OpenOffice 3.3 Draw Guide
OpenOffice.org 3
Draw Guide
Drawing Vector Graphics in OpenOffice.org
Copyright
This document is Copyright © 2005–2011 by its contributors as listed below. You may
distribute it and/or modify it under the terms of either the GNU General Public
License (http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl.html), version 3 or later, or the Creative
Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/), version
3.0 or later. All trademarks in this guide belong to their legitimate owners.
Contributors
Agnes Belzunce Daniel Carrera Martin Fox
Thomas Hackert Regina Henschel Peter Hillier-Brook
Jared Kobos Hazel Russman Gary Schnabl
Bernd Schukat Wolfgang Uhlig Jean Hollis Weber
Claire Wood Linda Worthington
Feedback
Please direct any comments or suggestions about this document to: odfauthors-
discuss@lists.odfauthors.org
Acknowledgments
Several chapters in this book are based on an original French document written for
OpenOffice.org 1.x by Michel Pinquier (translated into English by Alex Thurgood) and
previous content revised by Jim Taylor. The chapters were revised for OOo 2.0 by
Linda, Daniel, Jean, and Agnes, and later translated into German by Bernd, Regina,
and Wolfgang. The German revisions were then translated into English and revised
for OOo 3.3 by Martin Fox.
Publication date and software version
Published 27 August 2011. Based on OpenOffice 3.3.
You can download
an editable version of this document from
http://wiki.services.openoffice.org/wiki/Documentation/
Contents
Copyright.......................................................................................................................2
Chapter 1
Introducing Draw............................................................................................................7
Introduction...................................................................................................................8
The Draw workplace.....................................................................................................8
Rulers............................................................................................................................9
Status bar....................................................................................................................10
Toolbars.......................................................................................................................11
Drawing grid and guides............................................................................................15
Floating and moving toolbars.....................................................................................15
Quick printing.............................................................................................................17
Controlling printing....................................................................................................18
Exporting to PDF........................................................................................................22
Exporting to other formats.........................................................................................22
Exporting Draw documents as web pages.................................................................23
E-mailing documents..................................................................................................23
Chapter 2
Drawing Basic Shapes..................................................................................................24
Creating simple drawings...........................................................................................25
Custom shapes............................................................................................................25
Drawing basic shapes.................................................................................................25
Gluepoints and connectors (basics)...........................................................................32
Drawing geometric shapes.........................................................................................33
Adding text to objects.................................................................................................35
Chapter 3
Working with Objects and Object Points......................................................................38
Introduction................................................................................................................39
Moving and dynamically adjusting an object’s size..................................................41
Rotating and shearing an object using the mouse....................................................44
Setting size and position exactly................................................................................46
Editing object points...................................................................................................48
Another way to change the form of basic shapes......................................................48
How curves work........................................................................................................49
Chapter 4
Changing Object Attributes.........................................................................................55
Toolbars and menus....................................................................................................56
Editing lines and borders...........................................................................................57
Editing the inside (fill) of an object............................................................................63
Using styles.................................................................................................................71
Special effects.............................................................................................................72
Chapter 5
Combining Multiple Objects.........................................................................................78
OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide 3
Introduction: grouping and combining objects.........................................................79
Grouping objects.........................................................................................................79
Combining objects......................................................................................................80
Merging, subtracting, or intersecting shapes...........................................................81
Aids for positioning objects........................................................................................83
Chapter 6
Editing Pictures (Raster Graphics)..............................................................................88
Introduction................................................................................................................89
Importing raster and vector graphics........................................................................89
Exporting graphics.....................................................................................................92
Modifying raster object properties............................................................................95
The picture (editing) toolbar......................................................................................95
Cropping......................................................................................................................97
The graphic filter toolbar...........................................................................................98
Changing colors using the eyedropper....................................................................101
Conversion................................................................................................................105
Print options with raster graphics...........................................................................109
Chapter 7
Working with 3D Objects............................................................................................111
Creating 3D objects..................................................................................................112
Editing 3D objects.....................................................................................................116
Combining objects in 3D scenes..............................................................................134
Chapter 8
Tips and Tricks............................................................................................................138
Positioning objects with zoom..................................................................................139
Positioning objects with snap functions...................................................................140
Drawing to scale.......................................................................................................146
Splitting drawings on multiple layers......................................................................146
Creating a multi-page document..............................................................................150
Color palette: adding or changing single colors......................................................153
Changing colors using the Color dialog...................................................................155
Creating cool effects.................................................................................................157
Chapter 9
Organization Charts, Flow Diagrams, and More.......................................................159
Drawing an organization chart................................................................................160
Drawing a flow diagram...........................................................................................162
Glue points and connectors......................................................................................164
Adding text to connectors........................................................................................168
Chapter 10
Advanced Draw Techniques........................................................................................171
Drawing to scale.......................................................................................................172
Dimensioning a drawing...........................................................................................180
Working with text in Draw........................................................................................183
Guide to Bézier curves..............................................................................................196
4 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
Adding comments to a drawing................................................................................202
Connecting and breaking lines.................................................................................203
Index..............................................................................................................................204
OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide 5
Note for Mac users
Some keystrokes and menu items are different on a Mac from those used in Windows
and Linux. The table below gives some common substitutions for the instructions in
this chapter. For a more detailed list, see the application Help.
