Nudge the Screen
You can easily nudge the view of
your document around the screen without using the scroll bars.
Just press ALT-ARROW KEY.
Use the Image
Sprayer to Create Horizontal Dividers
This is a COOL tip: use the Image
Sprayer tool in PhotoPaint to create interesting horizontal
divider lines for web graphics. Create a new document and draw a
straight line with the Path tool. In the Property Bar, click the
Stroke Path button. Switch to the tab marked "Other"
and edit the settings for the Image Sprayer tool. You'll have to
tweek the settings to get a good look for your web page graphic.
A default installation of Draw 7, 8 & 9 copies a few
"image lists" for the Image Sprayer to your hard drive,
but you will find an wonderful collection of additional image
lists on CD2 of Corel 7, 8 & 9.
Nudge the Screen
Windows95 has been out for a
while... and we're all experts, right? Well, I wouldn't presume
to tell you how to set up your desktop, but how about this Start
Menu tip? Like most designers, you probable use a your own
selection of major applications and utilties every day. Since
they're all important, organize them well in the Start Menu by
creating folders for different categories of
programs. Create a main folder called "Design
Programs," and create subfolders that let you organize the
programs you regularly access quickly. This gives you shortcuts
organized by task instead of the arbitrary
alphabetical listing provided by the Programs menu.
If you haven't downloaded IE4, I highly recommend it. Even if you
use and prefer Netscape, you should download it to get the
Windows95 shell enhancements. The new Start Menu can be edited
using drag-and-drop and right-click techniques. You can also
rearrange the order in which items are listed by draging them
around within a menu.
Group Rollups
Together to Save Space
You can easily group and
ungroup the rollups in Draw and PhotoPaint to suit your own
needs. To group two rollups together, follow these steps:
The two rollups are now grouped,
reducing screen clutter. If you need to break up a pair of
rollups so you can use them at the same time, simply drag the
name back out of the list
(no need to press the ALT key this time.)
Drag and Click to
Duplicate
This tip may be an obvious
one for many users. To duplicate an object, just drag the
original object to a new position, but press the right mouse
button once before releasing the left mouse button. Draw will
drop a copy of the selection wherever the pointer is located.
Let Property Bars
Do the Dirty Work
If you're new to
PhotoPaint, there's one interface feature that you should really
get used to: Property Bars. Users of Adobe Photoshop will be
tempted to set up their rollups to emulate Photoshop's options
pallets. This is a good way to start your PhotoPaint training,
but as you work, notice that the Property Bar conveniently
displays the controls for each tool you select. Using the
Property Bar will allow you to put away the Tool Settings rollup
and other rollups, saving screen real estate.
When in Doubt, Seek
Help!
If you're not sure how to
do something, click "Help Topics" under the Help menu.
Click the Search tab. Enter one keyword at a time, and browse the
topics returned by your search.
If you're not sure what a certain button or control does,
right-click it and choose "What's This?" from the menu
that appears. Draw 7,8 and 9 make extensive use of "What's
This?" help. The Corel Graphics Suite has one of the most
complete help systems of any computer program. Almost every
feature is documented online.
Copy Properties
Quickly
Right-click and drag any
object onto another object. A pop-up menu will appear when you
release. Choose "Copy Fill Here," "Copy Outline
Here" or "Copy All Properties." The object will
take on the fill, outline or both from the other object.
Save System
Resources
Change the number of undo
levels in Draw to a lower number. This alleviates strain on your
computer resources. Depending on your hardware, 50 regular undo's
and 3 bitmap undos should cover you.
To change this feature, choose "Options" from the Tools
menu, or press CTRL-J. You'll find the setting
on the General tab.
Super-Fast Node
Editing
When using the Shape tool
to edit a vector curve object, use your right mouse button to
access node commands like "Join" and "To
Curve." If you have customized your right-mouse button to
zoom in on your drawing, just click the right mouse button and
hold for few seconds. The menu will then appear. You must
right-click on a node or segment for the node menu to show. In
Draw 8, you can quickly enter full node editing mode by
double-clicking and object.
More Memory for
PhotoPaint
Like Adobe Photoshop, Corel
PhotoPaint let's you specify two hard drives for temp space. This
is a very important feature, especially for Paint users editing
large bitmaps.Choose "Options" from the Tools menu and
go to the Memory tab.