Section 113. Draw Lines


113. Draw Lines

BEFORE YOU BEGIN

111 Draw from Scratch

112 Place Shapes on the Drawing Area


SEE ALSO

115 Create a New Shape

117 About Manipulating Objects


You can easily add lines and arrows to your drawings. In addition to arrows and lines, Draw also supports the use of many kinds of connectors. With lines, arrows, and connectors, you can draw flow diagrams such as organization charts and flowcharts.

Draw gives you the choice of four kinds of connectors (with or without arrows at one or both ends):

  • Standard connectors with 90-degree angle bends that form a kind of blocked Z pattern

  • Line connectors with two halves whose midpoint you can adjust

  • Straight connectors that draw one connecting line to another

  • Curved connectors that draw curved lines from one object to the next

113. Draw Lines


NOTE

You choose what appears on the ends of connectors, such as an arrow, a small box, or a circle.


You'll want to experiment with the various lines, arrows, and connectors until you see all that Draw has to offer. The Line and Filling toolbar contains the thickness and color controls you'll need to adjust the attributes of the lines, arrows, and connectors.

1.
Select a Line Tool

Long-click to open the Lines and Arrows toolbar from your Drawing toolbar, and select a Line tool. As with any shape, you can double-click the tool to keep it active when you want to draw multiple occurrences of that line or arrow. You'll see the various lines and arrows on the toolbar; the icon on each of the buttons shows what your selected line or arrow will look like. For example, the dimension line is a line with arrows on each end that intersect straight lines.

2.
Draw a Line

Click the starting point for the line or arrow and drag your mouse to the ending point. You can draw lines and arrows in any direction, except for the 45-degree line, which you can only draw straight up, straight down, or at a diagonal angle.

NOTE

The direction you drag when you draw a line with an arrow determines the direction your drawn arrow will point.

TIP

Press Shift as you drag to draw a line or arrow in 45-degree increments from the starting point.

3.
Change the Line's Attributes

You can select a color and line thickness from the Line and Filling toolbar either before or after you draw the line or arrow. If you want to change an attribute after you draw the line or arrow, you can click to select the line or arrow and then change its thickness and color.

4.
Change a Line to an Arrow

You can convert a line to an arrow by first clicking to select the line and then clicking the Arrow Style button on the Line and Filling toolbar. The Arrow Style list box appears, containing more forms of arrows, including double-headed arrows, than is available from the Lines toolbar. Click a style on the left side of the list box to apply it to the left end of your line; click a style on the right side to apply it to the right end of the line.

5.
Prepare for Connectors

Draw two shapes on your drawing area that you will later connect with connectors.

6.
Select Connector Tool

Long-click to open the Connector toolbar from your Drawing toolbar. Select a connector and click the first object you drew to connect. Drag your mouse to the next object. As you drag your mouse, Draw updates the connecting line according to the style of the connector. You can connect the same two shapes with multiple connectors, so feel free to add another kind of connecting line to familiarize yourself with the connectors.

7.
Display Line Dialog Box

Draw enables you to adjust lines and connectors with precision from the Line dialog box. Select one of the lines or connectors you've drawn and click the Line button on the Line and Filling toolbar. The Line dialog box appears.

8.
Modify Line Properties

The Line page lets you control the line style, color, width, and whether or not the line allows graphics beneath it to show through by the amount of the Transparency option. In addition, the Line page enables you to change or select from arrow styles, widths, and measurements. A preview at the bottom of the dialog box shows you the result of any change you make to the selected line.

9.
Modify Line Styles

Click to select the Line Styles page. Here, you not only select a style but you can help create a new style by specifying the number of dashes or dots that follow one another across the length of your selected line. If you change the line's styles, you will be able to save that style for use later in another drawing by clicking Save Line Styles .

10.
Modify Arrow Styles Properties

The Arrow Styles page enables you to adjust the look of any arrow you select in your drawing. If you change an arrow's style, you will be able to save that style for use later in another drawing by clicking Save Arrow Styles . Click OK when you want to apply your Line dialog box settings to your selected line, connector, or arrow.



OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox, and Thunderbird for Windows All in One
Sams Teach Yourself OpenOffice.org 2, Firefox and Thunderbird for Windows All in One
ISBN: 0672328089
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 232
Authors: Greg Perry

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