Windows/Linux Mac equivalent Effect
Tools > Options
menu selection
OpenOffice.org >
Preferences
Access setup options
Right-click Control+click Open context menu
Ctrl (Control)
z (Command)
Used with other keys
F5
Shift+z+F5
Open the Navigator
F11
z+T
Open Styles & Formatting window
6 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
Chapter 1
Introducing Draw
Introduction
Draw is a vector graphics drawing tool, although it can also perform some operations
on raster graphics (pixels). Using Draw, you can quickly create a wide variety of
graphical images.
Vector graphics store and display a picture as simple geometric elements such as
lines, circles, and polygons rather than as a collection of pixels (points on the screen).
This permits simpler storage and supports precise scaling of the picture elements.
Draw is fully integrated into the OpenOffice.org suite, and this simplifies exchanging
graphics with all components of the suite. For example, if you create an image in
Draw, reusing it in a Writer document is as simple as copying and pasting the image.
You can also work with drawings directly from within Writer or Impress, using a
subset of the functions and tools from Draw.
Draw’s functionality is extensive, and even though it was not designed to rival highend graphics applications, it possesses significantly more functionality than the
drawing tools that are generally integrated with most office productivity suites.
A few examples of the drawing functions are: layer management, magnetic grid-point
system, dimensions and measurement display, connectors for making organization
charts, 3D functions that enable small three-dimensional drawings to be created
(with texture and lighting effects), drawing and page-style integration, and Bézier
curves.
The Draw Guide is not a course book to be worked through from beginning to end.
Rather, it is a reference work in which you can browse for guidance on particular
topics.
This document describes only the functions associated with Draw. Some concepts,
such as file management or the way the OpenOffice.org environment works, are
mentioned only briefly; they are covered in more detail in the Getting Started guide.
The Draw workplace
The main components of the Draw interface are shown in Figure 1.
The large area in the center of the window is where you make the drawings. You can
surround the drawing area with toolbars and information areas. The number and
position of the visible tools vary with the task in hand and user preferences.
Therefore, your setup may look different. For example, many users put the main
Drawing toolbar on the left-hand side of the workspace—not at the bottom, as shown
here.
You can split drawings in Draw over several pages. Multi-page drawings are used
mainly for presentations. The Pages pane, on the left side of the Draw window in
Figure 1, gives an overview of the pages that you create. If the Pages pane is not
visible on your setup, you can enable it from the View menu (View > Page Pane). To
make changes to the page order, just drag and drop one or more pages.
In Draw 3.3, the maximum size of a drawing page is 300 cm by 300 cm.
8 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
Figure 1: Initial Draw window
Rulers
You should see rulers (bars with numbers) on the upper and left-hand sides of the
workspace. If they are not visible, you can enable them by selecting them from the
View menu (View > Ruler).
The rulers show the size of a selected object on the page (see the gray double lines,
highlighted in Figure 2). When no object is selected, they show the location of the
mouse pointer, which helps to position drawing objects more accurately.
You can also use the rulers to manage object handles and guide lines, making it
easier to position objects.
