Page 83 - Xara Designer Pro X17

Object Handling 83

This is part of the SELECTOR TOOL.

When in rotate mode, the transformation center (around which the object rotates)
initially appears in the center of the object, as shown by a small target like this.

Simply click on a object again to put the selector into rotate mode, or click the ROTATION
HANDLES button on the InfoBar.

To move the transformation center:

• Drag the transformation center target where required.
• Or use the 3x3 matrix on the InfoBar for accurate positioning.

• This moves the transformation center to the corners, the center or the side mid-points
of the object or selection. The transformation center aligns with the outer edges of the
object. This means that if the object has a thick line applied, the transformation center
can be outside of the object.

Attention: If the rotation center is moved, it remains in this location for any selected object
until all objects are deselected, at which point it returns to the center of any selected
object.

Rotating using the mouse

The SELECTOR Tool must be in rotate/skew mode (the selection handles are arrow
shaped).

Dragging the side handles stretches the object. This is described in Stretching and
squashing objects.

Drag on a corner arrow. As you drag, the object rotates around the transformation center.
The InfoBar shows the current rotate angle.

"Shift + drag" to rotate the object around its center (the transformation center is ignored).

Hold down "Ctrl" to restrict rotation to the constrain angles. Note that the set of constrain
angles includes those rotations which align the object with the screen. This makes it very
easy to ‘straighten’ any object with a straight edge – just hold down the Ctrl key and
rotate until the object snaps to the screen-aligned rotation you want.