Page 169 - Xara Web Designer Premium

Shape Handling 169

Symbol Replacement
Some timelines include symbols that you will want to replace. Select the symbol inside by
holding down Ctrl and clicking on the symbol. Then right-click and choose REPLACE
SYMBOL from the context menu.

Chart SmartShapes

With the chart SmartShapes - see "INSERT" > "CHARTS…" You can just edit the values and
labels on the charts using all the usual TEXT TOOL attributes, and the graphics update
accordingly.

Bar Chart, Column Chart, and Percentage Ring
As with all SmartShapes, double-click to go into the QUICKSHAPE TOOL and you will see
the SmartShape handles appear. Move the mouse pointer over each handle for a tip on
what each does. On the bar and column charts there are handles for adjusting the bar
width, chart width/height, the spaces between the bars, the roundness of the bar corners
and of course for adding/removing bars. Each bar also has a handle for changing its
position in the chart and a handle for changing its value by dragging. If you need more
resolution or accuracy, just zoom in and drag. Alternatively you can enter any precise
numeric value, even with decimal places, using the Text Tool.
Customizing Bar & Column Charts

You can change the colors of charts easily just by selecting the whole chart and clicking
a color on the COLOR LINE (on page 180). The REPLACE COLORS dialog appears to let you
choose which of the colors in the chart you would like to replace with your chosen color.
Similarly you can use the COLOR EDITOR (on page 184) to edit the colors - the list of
replaceable colors appears at the top of the color editor, so select the color you want to
edit from that list.
Sometimes you may need to do more than just replace or edit the existing colors in the
chart. You can select a specific bar or column by Ctrl+clicking on it in the SELECTOR
TOOL. That selects just that bar/column inside the chart. Then you can change its color
directly, or its outline, or even change the type of its fill using the FILL TOOL (on page
265). If you want to copy the style of one bar onto the other bars, first copy (Ctrl+C) the