The page margins in the drawing area are also represented on the rulers. You can
change the margins directly on the rulers by dragging them with the mouse.
Chapter 1 Introducing Draw 9
Figure 2: Rulers show the size of the
To modify the units of measurement of the rulers (which you can define
independently), right-click on the desired ruler, as illustrated for the horizontal ruler
in Figure 3.
Status bar
The Status bar is located at the bottom of the Draw window and includes several
Draw-specific fields, as identified in Figures 4 and 5.
The Information field shows which action is being carried out, or which object type is
selected.
10 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
selected object
Figure 3: Rulers in a drawing
Figure 4: Left end of Draw status bar
Figure 5: Right end of Draw status bar
The Position field shows different information, depending on whether objects are
currently selected or not:
• When no object is selected, the left number pair shows the current position (in
X,Y Cartesian coordinates) of the mouse cursor.
• While an object is being resized with the mouse, the right number pair shows
the size of the object (width and height).
Note
The sizes are given in the current measurement unit (not to be confused
with the ruler units). This unit is defined in Tools > Options >
OpenOffice.org Draw > General, where you can also change the scale of
the page. Another way to change the scale is to double-click on the
number shown in the status bar.
• If an object is selected, the left number pair shows the X,Y coordinates of the
upper-left corner, and the right number pair displays the size of the object, as
seen in Figure 4. These numbers do not relate to the object itself, but to the
selection outline, which is the smallest possible rectangle that can contain the
visible part or parts of the object; see also Chapter 3 (Working with Objects
and Object Points).
• When an object is selected, a double-click on this field opens the Position and
Size dialog, which is described in detail in Chapter 4 (Changing Object
Attributes).
In the Indicator field, an asterisk (*) is shown whenever any change is made to the
document but not yet saved to disk.
If you wish to digitally sign the document, a double-click or right-click in the
Signature field brings up the signature box. Note that a document must be saved at
least once before it can be signed. After it is signed, an indicator is present in this
field.
The Slide field shows the sequence number for the current drawing page, in addition
to the total number of pages that you created so far. This is useful when your drawing
has a number of pages. If you select an object, the field enclosed by parentheses
shows the layer in which the object resides within the drawing. In the example of
Figure 5, the object is on the Layout layer of Slide 1, and there is a total number of
one slide so far.
The Page style field shows which template is being used.
The vertical bar in the middle of the Zoom slider represents a zoom factor of 100%.
To change the view magnification, drag the Zoom slider, or click on the + and – signs,
or right-click on the zoom level percent to pop up a list of magnification values from
which to choose. Double-clicking on the zoom level percent to open the Zoom &
View Layout dialog.
Toolbars
You can display or hide the various Draw toolbars, according to your needs. To
display or hide a toolbar, click View > Toolbars. On the menu that appears, choose
which toolbars you want to display.
You can also select the icons that you wish to appear on the toolbars. To change the
visible icons on any toolbar, click the arrow at the right-hand end of that toolbar and
Chapter 1 Introducing Draw 11
choose Visible Buttons from the drop-down menu. Visible icons are indicated by an
outline around the icon. Click on icons to hide or show them on the toolbar.
The tools available in the various toolbars are explained in the following sections.
Standard toolbar
The Standard toolbar is the same for all OpenOffice.org components and is not
described in detail here.
Drawing toolbar
The Drawing toolbar is the most important toolbar in Draw. It contains all the
necessary functions for drawing various geometric and freehand shapes and for
organizing them on the page. It is described in detail in Chapter 2 (Drawing Basic
Shapes).
Line and Filling toolbar
The Line and Filling toolbar lets you modify the main properties of a drawing object:
the icons and pull-down lists vary with the type of object selected. For example, to
change the thickness of a line with the spinner, hover the mouse over the spinner and
click the up or down arrow to achieve the desired thickness.
In the example above, the available functions enable you to change the color, style,
and width of the line drawn or the fill color, style, and other properties of an object.
The object must first be selected with a mouse click. If the selected object is a text
frame, the buttons for line style and fill color are changed to Invisible by default. You
can change them to something else if you want.
