Applying Text Formats

Canvas X Draw provides three ways to format text: the Properties bar, Text menu, and Type palette. The Type palette is also used when you create and save paragraph and character styles. (See Working with Type Styles.)

You must apply or save the new settings before clicking the pointer anywhere outside the Type palette. If you don’t, the settings will be lost.

When you use menu commands or the Properties bar to apply formatting, the settings you choose affect the document immediately. However, with the Type palette, the settings take effect when you click Apply. You do not have to click Apply before switching to another tab within the Type palette; Canvas X Draw remembers all changes and applies them simultaneously with one click.

To Apply Character Formatting to Existing Text:

Select the characters you want to change. Choose the formatting you want to apply.

To Apply Paragraph Formatting to Existing Text:

Select text in the paragraph you want to change, or place the insertion point anywhere in the paragraph. Choose the formatting you want to apply.

To Establish Formatting for New Text Objects:

When you create a new text object, Canvas X Draw applies a preset format to text you type. You can define the preset format for new text objects. To establish or modify the preset, follow these steps:

  1. Be sure you have not selected any text or text objects, and no text objects are in Edit mode. To deselect all objects, press Esc twice.
  2. Use one of the methods to choose formatting options. If you use the Type palette, be sure to click the Apply button after making changes.

Canvas X Draw uses the specified settings to format new text objects that you create.

To Change Formatting Before Typing New Text:

Set the format for text you are about to type without changing the preset format for new text objects.

  1. Place the text object in Edit mode. (See To Select Text within a Text Object:.) The pointer should appear as an I-beam and an insertion point (a flashing vertical line) should appear in the text.
  2. Place the insertion point by clicking the I-beam where you want the new formatting to begin.
  3. Use one of the methods to choose formatting options. If you use the Type palette, be sure to click the Apply button after making changes.
  4. Begin typing. The text appears with the chosen formatting. If you begin typing in the middle of a paragraph, only the new text has the new settings.

Formatting Text with the Properties Bar

When using various tools to create or select text objects, the text formatting options appear in the Properties bar. Format your text using the Properties bar options in addition to the Type palette (Text | Type) and Text menu commands.

Text Formatting Options

Font

Select one from the menu. The font applies to selected text objects, highlighted text, or the next text you type.

Size

Select a size or enter one and press Enter. The size applies to selected text objects, highlighted text, or the next text you type. To increase the font size, you can also click the +A. To decrease the font size, you can click -A.

Horizontal alignment

Select left, center, right, or justify.

Text attributes

Use the pop-up palettes to apply a text fill ink, text pen ink, background ink, and text frame ink. For the text stroke and frame stroke, you can also assign a pen width.

Leading

Select an option or enter a value and press Enter.

Scaling

Specify percentages (horizontal & vertical) by which you want to scale the current type size.

Space

Insert spacing before or after a paragraph by entering values in the fields.

Vertical alignment

Select top, bottom, center, or justify.

Text styles

Click buttons to assign standard text styles.

Tab

Select left, right, center, decimal, or comma from the menu and then click in the ruler to set the tab. (See Positioning Tabs.)

Kerning

Select an option from the menu or enter a value and press Enter.

Specifying Fonts

Select a font using any of the methods.

In Windows, the Font menu may also be set to display in single or multi-column mode.

To Select a Font from the Text Menu:

  1. Choose Text | Font. A checkmark appears next to the current font.
  2. Choose a font from one of the sub-menus.

The Fonts Palette

Use this palette to quickly view and apply fonts, font styles, as well as type size.

To Open the Palette:

Choose Window | Palettes | View Fonts. Use the scroll bar to view the available fonts.

To Apply Font Styles Using the Type Palette:

  1. Do one of the following:
    • Choose Text | Type...
    • Choose Window | Palettes | Type...
  2. Click the Character tab to bring it to the front.
  3. Click the Style buttons to change appearance styles.

    4. Clicking the Plain button turns off all active appearance styles. Clicking an active appearance style button turns the style off.

