Drawing Tools
Opening the Palette
Type
Ctrl+D (
T on MacOSX) or choose .
For more information on each tool, click the words pointing into the palette.
Selecting a Tool
- Click a tool icon on the palette.
- With a graphic selected, type one of these characters:
o, r, d, g, a, p, t, b, c, s, l, f, m, e, ..
Persistence of Tools
- Click a tool button to use a tool once.
After the single use, the tool will automatically revert to the Selection tool.
- Double-click a tool button to keep using the tool.
Tools
Selection Tool
You can use the
Selection tool to select a graphics primitive as a whole. The selection is indicated by a frame with handles.
You can scale the selection by dragging a handle. To scale equally in both directions,
Shift+drag a handle.
You can move an object by dragging it.
You can remove or add an object to a selection with
Shift+click.
You can select multiple objects by dragging out a rectangular region.
When an object is completely underneath another one, dragging makes it visible. You can then drag it by dragging its highlight.
Draw Arrow Tool
Click the
Draw Arrow tool and drag the pointer (
) to draw an arrow. Hold down the
Shift
key to draw the arrow horizontally or vertically.
You can set arrow styles with the
Stroke section.
You can set arrowheads with the
Arrowheads section.
Draw Freehand Tool
Click the
Draw Freehand tool button and drag the pointer (
) to draw a curve.
Double-click the
Draw Freehand tool to draw multiple curves.
Draw Line Tool
Click the
Draw Line tool and drag the pointer (
) to draw a single line. Hold down the
Shift
key to draw a horizontal or vertical line.
You can set line styles with the
Stroke section.
Draw Line Segments Tool
Click the
Draw Line Segments tool and drag the pointer (
) to draw a multi-segment line. You get a new segment after each click. To stop, double-click the last point or single-click the first point.
You can set line styles with the
Stroke section.
Draw Point Tool
Click the
Draw Point tool and then click to draw a point.
You can set point styles with the
Points section.
Place Text Tool
You can place text in a graphic with the
Place Text tool.
You can set text styles with the
Text section.
Place TraditionalForm Text Tool
You can place
TraditionalForm text in a graphic with the
Place TraditionalForm Text tool.
You can set text styles with the
Text section.
Draw Rectangle Tool
Click the
Draw Rectangle tool and drag the pointer (
) to draw a rectangle. Hold down the
Shift
key to draw squares.
You can set face and edge styles with the
Fill and
Stroke sections, respectively.
Draw Polygon Tool
Click the
Draw Polygon tool and drag the pointer (
) to draw a polygon. You get a new segment after each click. To stop, double-click the last point or single-click the first point.
You can set face and edge styles with the
Fill and
Stroke sections, respectively.
Draw Disk Tool
Click the
Draw Disk tool and drag the pointer (
) to draw a disk or an ellipse.
Hold down the
Shift key to draw circles.
Draw Circle Tool
Click the
Draw Circle tool and drag the pointer (
) to draw an unfilled circle or ellipse.
Hold down the
Shift key to draw circles.
Sample Style Tool
Select a graphics object and click the
Sample Style tool.
Click on another graphics object to update the styles of the selection to match.
Ctrl (
Cmd on MacOSX)
+click on another graphics object to change the selection after choosing the tool (prior to sampling).
Get Coordinates Tool
Click the
Get Coordinates tool and move the mouse pointer (
) over a 2D graphic or a 2D plot. The approximate coordinate values of the mouse position are displayed.
Click to mark the coordinates. Click at other positions to add markers. You can delete markers with
Ctrl (
Cmd on MacOSX)
+click.
Use
Ctrl (
Cmd on MacOSX)
+C
to copy the marked coordinates to the clipboard. Use
Ctrl (
Cmd on MacOSX)
+V
to paste the copied coordinate values into an input cell.
Use
Alt
+drag to mark a rectangle and
Ctrl (
Cmd on MacOSX)
+C
to copy the coordinates of the opposite corners.
Use
Ctrl (
Cmd on MacOSX)
+V
to paste.
Drag to mark a coordinate path, then type
Ctrl (
Cmd on MacOSX)
+C
to copy the coordinates.
Paste the coordinates into an input cell.
Operations
New Graphic
- Click the New button on the palette.
Group
Select multiple graphics objects and do one of the following:
- Click the Group button on the palette.
- Right-click on one of the objects or the frame highlight and choose Group.
- Click the Ungroup button on the palette.
- Right-click on one of the objects or the frame highlight and choose Ungroup.
Arrange
You can use these operations to change the order of overlapping objects.
Select an object in overlapping graphics and do one of the following to move it to the back:
- Click the Move to Back button on the palette.
- Right-click on the object and choose Move to Back.
Use
Move to Front to move an object to the front of all others.
Use
Move Backward to move a graphics object to the back of the object immediately below it.
Use
Move Forward to move a graphics object to the front of the object immediately above it.
Align
You can use these operations to align multiple graphics objects.
Select multiple graphics objects and do one of the following to align them on the left:
- Click the Align Left Sides button on the palette.
Use
Align Centers Vertically to center align the objects in the vertical direction.
Use
Align Right Sides to align the objects on the right.
Use
Align Bottoms to align the bottoms of the objects.
Use
Align Centers Horizontally to center align the objects in the horizontal direction.
Use
Align Tops to align the tops of the objects.
Distribute
You can use these operations to control the space between selected graphics objects.
Select more than two graphics objects and do one of the following to equally space the left sides of each object:
Use
Distribute Centers Horizontally to space the centers equally in the horizontal direction.
Use
Distribute Right Sides to equally space the right sides of the objects.
Use
Distribute Space Horizontally to leave an equal amount of horizontal space between the objects.
Use
Distribute Tops to equally space the tops of the objects.
Use
Distribute Centers Vertically to space the centers equally in the vertical direction.
Use
Distribute Bottoms to equally space the bottoms of the objects.
Use
Distribute Space Vertically to leave an equal amount of vertical space between the objects.
Styles and Attributes
- Select a graphics object and then use the controls in the palette to change its styles or attributes.
- Use the controls to set desired styles or attributes (before or after selecting a tool) and then draw a graphics object.
- Select a graphics object and then draw another object to reuse the styles and attributes of the former selection.
Fill
Use the
Fill section to modify the face color and opacity of shapes such as
Rectangle,
Disk, and
Polygon.
Stroke
Use the
Stroke section to modify the color, opacity, thickness, dashing, and caps and joins styles of linear graphics objects such as
Line,
Circle, and
Arrow.
You can also use the
Stroke section to modify the edge styles of shapes such as
Rectangle,
Disk, and
Polygon.
Arrowheads
Use the
Arrowheads section to modify the appearance, position, and size of arrowheads.
Text
Use the
Text section to modify font styles and attributes inside graphics.
Points
Use the
Points section to change the color and size of points.
Rectangles
Use the
Rectangles section to create rectangles with rounded corners.
Color Selector
Click the color swatch under
Fill,
Stroke,
Text Foreground, or
Text Background to bring up a color selector palette.
Click the spectrum to select the currently shown color in the top-left corner.
You can also click one of the wells to select the displayed color.
Drag the color swatch for quick access to the color selector palette. Release the mouse to select the current color.
Drag a color onto one of the wells to store it.
Click the button next to the color swatch to access the system color selector palette.
Settings
Alignment Guides
Use the alignment guides to align a graphics object within a graphic.
You can also use the alignment guides to align with another graphics object.
Temporarily disable the alignment guides while dragging by pressing the
Alt key.
Reset
Reset the styles and attributes of the current selection as well as subsequently drawn graphics objects.