12 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
Figure 6: Selection of visible toolbar icons
Figure 7: Standard toolbar
Figure 8: Drawing toolbar
Figure 9: Line and Filling toolbar
Text Formatting toolbar
When text is selected, the Line and Filling toolbar changes to the Text Formatting
toolbar, which is very similar to the Formatting toolbar in Writer. A more detailed
explanation of the buttons on this toolbar can be found in Chapter 4 (Changing
Object Attributes).
Color bar
To display the Color bar, use View > Toolbars > Color Bar. The toolbar then
appears at the bottom of the workspace and displays the current color palette.
This toolbar lets you rapidly choose the color of the various objects (lines, areas, and
3D effects) in your drawing. The first box in the panel corresponds to transparency
(no color).
Choosing a color palette
You can access several specialized color palettes in Draw, as well as change
individual colors to your own taste. This is done using the Area dialog, reached by
choosing Format > Area, or the pouring can icon on the Line and Filling toolbar
(Figure 9).
On the Area dialog, choose the Colors tab (Figure 12).
To load another palette, click on the Load Color List button (circled). The file
selector dialog asks you to choose one of the standard OpenOffice.org palettes (files
bearing the file extension *.soc). For example, web.soc is a color palette that is
particularly adapted to creating drawings that are going to appear in Web pages.
These colors will display correctly on workstations with screens capable of at least
256 colors.
A more detailed description of color palettes and their options can be found in
Chapter 8 (Tips and Tricks).
Chapter 1 Introducing Draw 13
Figure 10: Text Formatting toolbar
Figure 11: Color bar
Figure 12. Changing the color palette
Options toolbar
The Options toolbar lets you activate or deactivate various drawing aids. The Options
Bar is not one of the toolbars displayed by default. To display it, select View >
Toolbars > Options.
The options are described in the table below and in greater detail in other chapters of
the Draw Guide.
Table 1: Functions on the Options toolbar
Icon Function
Rotation mode after clicking object
Display (or hide) the grid
Display (or hide) the guides
Display (or hide) guides when moving
14 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
Figure 13: Options toolbar
Icon Function
Snap to grid
Snap to guides
Snap to page margins
Snap to object borders
Snap to object points
Allow quick editing
Select text area only
Double-click to edit text
Simple handles
Large handles
Modify object with attributes
Exit all groups
Drawing grid and guides
Draw offers a grid as a drawing aid. The grid can be turned on or off by clicking on
the Grid icon on the Options toolbar. The points of the grid displayed on the screen
are not shown on the printed drawing. The color, spacing, and resolution of the grid
points can be individually chosen for each axis. This is described in more detail in
Chapter 8 (in the section titled “Configuring the grid”).
Guides are special “helper lines” that can be turned on or off by clicking on the
Guides icon on the Options toolbar. Draw offers a “Snap” function, with which you
can place drawings exactly on these guides or on a grid point, a page margin, or a
border or point of another object. All snap functions are described in detail in
Chapter 8 (Tips and Tricks).
Showing the position of the object while moving it makes positioning the object much
easier. If the Guides function is activated, pairs of vertical and horizontal lines
enclosing the object are shown while moving the object. These lines extend to the
edges of the drawing area. This function is also described in detail in Chapter 8.
Floating and moving toolbars
Many toolbar icons are marked with a small arrow. The arrow indicates that this icon
has additional tools. Click the arrow to display the full set of tools (see Figure 14).
Chapter 1 Introducing Draw 15
You can “tear off” this tool set so it becomes a floating toolbar. Click the area at the
bottom of the toolset, drag it across the screen to a location you want, and then
release the mouse button.
To dock a floating toolbar to the top or side of the Draw workspace, Ctrl+click on the
title of the toolbar. To float a docked toolbar, click on its handle and drag it off the
side of the workspace (see Figure 15). The floating-toolbar capability is common to all
components of OpenOffice.org.
Note
When a toolset is made into a floating toolbar, the icon on the existing
toolbar remains in the toolbar and always shows the last command you
used. This means that the icon you see on your screen may differ from the
icon shown in this Guide.
Tip
When you double-click on an icon on a floating toolbar, the command
corresponding to that icon will run. You can then repeat this action as
often as you like. To exit from this mode, press the Esc key or click on
another icon (for example ). This may not work for every icon on
every toolbar.
