Creating Lines and Shapes

Apache OpenOffice 4.1 Impress Guide

Chapter 5: Managing Graphic Objects

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

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

• Introduction
• Creating Lines and Shapes
• Grouping Shapes Together
• Moving Graphic Objects
• Resizing Graphic Objects
• Applying Special Effects
  • Rotating Graphic Objects
  • Flip an Object
  • Mirror Copies
  • Distorting an Image
    • Distort an Object
    • Set in Circle (Perspective)
    • Set in Circle (Slant)
• Aligning Shapes
• Snapping Objects to Grid or Snap Guides
  • Using the Grid
  • Using Snap Guides
• Arranging Shapes
• Working with Connectors
  • Managing Glue Points
• Working with 3D Shapes
• Converting an Object to a Different Type
• Setting up Interaction with a Shape
• Animating Images
  • Creating an Animation
    • Frame-by-Frame Animation
    • Animated Image in One Step
  • Other functions of the Animator
• Using Fontwork
  • Using the Fontwork Toolbar
  • Modifying Fontwork Text as a Shape

< Previous Page

Next Page >

Creating Lines and Shapes

To create shapes and lines: Select the desired line or shape tool. Click and drag to create the object on the slide. When drawing a freehand polygon (that is, when you create a shape segment by segment from one of the tools on the Curves toolbar), keep the  ⇧ Shift  key pressed to restrict the angle between the segments to multiples of 45 degrees. To finish drawing a polygon, double-click on the last part of the segment. If a closed polygon is selected, Impress draws the line connecting the last point to the start point and fills the inside area with the default color.

Figure 69: Creating a shape

When drawing certain shapes, one or more yellow dots are displayed along with the green resizing handles. These dots perform a different function depending on the shape to which they are applied. With the basic shapes, the yellow dot (or dots) is used for the following purposes:

• Rounded rectangle and Rounded square shapes: Use the yellow dot to change the size of the curve, replacing the corners.
• Circle Pie: Use the two yellow dots to change the size of the filled sector.
• Isosceles triangle: Move the yellow dot on one vertex to modify the triangle type.
• Trapezoid, Parallelogram, or Octagon: Move the yellow dot to change the angle between the sides.
• Cross: Use the yellow dot to change the thickness of the four sides.
• Ring: Use the yellow dot to change the internal diameter.
• Block arc: Use the yellow dot to change both the internal diameter and the size of the filled area.
• Cylinder and Cube: Use the yellow dot to change the perspective.
• Folded corner: Use the yellow dot to change the size of the corner.
• Frame: Use the yellow dot to change the internal rectangle diagonal.