Page 123 - Xara Web Designer Premium

Object Handling 123

You can change the attributes of an object after you’ve drawn it, by selecting it and then
changing its fill color, line width, or any of its other attributes. But Xara Web Designer
Premium also keeps track of the ‘current’ attributes, which are the attributes that get
applied to newly drawn objects as they are created.

Setting current attributes manually
If, for example, you want the next rectangle you draw to be red, make sure you have
nothing selected (press "Esc" or click an empty part of the page) and then click red on
the color line. You’ve now set the current fill color attribute to red. Now when you draw a
new shape, it will be filled red. You can set other current attributes the same way – by
first making sure nothing is selected before changing the attribute’s value.
Setting current attributes automatically

By default, Xara Web Designer Premium automatically updates the current attributes for
you, to match the object you last drew, or last selected. So for example if you draw a
rectangle and then make it green, the next shape you draw will also be green. If you
have a blue rectangle in your design and you wish to draw another one just like it, first
select the blue rectangle (this makes its attributes current) and then the next shape you
draw will also be blue. So by simply clicking an object, you set the current attributes to
match that object.

This allows you to use existing objects as a ‘palette’ of available styles. Click an object to
select it, then draw new objects in that style.

You can turn off this behavior in the GENERAL TAB (on page 496) of the "UTILITIES" >
"OPTIONS" dialog. Select the GIVE NEW OBJECTS MOST RECENT ATTRIBUTES (GNOMRA)
checkbox. Now the current attributes will only change when you set them manually, as
described above.

Attribute groups
Many designs consist of a combination of closed filled shapes and open shapes (lines
where the start and end points are not coincident). Normally it wouldn’t be desirable to
have the attributes of an open shape used for a closed shape, nor vice-versa. Therefore
the attributes for open and closed shapes are kept separate – these are known as
attribute groups. Setting the values of one group does not affect the other group. So for
example, selecting a filled rectangle with no outline will not change the current line width
to zero for open shapes.

For the same reasons, text attributes make up a third attribute group. The text attribute
group is only set when you select text objects, or when you set the attributes manually
while in the text tool.
Exempt attributes

Some attributes do not get set as current automatically even when ‘Give new objects
most recent attributes’ (GNOMRA) is on. This is because some attributes can cause
problems if they become current.