16 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
Figure 14: An arrow next to an icon indicates additional functions
Figure 15: Moving a docked toolbar
Customizing toolbars
You can customize toolbars in several ways. To show or hide icons defined for a
toolbar, see Figure 6 on page 12.
To add functions to a toolbar, move tools between toolbars, or create new toolbars.,
choose View > Toolbars > Customize, select the Toolbars tab (Figure 16) and the
toolbar you want to change, and then select the desired buttons for that toolbar.
Each toolbar has a different list of functions. For details, see Chapter 14
(Customizing OpenOffice.org) in the Getting Started guide. That chapter also
describes how to customize menus.
Quick printing
Click the Print File Directly icon to send the entire document to the default
printer defined for your computer.
Note
You can change the action of the Print File Directly icon to send the
document to the printer defined for the document instead of the default
printer for the computer. Go to Tools > Options > Load/Save >
General and select the Load printer settings with the document
option.
Chapter 1 Introducing Draw 17
Figure 16: Customizing a toolbar
Controlling printing
For more control over printing, use the Print dialog (File > Print or Ctrl+P).
Note
The options selected on the Print dialog apply to this printing of this
document only.
To specify default printing settings for OpenOffice.org, go to Tools >
Options > OpenOffice.org – Print and Tools > Options >
OpenOffice.org Draw – Print.
The Print dialog has four tabs, from which you can choose a range of options, as
described in the following sections.
Selecting general printing options
On the General tab of the Print dialog, you can choose:
• The printer (from the printers available)
• Which pages to print, the number of copies to print, and whether to collate
multiple copies (Range and copies section)
Select the Properties button to display a dialog where you can choose portrait or
landscape orientation, which paper tray to use, and the paper size to print on.
On the Options tab of the Print dialog (Figure 18) you can set a number of other,
lesser used, options for printing.
18 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
Figure 17. The Print dialog
Figure 18: General print options
Printing multiple pages on a single sheet of paper
You can print multiple pages of a document on one sheet of paper. To do this:
1) In the Print dialog, select the Page Layout tab.
2) In the Layout section, select from the drop-down list the number of pages to
print per sheet. The preview panel on the left of the Print dialog shows how the
printed document will look.
When printing more than two pages per sheet, you can choose the order in
which they are printing across and down the paper. The two pictures below
show the difference.
3) In the Page sides section, select whether to print all pages or only some pages.
4) Click the Print button.
Selecting pages to print
In addition to printing a full document, you can choose to print individual pages,
ranges of pages, or a selection of a document.
Chapter 1 Introducing Draw 19
To print an individual page:
1) Choose File > Print from the menu bar.
2) Select the page to print.
a) In the Ranges and copies section of the Print dialog, select the Pages
option.
b) Enter the number of the page to print.
3) Click the Print button.
To print a range of pages:
1) Choose File > Print from the menu bar.
2) Select the pages to print.
a) In the Ranges and copies section of the Print dialog, select the Pages
option.
b) Enter the number of the pages to print (for example 1-4 or 1,3,7,11), or any
combination of the two, for example: 1-4,5-9,10.
3) Click the Print button.
To print a selection of a page, or a selection from multiple pages:
1) In the document, select the section of the page to print.
2) Choose File > Print from the menu bar.
3) Choose the Selection option in the Ranges and copies section of the Print
dialog.
4) Click the Print button.
Printing a brochure
In Writer, Impress, and Draw, you can print a document with two pages on each side
of a sheet of paper, arranged so that when the printed pages are folded in half, the
pages are in the correct order to form a booklet or brochure.
Tip
Plan your document so it will look good when printed half size; choose
appropriate margins, font sizes, and so on. You may need to experiment.
To print a brochure on a single-sided printer:
1) Choose File > Print.
2) In the Print dialog, click Properties.
3) Check the printer is set to the same orientation (portrait or landscape) as
specified in the page setup for your document. Usually the orientation does not
matter, but it does for brochures. Click OK to return to the Print dialog.
4) Select the Page layout tab in the Print dialog.
20 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
5) Select the Brochure option.
6) In the Page sides section, select Back sides / left pages option from the Include
drop-down list.
7) Click the Print button.
8) Take the printed pages out of the printer, turn the pages over, and put them
back into the printer in the correct orientation to print on the blank side. You
may need to experiment a bit to find out what the correct arrangement is for
your printer.
