Using the Object Specs Palette

The Object Specs palette provides several important features for working with objects. It displays data for selected objects and lets you modify settings for selected objects.

The Object Specs palette contains the following tabs:

Data: Create objects, and edit the size, position, and other data for a selected object.
Trap: Set printing options, including overprinting and trapping for color separations.

To Display the Object Specs Palette:

Choose Object | Object Specs. Change coordinates, dimensions, or other settings, and then click Apply to implement them.

To Edit an Object:

Click on the Data tab to view and edit data for selected objects. The Data tab displays information for a selected object or group object. If you select a group object, you can change the group’s size and coordinates, but not an individual object within the group.

When more than one object is selected, the boxes on the Data tab are not available. You can’t edit the position or dimensions of multiple selected objects.

On the Data tab, choose an object type from the Object Type drop-down.
Enter values for the object’s size and position in the text boxes. The type of data you can enter depends on the object type.
Click Apply.

Data Tab Settings

This tab includes object size and position data and related options. Additional options are shown for text objects. The text options let you change the shape of a text object or change the way text wraps in its bounding box.

Object type	For a selected object, shows the object type, usually an icon of the tool that created the object. To modify an object, select oval, rectangle, arc, line, or polygon.
Data type	Select the type of data to display. (See Data Display Options) When an object is selected, change the values in the text boxes to resize or reposition the selected object. If Keep Proportions is checked, Canvas X Draw maintains the proportion of the object if you change either the height or width.
Position data	The type of data that appears in the boxes, and their labels, depends on the selected data display option. (See Position Data)
Area	Shown when Canvas X Draw can calculate the area occupied by a selected object’s bounding box. When you select text, the horizontal insets text box replaces the Area text box.
Perimeter	Shown when Canvas X Draw can calculate the perimeter, or distance around, a selected object’s bounding box. When you select text, the vertical insets text box replaces the Perimeter text box.
Object #	The object number assigned by Canvas X Draw.
Name	Type a name for the object.
Keep Proportions	Select this option to keep an object’s height and width proportional when you are editing the object’s dimensions.
Apply	Click to apply the current settings. The Apply button changes to Create when no object is selected and you choose an object type to create.

Text Object Settings

Insets

Change the proportions of a text object’s background. Type values, in pixels, in the text boxes to specify the horizontal and vertical size of the text object’s background.

Object shape

Change the shape of the text object’s background to a rectangle, round rectangle, oval, or diamond.

Caption

Select or deselect to change the way text wraps in its bounding box. Text that is not captioned wraps to the next line based on the boundaries of the text’s bounding box.

You can’t use the Caption or Insets options with text that you created using the Path Text tool, or text that you converted to paths.

Data Display Options

Choose the data to display. Select Height/Width or Top/Bottom for all objects except lines. For lines, select Start/End, Delta V/H, or Length/Angle.

Height/Width: Type values in the text boxes to specify the vertical and horizontal dimensions of the object.
Top/Bottom: Type values in the text boxes to specify the position of the top, bottom, left, and right edges of the object, relative to the document rulers.
Start/End: Type values in the text boxes to specify the position of the first and last endpoints of a line.
Delta V/H: Type values in the text boxes to specify the position of the first endpoint, and the distance from the first endpoint to the last endpoint of the line.
Length/Angle: Type values in the text boxes to specify the position of the first endpoint, and the length and angle of the line.

Position Data

The type of data that is displayed depends on whether you choose Height/Width or Top/Bottom, Start/End, Delta V/H, or Length/Angle.

Left: Type the horizontal distance from the ruler’s zero point to the left edge of the object.
Top: Type the vertical distance from the ruler’s zero point to the top edge of the object.
Height: Type the height of the object, relative to the top edge of the object.
Width: Type the width of the object, relative to the left edge of the object.
Bottom: Type the vertical distance from ruler’s zero point to the bottom edge of the object.
Right: Type the horizontal distance from the ruler’s zero point to the right edge of the object.
St V: Type a value to position the first endpoint of a line, relative to the vertical ruler’s zero point.
St H: Type a value to position the first endpoint of a line, relative to the horizontal ruler’s zero point.
End V: Type a value to position the last endpoint of a line, relative to the vertical ruler’s zero point.
End H: Type a value to position the last endpoint of a line, relative to the horizontal ruler’s zero point.
Delta V: Type a value to position the last endpoint of a line, relative (vertically) to the first endpoint of the line.
Delta H: Type a value to position the last endpoint of a line, relative (horizontally) to the first endpoint of the line.
Length: Type a value to specify the length of a line.
Angle: Type a value to specify the angle of a line.
X: Type a value to position a handle of a polygon, relative to the horizontal ruler’s zero point.
Y: Type a value to position a handle of a polygon, relative to the vertical ruler’s zero point.
Start: Type a value to specify the starting point of an arc in degrees.
Delta: Type a value to specify the length of an arc segment in degrees.
Diag: Type a value to specify the roundness of the corners of a rounded rectangle.