror icons in the properties bar to flip the object in either direction. (See Figure 3)

Transformation Dockers

This docker (tool function window) is made available by going to Windows/Dockers/Transformation/Position, and it appears to the right of the page when opened. It contains several tabs relating to most of the above functions. This docker contains a number of features for more advanced and precise control over the above manipulations. It would require more detailed explanation than is possible within this article to cover all aspects, but it is worth exploring even for those new to the program.

However, the default setting is in Relative Mode, which means that any numbers entered into the number boxes (fields} make changes that are ‘relative to’ the object selected. So for instance, if 2” is entered into the Horizontal box of the Move tool, the object will move 2” horizontally to the right from (or relative to) its current position on the page.

It is also possible to move the object so that its center (default) coincides with the 2” horizontal mark on the page. This is called Absolute Mode and requires a bit more experimentation. Overall, this docker is more precise because it requires entering numbers rather than manually adjusting (eyeballing) the selected object. (See Figure 4)

Align And Distribute

When at least two or more objects are selected on the page, they can be aligned by going to: Arrange/Align and Distribute and choosing one of the following: Left, Right, Top, Bottom, Center Vertically, etc. If Left is chosen, for instance, then the two objects will move horizontally until their left edges align, and so on.

Distributing is a little trickier but can be quite useful because it will allow a number of different shapes to be distributed by the same amount between centers or within a defined space. The last option under Align and Distribute is Align and Distribute, which brings up a floating toolbar providing even more options. (See Figure 5)

Line And Fill

Some of the above provide ways of manipulating objects by moving them in some way. Others, such as rotate, scale or skew, provide ways of changing various aspects of the objects. One essential tool for changing an object is to assign the outline or fill (internal area) a particular color, shade, pattern, etc. The simplest way to do this is to select a shape and Right Click on a color in the color palette located on the side or bottom of your page to change the color of the outline of the shape.

Left Clicking on a color will fill the selected shape with that color. For greater options and control, it is better to use the Pen and Fill tools in the Toolbar near the bottom. Each of these tools opens a flyout menu in which items can be clicked to open floating windows that provide unending options for controlling the way the outlines and fills appear on the page. (See Figure 6)

Start with a simple rectangle on your page and make sure you become familiar with all of the above so that the process becomes second nature. You will then be able to easily manipulate any object on your page. Next time, we’ll take a closer look at the objects themselves and find out how they are constructed.