9) On the Print dialog, in the Page sides section, select Front sides / right pages
option from the Include drop down box.
10) Click the Print button.
Tip
If your printer can print double-sided automatically, choose All pages.
Printing in black and white (on a color printer)
You may wish to print documents in black and white on a color printer. Several
choices are available. Please note that some color printers may print in color
regardless of the settings you choose.
To change the printer settings to print in black and white or grayscale:
1) Choose File > Print to open the Print dialog.
2) Click Properties to open the Properties dialog for the printer. The available
choices vary from one printer to another, but you should find options for the
Color settings. See your printer’s help or user manual for more information.
3) The choices for color might include black and white or grayscale. Choose the
required setting.
4) Click OK to confirm your choice and return to the Print dialog,
5) Click the Print button to print the document.
Tip
Grayscale is best if you have any graphics in the document.
Chapter 1 Introducing Draw 21
To change the OpenOffice.org settings to print all color text and graphics as
grayscale:
1) Choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org > Print.
2) Select the Convert colors to grayscale option. Click OK to save the change.
3) Open the Print dialog (File > Print).
4) Click the Print button to print the document.
To change the Draw settings to print all color text as black, and all graphics as
grayscale:
1) Choose Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Draw > Print.
2) Under Contents, select the Print text in black option. Click OK to save the
change.
3) Open the Print dialog (File > Print).
4) Click the Print button to print the document.
Exporting to PDF
OpenOffice.org can export documents to PDF (Portable Document Format). This
industry-standard file format is ideal for sending the file to someone else to view
using Adobe Reader or other PDF viewers.
The process and dialogs are the same for Writer, Calc, Impress, and Draw, with a few
minor differences mentioned in this section.
Quick export to PDF
Click the Export Directly as PDF icon to export the entire document using your
default PDF settings. You are asked to enter the file name and location for the PDF
file, but you do not get a chance to choose a page range, the image compression, or
other options.
Controlling PDF content and quality
For more control over the content and quality of the resulting PDF, use File > Export
as PDF. The PDF Options dialog opens. This dialog has five pages (General, Initial
View, User Interface, Links, and Security). Select the appropriate settings, and then
click Export. In the following dialog, enter the location and file name of the PDF to
be created, and click Save to export the file. See Chapter 10 (Printing, Exporting,
Emailing) in the Getting Started book for details.
Exporting to other formats
OpenOffice.org uses the term “export” for some file operations involving a change of
file type. If you cannot find what you want under File > Save As, look under File >
Export as well.
OpenOffice.org can export files to XHTML. In addition, Draw can export to Adobe
Flash (.swf) and a range of image formats.
22 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
To export to one of these formats, choose File > Export. On the Export dialog,
specify a file name for the exported document, then select the required format in the
File format list and click the Export button.
See Chapter 6 (Editing Pictures) for more about exporting graphics.
Note
The content of the exported file will depend on the element(s) selected
on the page. No selection results in the entire image being exported. For
most export formats only the image on the current page will be
exported.
Exporting Draw documents as web pages
To export a multi-page Draw document to a series of web pages, choose File >
Export and select HTML Document as the file type. The HTML Export wizard
opens. Follow the prompts to creat the web pages. If you wish, the wizard can
generate a navigation aid to help in moving from page to page.
E-mailing documents
OpenOffice.org provides several ways to send documents quickly and easily as an email attachment in one of three formats: OpenDocument (OpenOffice.org’s default
format), Microsoft Office formats, or PDF.
Note
Documents can only be sent from the OpenOffice.org menu if a mail
profile has been set up.
To send the current document in OpenDocument format:
1) Choose File > Send > Document as E-mail. OpenOffice.org opens your
default e-mail program. The document is attached.
2) In your e-mail program, enter the recipient, subject, and any text you want to
add, then send the e-mail.
If you choose E-mail as PDF, OpenOffice.org first creates a PDF using your default
PDF settings (as when using the Export Directly as PDF toolbar button) and then
opens your email program with the PDF file attached.
You can email a document to several recipients. For details, see Chapter 10 (Printing,
Exporting, Emailing) in the Getting Started book.
