Object Tools

The Object tools are used to create shapes and lines that exist as separate objects, which do not erase what is underneath. In fact, they each exist on their own invisible layers "above" the painted pictures (see the Layers section). Because they exist as separate objects, they can be moved around and positioned independently or in groups making it possible to layout a page for printing in an exact way. Object graphics can be deleted but not erased. Object graphics can easily have different choices applied them such as color, thickness, and size because they are not painted on the screen. They are actually the math formulas that describe the shape and colors for display on the screen. We say we drew a picture. However, in computer graphics we paint the picture and create draw objects. Drawn objects are sometimes called vector graphics. Objects are often used to aid in "laying out" a page for publishing. In publishing layouts, each object can be arranged on the page in the exact location desired.

Default settings for color, transparency, line thickness etc. can be set and saved for all of Canvastic's tools. See the Preferences section for instructions.

The Object Tools section of the Tools palette

Tool Descriptions

Pointer

Use the Pointer tool to select, move, and resize objects you've created on the draw layer. With the Pointer tool selected, click an object to select it. Small square magenta selection handles will appear at each corner to show that the shape is selected. You can have more than one object selected at a time. You may select one or more objects by clicking and dragging a selection rectangle that completely encloses all of the shapes you want to select. You may also Shift-click individual objects to add them to the selection one at a time.

To deselect an object, click (but do not drag) outside the selected object, Shift-click the already selected shape, or choose a different tool from the Tools palette.

Note: The Pointer tool will only select objects made by the other object tools. It will not select marks made with paint tools or pixels on the background layer.

You must select an object before it may be modified. Once selected, you may:

• Delete the selected objects by pressing the Delete or Backspace key.
• Move the selected objects by clicking, holding, and dragging to a new location in the canvas. Press and hold the Shift key while you drag to move the objects in a purely horizontal or vertical direction.
• Move the objects up, down, left or right 1 pixel by pressing the arrow keys on your keyboard. Press and hold the Shift key while you press the arrow keys to move them 10 pixels at a time.
• Resize a selected object by clicking and dragging one of its magenta selection handles.
• Double-click an object text box to reopen the text entry window and change the text in the box.
• Select colors in the Colors palette and options in the Choices palette to change the selected objects.

Selected objects can be affected by many of the items in the menus. See the Edit and Arrange Menu sections to learn more.

Text

Use the Text tool to add short editable text boxes to your document. Use the Word Processing tool to add longer text passages with mixed formatting. With the Text tool selected, click in the canvas to set the upper-left point of a new text box. Click and drag to define the bounds of a new text box rectangle. When you release the mouse button, a text entry window will appear.

See the Spell Check section for more information on that feature.

Type your text and press the OK button. Under Macintosh pressing the Enter key will also end the text entry.

If you clicked to set the location, the box will be the perfect size for the text you entered. If you clicked and dragged to set the location, the box will be the size you defined.

After creating the text box it will be selected so you can easily move it, change its location or edit the text again. To change the text box, make your changes in the Choices palette. Double click it with the Pointer tool to edit the text.

Adjust the width of the text box outline by moving the Line slider in the Choices palette. Use the remaining Choices palette options to set the font, size, and style. Set the color and transparency of the text, box outline, and box interior by selecting the appropriate text color, line color, and fill color respectively in the Colors palette.

Freehand

Use the Freehand tool to add free-form lines and shapes to your document. It is used as a pencil, paint brush, crayon, or marker would be used on paper. With the Freehand tool selected, click and drag in the canvas to draw. Release the mouse button to stop drawing.

Adjust the width of the line by moving the Line slider in the Choices palette. Set the line color and transparency by selecting the appropriate line color in the Colors palette.

This Freehand tool line is selected and is showing the magenta "handles".

Rectangle

Use the Rectangle tool to create perfect rectangles and squares. With the Rectangle tool selected, click and drag in the canvas to create a rectangle. Drag in a diagonal direction. Press and hold the Shift key while you drag to create a perfect square.

Adjust the width of the shape outline by moving the Line slider in the Choices palette. Set the color of the rectangle outline and fill (inside) by selecting the appropriate line, fill and transparency color choices respectively in the Colors palette.

Square

Use the Square tool to create perfect squares. With the Square tool selected, click and drag in the canvas to create a square. Drag in a diagonal direction.

Adjust the width of the shape outline by moving the Line slider in the Choices palette. Set the color of the square outline and fill (inside) by selecting the appropriate line, fill and transparency color choices respectively in the Colors palette.

Ellipse

Use the Ellipse tool to create perfect ovals and circles. With the Ellipse tool selected, click and drag in the canvas to create an ellipse. Drag in a diagonal direction. Press and hold the Shift key while you drag to create a circle rather than an ellipse.

Adjust the width of the shape outline by moving the Line slider in the Choices palette. Set the color of the ellipse outline and fill (inside) by selecting the appropriate line, fill and transparency color choices respectively in the Colors palette.

Circle

Use the Circle tool to create circles. With the Circle tool selected, click and drag in the canvas to create a circle. Drag in a diagonal direction.

Adjust the width of the shape outline by moving the Line slider in the Choices palette. Set the color of the circle outline and fill (inside) by selecting the appropriate line, fill and transparency color choices respectively in the Colors palette.

Line

Use the Line tool to create straight lines. With the Line tool selected, click and drag in the canvas to create a line. Press and hold the Shift key while you drag to force the line to a horizontal or vertical orientation.

Adjust the width of the line by moving the Line slider in the Choices palette. Set the color and transparency of the line by selecting the appropriate line color in the Colors palette.