  4. Choose Upper, Lower, Normal, Title, or Small Caps in the Case menu.
  5. Choose Normal, Superscript, or Subscript in the Baseline menu. If you are applying superscript or subscript, specify the distance from the baseline (in points) in the text box. Normal baseline always has an elevation of zero points.
  6. Click Apply to implement the font style settings.

Tips for Font Installation and Use

On Windows systems, Canvas X Draw uses fonts installed in the Fonts folder. You can access the Fonts folder via the Control Panel. Use the Install New Font command in the File menu to add fonts to your system. You can also drag and drop font files or font file shortcuts to the Fonts folder. To specify that you want to see only TrueType fonts in your programs, you can use the Options command in the Views menu.

Canvas X Draw can use fonts that are properly installed as described above. If fonts that you use in another application are not available in Canvas X Draw, that application probably stores its fonts in a different location and has its own font management capabilities.

Guidelines for Choosing Fonts

There are three types of fonts widely available: PostScript, TrueType, and OpenType. You can’t distinguish the three types in the Canvas X Draw menus; however, you should be aware of the different types of fonts you have, because each font is best suited for particular purposes.

When typing in Canvas X Draw, all entered letters are not stored as Unicode characters, although they are exported as such in some of the export formats; e.g., HTML or SVG. However, the current script/code-page of the font is used (obtained from the system). Thus, the user can type in his regional alphabet if the user has the right font that supports it; e.g., Arial-CE for a Central European languages or MSMincho for Japanese.

Specifying Type Size

Choose from standard type sizes using either the Properties bar, Text menu, Type palette, or Fonts palette. To reduce or increase a font size in 1-point increments, choose Text | Size. You can also increase/decrease text size in 1-point increments by using the keyboard commands Ctrl+Shift+< (Reduce) or Ctrl+Shift+> (Increase).

To Set Type Size Using Menu Commands:

  1. Choose Text | Size. A checkmark appears next to the current type size.
  2. Choose one of the sizes in the submenu. The size setting applies immediately.

Applying Font Styles

Font styles are different character types, such as bold, italic, or superscript, as well as capitalization modes.

Styles can be chosen and applied with either the Properties bar, Text menu, or Type palette.

Font styles can be categorized into three groups: appearance, capitalization, and baseline position. You can apply multiple appearance styles to the same text; however, you are restricted to one each of capitalization and baseline styles.

Appearance Styles

Appearance styles include plain, bold, italic, underline, outline, shadow, small caps, and strikethrough. Except for the Plain option, use as many of these appearances as you like on the same text. Depending on the typeface, using certain styles might not have the desired effect, and can even make text appear ugly when printed; e.g., applying bold to a heavy weight typeface can make characters look too thick. Similarly, applying italic to an already italicized font might exaggerate the slant of the characters.

Applying the Plain setting removes other font styles that have been applied to revert text to its standard appearance.

Capitalization Styles

Capitalization styles format text as uppercase, lowercase, or title (first letter of each word capitalized) styles. Apply one of these capitalization styles to the same text: Normal, Upper, Lower, and Title.

Baseline Position

The baseline of text is the imaginary horizontal line on which characters sit. To position characters above (superscript) or below (subscript) the normal baseline, shift the baseline position.

Canvas X Draw does not change the type size of superscript and subscript text. Unless you reduce the type size of shifted text, the line size increases by the amount of the baseline shift. As a result, the line spacing might change, depending on the leading setting. If you don’t want the line spacing to change, reduce the type size of shifted text by the same amount (or more) of the baseline shift, or you can specify leading in points. (See Setting Line and Paragraph Spacing.)

If you use the Style submenu to change baseline position, you can choose either Superscript or Subscript to shift text the baseline by roughly 27 to 33 percent of point size of the line; e.g., superscript text in a line of 12-point text appears 4.0 points above the normal baseline.

If you use the Character tab of the Type palette to change the baseline position, you can specify the exact distance (in points) of the text above or below the normal baseline.

To Apply Font Styles Using Menu Commands:

  1. Choose Text | Style to open the Style submenu. Checkmarks appear next to the active styles.
  2. Choose the font style you want to apply. Choosing an active style turns off the style. Canvas X Draw implements the setting immediately.

See also: