Page 218 - Xara Designer Pro X17

218 Text Handling

Simple text

If you wish to type a small amount of simple text, position the pointer where you want to
enter text and click. A red cursor appears where you clicked and you can now start typing
on the keyboard.
If you make a mistake, use "Delete" and "Backspace" in the usual way.

Pressing "Enter" completes the line and starts a new line of text below it. The inter-line
spacing is controlled by the line spacing text box on the InfoBar.

Simple text is not suitable for large paragraphs of text because there is no automatic line
wrapping (because the width is unlimited). Use a Text Column or Text Area instead (see
below).

By default text has no outline color. "Shift + clicking" on a color on the Color Line will give
the selected text an outline color - the thickness of which can be controlled by the line
width control, as usual. You will probably want to set the Line join type (on page 172) to
be rounded to give it a more smooth appearance (control at the top of the LINE GALLERY).

Line width is described in Changing the line width (thickness) (on page 169). Applying
color is described in Color handling (on page 189).

You can continue to enter text even after rotation, color filling or placing it on a curve.

Text in a column

If you are entering larger amounts of text, over multiple lines, using a column is more
useful. Changing the width of the column will automatically re-flow the text.

To type a column of text:

1. Select the TEXTTOOL.
2. Move the mouse pointer where you want the column to start.
3. Drag right to create a horizontal line the width of the column. This green/red dashed
line just shows you the width of the column. It is never exported or printed.
4. Type in the text the green/red dash line is replaced with solid red line. You don't
need to press "Enter" at the end of a line. When the text reaches the edge of the
column, it automatically flows onto a new line.

NOTE: If you click away or change tools before you start typing, the green/red dashed
column line will be replaced with a green line to indicate that you have an inactive text