Documentation/AOO4 User Guides/Draw Guide/Combining Multiple Objects/Introduction Grouping and Combining Objects

Apache OpenOffice 4.1 Draw Guide

Combining Multiple Objects

[[{{{PrevPart}}}|< Previous Section ]]

[[{{{NextPart}}}|Next Section >]]

• Introduction: Grouping and Combining Objects
• Grouping Objects
  • Grouping by Common Selection
  • Maintaining Groups and Undoing Groups
  • Editing Individual Objects in a Group
  • Nesting Groups
• Combining Objects
  • Connecting Lines
• Merging, Subtracting, or Intersecting Shapes
  • Merge
  • Subtract
  • Intersect
  • Practical Example
• Aids for Positioning Objects
  • Moving an Object to the Front or to the Back
  • Aligning Objects
  • Distributing the Distance and Space Between Objects

< Previous Page

Next Page >

Introduction: Grouping and Combining Objects

With Draw, you can combine drawing objects together in two distinct ways: grouping and combining. These two methods allow you to treat multiple objects as a single unit or to merge objects to form a new shape.

Grouping is similar to placing objects in a container. You can move them as a group and apply global changes to them. A group can always be undone, and its constituent objects can always be manipulated separately.

A combination is a permanent fusion of objects, resulting in a new object. The original objects are no longer available as individual entities, and the operation is not reversible.

To select multiple objects, click on each object while holding down the  ⇧ Shift  key or click the Select icon (on the Drawing toolbar) and draw a rectangle around the objects.