Before starting to draw, let’s first understand the concept of objects. All shapes drawn in CorelDRAW are called objects, including text objects and bitmap objects, as shown in Figure 2-1. They all have independent attribute characteristics, and users can reshape the graphics by changing their attribute characteristics. No matter what tool the user uses to draw graphics, the drawn graphics and lines are composed of "paths". To understand the concept of a path, a path has no width and color, but adding an outline to a path gives it width and color. For example, if we select the "Rectangle" tool in the toolbox to draw a rectangle on the drawing page, we can see that the system default path is a thin black outline. This makes it easier for us to clarify the trend of the path at the beginning of drawing. Of course, for some special drawing needs, the outline can also be set to no outline.

Note: If you view a path set to "No Outline", you can only preview it in wireframe view. Readers can open the "dragon.cdr" file on the CD that comes with this book by executing "File" → "Open". Then execute the "View" → "Wireframe" command, and readers will find that the outline of the object will be displayed. As shown in Figure 2-2.

Figure 2-2 Previewing an outlineless object in wireframe mode

So what are the basic elements that constitute a path? The answer is nodes and line segments. A node is a point on the path, and the line segment is the path part between two nodes, as shown in Figure 2-3. All paths start and end at nodes, and the direction and shape of the path can be changed by adjusting the properties and positions of nodes. But for some special objects, such as ellipses, rectangles or text, they are shaped in a specific way. If the user wants to change the shape of the nodes by adjusting them, they must be converted into a "curve object" of editable nodes before further shaping. After creating this type of object, readers can use the "Convert to Curve" button provided in the property bar to quickly convert it into a curve object, and then perform complex editing work.

Figure 2-3 Path diagram

Note: "Curve object" can be an object of any shape. Curve objects have nodes and control points, and users can change the shape of the object by operating the nodes and control points.

2.2 Select objects

Whether drawing graphics or processing images in CorelDRAW, the user must first select the object before performing various operations. Therefore, the Selection tool in the toolbox will be the most frequently used tool. The quickest way to select an object is to use the "Select" tool. There are many ways to select objects according to the needs of drawing. Next, we will go through a set of operations to enable readers to further master the method of selecting objects.

(1) Execute the "File" → "Open" command to open the \Chapter-02\"Select Object Demonstration Example.cdr" file on the CD that comes with this book.

(2) Select the "Selection" tool in the toolbox. If you select an object in the view, the reader can click on the object to select it. A mark will appear in the center of the selected object, and 8 black squares will appear around the corners of the selected object. We call these squares "control handles". As shown in Figure 2-4.

Figure 2-4 Selecting individual objects

(3) If you want to select multiple objects in the view, you can select the "Select" tool while holding down the key on the keyboard and click Select other objects. Or use the mouse to drag a box diagonally to circle the object to be selected, as shown in Figure 2-5. From the picture, we can see that during the process of selecting an object, a blue dotted outline appears, which is called the selection box.

Tip: When using the "Select" tool to select multiple objects, if you hold down the key on the keyboard, all the objects passed by the selection box will be selected without having to drag a larger object. Large checkbox to surround all objects.

Figure 2-5 Selecting multiple objects

(4) When there are many objects in the view, using the mouse to click to select small details in complex graphics requires a certain amount of time. Skill. The usual method is to enlarge the view to make the field of view wider. Here we introduce a quick selection method. First select the "Select" tool in the toolbox, and then by pressing the keys on the keyboard, you can see the automatic selection of objects from the topmost object to the lower layer. After selecting the desired object, stop pressing the key.

(5) If you want to use the keyboard to select from the underlying object to the previous object, you can select the "Select" tool and press the keys on the keyboard until the desired object is selected.

(6) In addition to using the keyboard or mouse to select objects above, CorelDRAW also provides menu commands to quickly select all objects. There are 4 types of selecting all objects using menu commands, which are:

Execute the "Edit" → "Select All" → "Object" command to select all objects in the view. In addition, double-click the "Select" tool in the toolbox to select all objects.

Execute the "Edit" → "Select All" → "Text" command to select all text objects. Including "artistic" and "paragraph" text.

Execute the "Edit" → "Select All" → "Auxiliary Line" command to select all the auxiliary line objects created in the view.

Execute the "Edit" → "Select All" → "Node" command to select all nodes on the path of the curve object.

(7) If you need to select individual objects in the group object, you can hold down the key on the keyboard and use the "Select" tool to click on the object to be selected. At this time, the selected object is marked with 8 black dots around it, as shown in Figure 2-6.

Figure 2-6 Selecting individual objects from group objects

(8) When the user completes the operation on the selected object, he can click outside the drawing window to undo the original selection of the object to perform other drawing tasks. To unselect an object via the keyboard, press a key on the keyboard to complete.

(9) If you want to deselect only one object from many selected objects, you can hold down the key on the keyboard and click on the object.

Note: The objects that can be selected are not limited to the "Select" tool, but can also be selected using "Rectangle", "Ellipse", "Polygon", "Drawing", "Spiral" and other drawing tools. object. The usage of these drawing tools will be introduced later.

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