Connect-The-Dots

Use the Connect-The-Dots tool to create a shape comprised of one or more connected straight lines. With the Connect-The-Dots tool selected, click in the canvas to set the starting point. Move your mouse to the position of the next end point and click to set it. Repeat as many times as necessary. When you are ready to complete the shape, double-click the final point. Press and hold the Shift key while you move the mouse to force the current line to a horizontal or vertical orientation.

Adjust the width of the lines by moving the Line slider in the Choices palette. Set the color and transparency of the lines by selecting the appropriate line color in the Colors palette.

Triangle

Use the Triangle tool to create triangles. With the Triangle tool selected, click and drag in the canvas to create a triangle. Drag in a diagonal direction. Press and hold the Shift key while you drag to orient the triangle in 90 degree increments.

Adjust the width of the shape outline by moving the Line slider in the Choices palette. Set the color of the triangle outline and fill (inside) by selecting the appropriate line, fill and transparency color choices respectively in the Colors palette.

Clip Art

Use the Clip Art tool to add pictures to your document. With the Clip Art tool selected, click in the canvas to place a new picture. You can adjust the transparency of the clip art using the Colors Palette fill transparency control slider.

Categories: When you select the Clip Art tool, the Choices palette window display will change to show the categories of clip art. These categories are created by folders within the Art folder. Clicking the disclosure triangle for a folder will show the thumbnail previews of the available clip art. Click a thumbnail preview to select it and set it as the default picture to be added via subsequent Clip Art tool clicks. The selected thumbnail will be displayed in the Preview palette.Use the up and down arrows on your keyboard to navigate through the whole clip art library. The Return or Enter key will expand or collapse a clip art category.

Canvastic comes with Arrows, Basic Clip Art, Basic Clip Art-mini (great for counting and sorting activities), Bubble Shapes (for comic book style dialog), Drawing Aids (pale gray hints of images to finish drawing), Math, and Speckles (allow you to give a hint of color without wasting expensive ink). You can extend Canvastic's clip art selection by adding your own graphics files to the Art folder in the Canvastic application folder. You can add jpeg, gif, png, tiff, pict, and bmp files to that folder.

Speckles Clip Art Example:

Note: Add new clip art to an existing folder or create a new folder.
Note: Pure white in clip art is seen by Canvastic as transparent.

Word Processing

Use the Word Processing tool to add editable text to your document that can be formatted with more control than the Text tool. Use the Text tool for short labels or titles that will be uniformly formatted. Use the Word Processing tool for sentences, paragraphs, and longer passages with mixed formatting. With the Word Processing tool selected, click in the canvas to set the upper-left point of a new word processing object. Click and drag to define the bounds of a new word processing object rectangle. When you release the mouse button, a word processing entry window will appear.

Type and format your text using the font, size, style and color controls. When you are finished, press the OK button. Under Macintosh OS X and 9 pressing the Enter key will also end the text entry. After creating the word processing object it will be selected so you can easily move it, resize it, change its location, or edit the text again.

Adjust the width of the word processing object outline by moving the Line slider in the Choices palette. Set the color and transparency of the line, fill and text with the choices in the Colors Palette. The font, size, and style controls on the Choices palette will not work. You must double click to enter the word processing entry window to edit and format the text.

Word Processing entry dialog with Spell Check enabled. See the Spell Check section for more information on this feature.

Audio

Use the Audio tool to record or choose sounds to be included in your document.

Audio can be inserted into Canvastic documents and played directly. Document sounds will also play in slide shows but first they must be added to the documents.

The functions are accessed by selecting the Audio Tool from the tool palette. It is an object tool and will create audio objects on the canvas.

Recording

To record sounds you first must have your computer configured to use an attached or built-in microphone. See your Macintosh or Windows help and documentation for directions for doing this.

Choose the Audio tool and you will be presented with the audio input dialog box. The microphone function is already selected by default.

To record click the red record button  once.

To stop recording click the stop button once.

To listen to the recording click the green play button  once.

To insert the recorded sound into your current document click the OK button once.

The sound will show up in your document as a selected rectangle object that is special. It has the green play symbol in the corner.

To play the sound, double-click the sound object. Double-click again to stop the playback.

iTunes

To insert a song from your iTunes library, choose the Audio tool and you will be presented with the audio input dialog box. The microphone function is selected by default.

Click the iTunes function. You will be presented with a menu of the songs in your iTunes library.

To insert a song, choose the song and click the OK button.

You can preview the song by double-clicking it.

The sound will show up in your document as a selected rectangle object that is special. It has the green play symbol in the corner.

To play the sound, double-click the sound object. Double-click again to stop the playback.

Inserted MP3 Sound Files

MP3 sound files can be inserted in two ways:

1. Using the Audio tool to insert sounds from Canvastic's slide show background sounds and effects.

To insert a sound from Canvastic's slide show background sounds, choose the Audio tool and you will be presented with the audio input dialog box. The microphone function is selected by default.

Click the Folder function. You will be presented with a list of the sounds in the Canvastic Audio folder.

To insert a sound, choose the sound and click the OK button.

You can preview the song by double-clicking it.

The sound will show up in your document as a selected rectangle object that is special. It has the green play symbol in the corner.

To play the sound, double-click the sound object. Double-click again to stop the playback.

2. Using the Insert command to insert sounds that came from some other source.

To insert a sound from some other source:

Choose Insert... from the File menu.

Navigate to the sound file (mp3, m4a, aac, wav)

Select the sound, click the Open button.

The sound will show up in your document as a selected rectangle object that is special. It has the green play symbol in the corner.

Pause a moment while the sound is copied into the Canvastic document.

To play the sound, double-click the sound object. Double-click again to stop the playback.

Windows 2000 computers cannot access songs from iTunes. The version needed on that platform is too old to function correctly with Canvastic.