Measurements Settings

In the Preferences dialog box, in the Measurements folder, you can define units, setup grids and guides, and set the unit of measure used in the rulers and drawing scale.

Define Units

You can further customize the rulers by adding units of measurements, modifying the definitions of existing ones, or deleting them. (See Setting Up Rulers.)

Units

To Add Units: Click the Add button. In the Add Unit dialog box, enter a Unit name, Plural name, and Abbreviation. Select a Length and unit of measurement on which to base the new unit. Select the Minor divisions for the unit; e.g., if you wanted to have a unit that was based on 1 inch, enter 1 for Length and select inches from the menu. Then, select the Minor divisions that you want to use.

You can add this unit to any future documents by selecting the Add to all new documents checkbox in the Add Unit dialog box.

To Modify Units: Select an existing unit and then click the Modify button. In the Modify Unit dialog box, you can change the Abbreviation and Minor divisions.

To Delete Units: Select a user-defined unit and click the Remove button.

You cannot delete default units; i.e., inches, centimeters, etc. You also cannot delete units that are currently being used as the document unit. Change the document unit first.

Grids and Guides

You can use grids and guides to aid in positioning objects in a document. You can also use SHIFT + arrow keys to position objects on your grid. You can also turn on the snap-to-grid and snap-to-guide features to make Canvas X Draw snap objects into alignment with the nearest grid or guide.

Use these settings to create an alignment grid. (See jUsing the Alignment Grid.)

Grid

Line distance X: This is the distance from one vertical grid line to another.

Line distance Y: This is the distance from one horizontal grid line to another.

Snap factor X: This value sets the snap points along the horizontal lines of the grid and guide.

Snap factor Y: This value sets the snap points along the vertical lines of the grid and guide.

Snap to X/Snap to Y: Select one or both options to make objects snap to the snap points on both sets of grid and guide lines.

Guides

Snap distance in points.

You can also change these settings using the Grids and Guides manager, available from the Layout menu.

To Open the Grids and Guides Manager:

Choose Layout | Grids and Guides| Grids and Guides Settings...

To Show or Hide Grids:

Do one of the following:

To Show or Hide Guides:

Do one of the following:

To Turn on Snap-to-Grid:

Do one of the following:

To Turn on Snap-to-Guide:

Do one of the following:

Ruler

The Ruler manager lets you choose measurement settings, such as document units, document scale, and numerical format. If you’re accustomed to creating large illustrations, such as billboards or 2-D architectural drawings, Canvas X Draw gives you the freedom to create a document in its actual size and draw in real-world units.

Document unit

Select a unit of measurement from the drop-down list. This unit is displayed in the rulers, and in Properties bar.

Document scale

Select a pre-defined scale or set a custom scale.

Pre-defined scales: Select a common scale from the drop-down list.

Page distance/World distance: Create a custom scale by entering the ratio and units of measurement for the page distance versus the world distance. For example, you could create a scale that was 1 inch on the page to 1 foot in the world.

Format

Select the formats for the numbers, angles, and coordinates. For the number format, you can choose from no decimals to two decimals, or even use fractions. (See Floating Point Technology.)

Numbers: Select a number format.

Coordinates: Select a format for displaying coordinates.

Area format: Select a format for displaying area.

Angles: Select Euclidean or Clock-like.

See Also: