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Basic Operations on Objects


Text boxes, images (built-in clipart or images you import), Smart Shapes and barcodes are the types of objects you can work with in Disc Cover.

Operations on objects can be performed by using the Inspector, the program menu, or the context menu (right-click on an object). As a rule, you should select an object before doing anything with it.

To select an object, click on it with the Selection tool. To select several objects one by one, click them holding down the Shift key. Or press the mouse button to select objects with a frame.

Moving Objects

To move an object, drag it with the mouse.

For precise movement, select an object and use the arrow keys. For faster movement, press Shift+[Arrow key].

In the Geometry tab you can enter the coordinates of the object to place it into an exact location. Measurement units can be changed in the program Preferences (Cmd-,).

When you move an object with the mouse, it snaps automatically to guides and edges of other objects. You may toggle the snap function on or off if you hold down the Cmd key as you move the object. To turn it off permanently, clear the Snap checkboxes in the program Preferences. When an edge of the object you are moving aligns with another object, a smart guide is displayed (blue dashed line).

Smart guide

The commands Center Horizontally and Center Vertically from the Format menu move the selected objects to the page center along the horizontal or vertical axis.

The Circular section in the Geometry tab of the Inspector controls the location of an object on the disc design element. The Angle control rotates objects around the disc center. The Distance value sets the distance between an object and disc center. Don't confuse the Angle controls from the Rotate and Circular sections. They are different.

 

Changing the Size of Objects

To resize an object with the mouse, select it and drag one of the handles on its border. To resize an object preserving its aspect ratio, use the corner resize handles. Side handles resize the object only vertically or horizontally. To inverse the action of corner handles, hold the Shift key down.

In the Geometry tab of the Inspector, you can enter the dimensions of the object to make it of the exact size. Measurement units can be changed in the program Preferences.

When you set a new size and Fix aspect ratio is selected, the side proportion will be preserved.

Several images can be resized together. When you resize a group of selected images, they have a common selection frame and behave like a single image.

 

Rotating Objects

To rotate the selected object, use controls from the Rotate section in the Geometry tab of the Inspector. Images can be flipped vertically and horizontally. Text can not be flipped. To do this, you have to convert it to an image by choosing Convert Text to Image in its context menu.

To rotate an object with the mouse, select it, and move the cursor over a corner handle. When the cursor turns into a bi-directional arrow, drag the handle to turn the object.

Rotate with mouse

Several objects can be rotated together. When you rotate a group of objects, they move around the common center.

 

Grouping Objects

Objects can be grouped together. A group of objects behaves as a single object when you move or resize it.

  1. Select multiple objects. To do this, click on them holding down the Shift key.
  2. Select Format > Group or press Cmd-Opt-G.

To ungroup objects, select them and choose Format > Ungroup (Cmd-Opt-Shift-G).

Disc Cover supports nested groups. This is a group of objects that includes a smaller group.

Controls, available for individual objects, may be locked when a group is selected.

 

Editing Objects

To edit text, double click on it.

Double-clicking on an image opens the Edit Image window. Here, you can crop the image or apply Core Image filters.

 

The Fill Option

FillShadow

The Fill controls are located in the Fill & Shadow tab of the Inspector window. Use the pop-up menu (1) to choose the way to fill an object. All the fill options are available for Smart Shapes. To all other image types, only color or gradient fill can be applied.

 

Color Fill

Fill-1

You can change the fill color (9) and opacity (10).

Color Fill lets you change the background color of text.

 

Linear Gradient Fill


Fill-2

Linear Gradient Fill fills an object with gradient colors.

The Color buttons (11) let you choose the two base colors for the gradient.

The Blend slider (12) redistributes space among colors. When the slider is in the middle, the margin between colors lays in the center. When the slider is moved to the right or left, the center of the gradient moves, making one color more dominant.

Blend


Angle (13) changes the direction of the gradient.

Angle_LG


The Center slide bar (14) shifts the colors.

Center

 

Radial Gradient Fill

Fill-3

Radial gradient

Radial Gradient Fill creates a circular gradient.

The Color buttons (15) let you choose the two base colors for the gradient.

Radius (16) changes the size of the spot of color in the middle.

Center (18) moves the color spot out of the center.

When the color spot is not in the center, the Angle control defines its offset direction.

 

Image Fill

Fill-4

You can only fill a Smart Shape with an image.

The Scale type pop-up menu defines how an image will be inserted into a smart shape. Scale type is explained in the Working With Smart Shapes section.

The Browse button lets you choose an image on your computer. Also, you can drag and drop an image from the Source panel into the box (20).

 

The Line Option

Line

Border lines of objects can be made visible or invisible by using the Line check box in the Fill & Shadow tab of the Inspector.

Use the Color button (2) to change the color and opacity of a line.

Adjust the thickness of the line using the Thickness controls (3).

In the Pattern pop-up menu, you can choose dashed, dotted, and other types of lines.

 

The Shadow Option

To add and set up the object's shadow, use the Shadow section in the Fill & Shadow tab of the Inspector.

Adjust the distance from the shadow to the object (6), its angle (5) and blur (7).

The Color button (8) lets you change the color and opacity of the shadow.

A shadow can also be added to text (to the letters), if you select a portion of text and apply the shadow as described above. Note that shadow controls in the Inspector produce different shadow than controls in the standard Font dialog.

 

Aligning Objects

You can align objects' edges or centers.

  1. Select two or more objects you with to align.
  2. Click one of the buttons in the Alignment tab of the Inspector to specify the way the objects should be aligned.

 

Distributing Objects

Alignment

To equalize the distances between objects' sides or centers, use the Distribute buttons in the Alignment tab of the Inspector. Three or more objects must be selected.

Distribute centers:

Distribute spaces:

 

Circular Distribution

Objects can be distributed in a radial or circular way. The respective buttons are located in the Circular section of the Alignment tab. These operations require at least two objects selected.

The left button distributes the objects to create equal angles between imaginary lines passing through the centers of the objects and originating in the center of the design element. The distances from the objects to the center will be arbitrary and depend on their original position.

Distribute Circle 1 Arrow Distribute Circle 3

The right button places the centers of the object on an imaginary circle whose center coincides with the center of the design element. The distances between the objects may be different and depend on their original position.

Distribute Circle 1 Arrow Distribute Circle 2

If you apply both commands one after another, the objects will be placed on an imaginary circle and the distances between them will be equal.

Distribute Circle 4

 

Changing the Object Order in the Layout

Objects in the same layer may form a stack, laying one over another. To change the position of an object in the stack, use the Bring Forward, Bring to Front, Send Backward, Send to Back commands in the Format menu.

Bring Forward (Opt-Cmd-F) places the selected object one level higher.
Bring to Front (Shift-Cmd-F) places the selected object above others.
Send Backward (Opt-Cmd-B) places the selected object one level lower.
Send to Back (Shift-Cmd-B) places the selected object below others.

When you add objects to a document, each subsequent object lays over the existing ones in the stack. In other words, the image added later will cover the ones added earlier. The commands described here help to arrange the order in which objects appear in the layout.

The commands listed above affect objects within the current layer (background or foreground).

The commands Move To Background and Move To Foreground from the Format menu move the selected object to another layer. If you move an object to another layer, it will appear in front of other objects in this layer.

In some cases you may need to select an object that is fully covered by another one and cannot be accessed by mouse click. For instance, to resize or move an image used as the background for text. The easiest way to access lower objects is using the throughout selection. Click several times on the pile of objects holding down the Cmd key. Each time you click, the next object behind the current one will be selected. If the front object is not transparent (is a picture, for instance), you will see only the selection handles of objects behind.

 


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