Chapter 1 Introducing Draw 23
Chapter 2
Drawing Basic Shapes
Creating simple drawings
You can create 2D and 3D objects in Draw. This chapter shows how to draw simple
2D objects. The following chapters describe how to work with and edit such objects.
All shapes, whether they are lines, rectangles, or more complicated shapes, are
called objects. This is common notation in vector drawing software.
The drawing tools are found on the Drawing toolbar. Figures 19 and 32 show parts of
the standard form of the toolbar, as installed with Draw.
As described in Chapter 1 (Introducing Draw), the Drawing toolbar is normally
located at the bottom of the window. If you do not see it, you can activate it from the
View > Toolbars menu. As in all components of OpenOffice.org, you can place the
toolbar on the Draw window wherever you wish, and you can configure toolbars as
you wish by adding, moving, hiding, or deleting toolbar icons.
Custom shapes
Draw 3 offers the ability to create custom shapes. These correspond to autoshapes in
Microsoft Office.
The two types of shapes differ in their properties and are dealt with separately in the
relevant chapter of this guide. The main differences relate to the behavior of 3D
objects and text handling. Beginners can safely ignore both for the present.
Text frames in Draw 3 have their own geometric format.
Drawing basic shapes
Basic shapes include:
• Lines
• Arrows
• Rectangles and squares
• Ellipses and circles
• Curves and polygons
• Connectors
• Lines and arrows
Note
When you draw a basic shape or select one for editing, the Information
field in the status bar changes to reflect the action taken or in progress:
Line created, Text frame xxyy selected, TextEdit: Paragraph 1, Row 1,
Column 8 and so on.
Figure 19 shows part of the Drawing toolbar with the icons needed in the following
sections. The Text icon is also included.
Chapter 2 Drawing Basic Shapes 25
Figure 19: Part of the Drawing toolbar
Drawing a straight line
We begin with the drawing of the simplest element—a straight line.
Click on the Line icon on the Drawing toolbar and place the mouse pointer at the
point where you want to start the line (see Figure 20). Drag the mouse while keeping
the mouse button pressed. Release the mouse button at the point where you want to
end the line. A blue selection handle appears at each end of the line, showing that
this is the currently selected object.
Holding down the Shift key while you draw a line restricts the angle of the line to a
multiple of 45 degrees (0, 45, 90, 135, and so on).
Caution
This is the default behavior of the Shift key. However, if you have used
Tools > Options > OpenOffice.org Draw > Grid to set Snap position
to When creating or moving objects, the action of the Shift key is the
opposite: lines will always be at a multiple of 45 degrees unless the
Shift key is pressed.
Keeping the Ctrl key pressed while drawing a line enables the end of the line to snap
to the nearest grid point.
Caution
The effect of the Ctrl key depends on the settings of the Snap to Grid
option on the View->Grid menu:
Snap to Grid on: Ctrl deactivates the snap option for this activity.
Snap to Grid off: Ctrl activates the snap option for this activity.
The spacing (resolution) of the grid points can be adjusted under Tools > Options >
OpenOffice.org-Draw > Grid. See also Chapter 8 (Tips and Tricks).
Holding down the Alt key while drawing a line results in the line extending outwards
symmetrically in both directions from the start point. This lets you draw lines by
starting from the middle of the line.
The line just drawn has all the standard line attributes, such as color and line style.
To change any of these properties, select the line by clicking on it, then right-click
and select Line.
While you are working with a line (or any other element), you can use the information
field on the status bar to monitor the activity. A description of the current activity or
selection is shown when you are working with elements. Figure 21 shows two
examples.
26 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
Figure 20: Drawing a straight line
Figure 21: The information area in the status bar
Drawing an arrow
Arrows are drawn like lines. Draw classifies arrows as a subgroup of lines: lines with
arrowheads. The information field on the status bar shows them only as lines. Click
on the Line Ends with Arrow icon to draw an arrow.
Drawing lines and arrows
If you added the lines and arrows toolbar to the main Drawing toolbar you can click
on the small black triangle on the Lines and Arrows icon on the Drawing
toolbar to open a toolbar with ten tools for drawing lines and arrows (Figure 22).
