Page 131 - Xara Designer Pro X17

Shape Handling 131

Although there are simple SmartShapes that are just a single shape, the underlying
SmartShape architecture supports much more complex examples, including charts,
percentage rings, photo grids, text panels and charts which can all be customized.

Chart and photo grid SmartShapes

See the topic Photo Grids (on page 341) in the Photo Handling (on page 340) section for
more detail on editing the Photo Grid smartshapes.

Editing SmartShapes

You can edit a SmartShape simply by clicking on the shape in the Selector tool.
Alternatively, select them using the QuickShape (or rectangle or ellipse) tools from main
tool bar.

When selected the SmartShape will show a set of control handles on and around the
shape, like this:

This is a simple Text Panel
SmartShape. The blue
circular handles on the sides
allow you to stretch the panel
to be any size. The top right
corner handle will rotate the
whole object. The bottom
right will enlarge or reduce
the size of the whole
SmartShape.

Each SmartShape has its own set of control handles. Hold the mouse-pointer over any
handle for a handy tool-tip. The Status Line (bottom of window) also provides some
description of the function of each handle. In this example the top left orange handle
adjusts the rounded corner of the panel background (and most rectangular SmartShapes
have a similar function). The inset handle at the top right, in this case, adjusts the margin
around the text. Where SmartShapes contain text, you can edit the text - change its size