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Research

Drawing - ClarisWorks 4

Use a draw document to draw and combine objects, such as lines or circles, that you can select, move, modify, and delete. For example, you can use a draw document to create: illustrations, designs, and logos, brochures, newsletters, organization charts, slide presentations and diagrams and maps. You can also draw and edit objects in word processing, paint, spreadsheet, and database documents.

Draw objects

The tools for drawing objects are in the tool panel. The drawing tools are preset to draw solid black lines one-point wide. Objects have a white fill color.

To draw an object: Click a tool and drag the crosshair pointer in the drawing area. Release the mouse button when the object is the size you want. To use a tool repeatedly: Double-click the tool. You can draw shapes of that type until you click another tool.

Change the appearance of objects

Use the fill and pen palettes in the tool panel to add colors, patterns, or gradients to the objects you draw. You can also make objects transparent, change the width of lines and borders, and add arrowheads to lines.

You can tear off palettes to keep them open while you work and collapse them if they get in the way. You can also edit colors, patterns, and gradients to create new shades and variations.

Edit colors, patterns, and gradients

You can edit patterns and gradients and change the colors shown on the 256-color palette. Each palette has its own editor. The changes you make apply only to the document you are working in.

Autogrid

The autogrid is an alignment feature that controls the size and position of objects in the drawing area of your document. It automatically aligns an object to the graphics grid as you draw or move it.

The autogrid aligns and sizes objects according to the settings for the graphics ruler. The autogrid is preset to be on. For more freedom of movement, so that objects don't snap to the nearest grid point when you move them, turn the autogrid off.

Use styles for objects

You can change an object's appearance in one step by applying a style to it. You can apply existing styles or create new styles that control:

the object's fill color and pattern or its gradient
the object's pen color, pattern, width, and arrowhead options
the object's text wrap options

Add a background or border to pages

You can create a background, called a master page, that repeats on all the pages in a draw document. Use a master page to:

add a common background to slides in a presentation
show a watermark or logo
create a page border

The tool panel

The ClarisWorks tool panel provides you with tools that you can use to accomplish tasks such as drawing a line, applying color to an object, or creating a spreadsheet frame.

The tools you see depend on the type of document or frame you're working with. The paint tools are only available when you are working with a paint document. Drawing tools are available for both draw and paint documents.

You can hide the tool panel if you need more room for your document.