(Alternatively View > Toolbars > Arrows opens the toolbar as a floating toolbar.) In
both cases, the last-used command will be stored on the toolbar to make it quicker to
call it up again: click directly on the symbol to repeat the last used command chosen
from this toolbar.
After drawing the line, you can change the arrow style by clicking on the Arrow
button in the Line and Filling toolbar and choose from 13 arrow start and end
options.
Chapter 2 Drawing Basic Shapes 27
Drawing a rectangle or square
Drawing a rectangle is similar to drawing a straight line, except that you click on the
Rectangle icon on the Drawing toolbar, and the (imaginary) line drawn by the
mouse corresponds to a diagonal of the rectangle. In addition, the outline of the
future rectangle changes shape as you drag the mouse around. The outline may be
shown as a dashed line until you release the mouse button.
Draw considers squares to be rectangles with sides of equal length. Hold down the
Shift key to draw a square. Hold down the Alt key while dragging with the mouse to
create a rectangle with its center (rather than a corner) at the start point (where you
first clicked the mouse).
Note
Blue or green selection handles appear around an object made up of
more than 2 points, showing that this is the currently selected object.
The colors depend on the standard selection mode—green with a normal
selection or blue if you are in the point edit mode. This effect is easily
seen if both Simple Handles and Large Handles are switched on in
the Options toolbar. See Chapter 3 for more details on points.
28 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
1
2 3 4
5 6 7 8
9 10
1 Line 5 Line (45°) 8 Line with square/arrow
2 Line Ends with Arrow 6 Line starts with arrow 9 Dimension line
3 Line with arrow/circle 7 Line with circle/arrow 10 Line with arrows
4 Line with arrow/square
Figure 22: Arrows toolbar
Figure 23: Drawing a rectangle
Drawing ellipses (ovals) and circles
To draw an ellipse (also called an oval) or a circle, click on the Ellipse icon on the
main Drawing toolbar. (A circle is simply an ellipse with both axes the same length.)
The ellipse drawn is the largest ellipse that fits within the (imaginary) rectangle
drawn by the mouse (Figure 24).
There are three ways to draw an ellipse or a circle:
• Holding down the Shift key while dragging with the mouse draws a circle.
• Holding down the Alt key (together with the Shift key) draws a symmetrical
ellipse (a circle) with the starting point at the center.
• Holding down the Ctrl key while dragging with the mouse draws an ellipse or
circle that snaps to the nearest grid points.
Note
If you first press and hold the Ctrl key down and then click on one of the
icons for Line, Rectangle, Ellipse or Text, a standard sized object is
drawn automatically in the work area: the size, shape, and color are all
standard values. These attributes can be changed later, if desired. This
only works if the icon has no associated toolbar—no arrow on the right
side of the icon.
Adding ellipse and arc tools to the Drawing toolbar
In previous versions of Draw, a long-click on the ellipse button opened a new toolbar
that contained tools for drawing elliptical and circular arcs. This function is not
directly available in Version 3.3.
If you really need this tool, you can add an Ellipse toolbar to the Drawing toolbar:
1) Click on the arrow on the right-hand end of the Drawing toolbar and select
Customize Toolbar.
2) On the Toolbars page of the Customize dialog, select Drawing in the Toolbar
field and click Add.
3) In the Add Commands dialog (Figure 25), select Drawing in the Category list,
select the first Ellipse command in the Commands list, click Add, and then
click Close.
Chapter 2 Drawing Basic Shapes 29
Figure 24: Drawing an ellipse
Figure 25: Adding the extended Ellipse toolbar
4) On the Customize dialog, ensure that the checkbox by the new Ellipse
command is selected, and then use the up and down arrow buttons to move it
to the desired position on the toolbar.
5) To remove the simple Ellipse icon from the Drawing toolbar, click to highlight
it in the Customize dialog, and press the Delete key (or click the Modify
button and choose Delete from the drop-down menu).
6) Click OK to complete the process.
You should now see this Ellipse icon on the Drawing toolbar. If you use this
icon instead of the standard Ellipse icon, all the extended ellipse functions are
available. Clicking on the black arrow by the icon opens the floating Circles and
Ovals toolbar (Figure 26).
30 OpenOffice.org 3.3 Draw Guide
Figure 26: Circles and Ovals toolbar
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