Engravers Network-CorelDRAW Tips For The Laser

CorelDRAW Tips For The Laser

Configuring CorelDRAW For the ULS Laser
■ CorelDRAW 8 [PDF]	■ CorelDRAW 9 [PDF]	■ CorelDRAW 10 [PDF]	■ CorelDRAW 11 [PDF]
■ CorelDRAW 12 [PDF]	■ CorelDRAW X3 [PDF]

My Computer Crashes When In CorelDRAW
Solutions for keeping your computer resources to avoid downtime

CHANGING THE ORDER OF FILTERS WHEN EXPORTING/IMPORTING
Do you ever get tired of scrolling through the many file types when you are selecting a file format for import or exporting? You can change the order they appear in the dialog. In Tools/Options, under Global, choose Filters. Select Raster under available file types and select your choices from the list at the right, moving them up or down in the list as you choose. The Raster list primarily affects the import/export dialogs. Vector list primarily affects the Save as Type dialog. I keep CDR at the top of both lists, and put GIF and JPG right under that since I often need one format or the other, but you can put it into any order you want.

DESELECTING ALL OBJECTS
If you have one or any number of objects selected, you can deselect all of them at once by pressing the ESC Key.

SELECTING HIDDEN OBJECTS BEHIND ANOTHER OBJECTS
You can select an object that is hidden behind other objects so that you can edit it. To select a hidden object:
1. Using the Pick tool, select the topmost object behind which the object you want to edit is hidden
2. Press ALT, and click the topmost object again to select the object directly behind it
3. Repeat Step 2 until you have selected the object you want to edit. Watch the Status Bar to see when your object is selected.

SHORT CUT FOR SELECTING THE OUTLINE PEN DIALOG (LINE WIDTHS)
A quick way to bring up the Outline Pen Dialog, is to double-click on the or Outline Pen swatch, located at the bottom right of the Status Bar (at the bottom of the CorelDRAW screen). If you have non-text objects selected, it's easier to go to the Outline Width option on the Properties bar to change the outline width. But, it you are working with Text, the Outline Width option IS not on the Property Bar. Use this tip to get to the Outline Pen Dialog to change the width.

SHORTCUT FOR SELECTING THE UNIFORM FILL DIALOG
You can save a couple of clicks to get to the Fill Dialog by double-clicking on the Uniform Fill swatch on the Status Bar (at the bottom of the CorelDRAW screen).

CREATING A SCRAP FILE OF FREQUENTLY USED OBJECTS
To quickly save a small portion of a file, to be used in another document, drag the item to the Windows desktop. This will create a "scrap". It can then be dragged into another document. This is a quick way to save an entire page from a multi page document. CorelDRAW uses automatic naming so you can drag other files to the same Windows location (i.e. Desktop) without copying over other files.

Adding a Page Frame
Double clicking on the Rectangle Tool automatically creates a rectangle to act as a page frame

ALTERNATING BETWEEN TOOLS
Hitting the Space Bar will alternate between the Tool you have selected and the PICK TOOL. To make this work with the TEXT TOOL, hold the CONTROL KEY down and hit Space Bar.

CYCLING THROUGH OBJECTS
With the PICK TOOL selected, hitting the TAB key will select the objects on your page according to the layer they are on. In other words every time you tap the TAB key the next object below the last selected object will be selected. Repeatedly tapping the TAB key, will cycle through the objects on the page starting on the top layer and moving to the bottom layer. Holding the SHIFT key and hitting the TAB key cycles in the opposite direction, selecting from the bottom to the top. To try this, draw three objects, a Rectangle, ellipse and then another rectangle on top of each other. Make sure you can still see a piece of each object. Now tap the TAB key and then SHIFT+TAB

And the best part is, using the SHIFT+TAB will give you the ULS laser order of engraving for vector objects. Be sure and turn Vector Sorting off in your print driver.

ADJUSTING NUDGE VALUES
With an object selected, you can move or nudge it in increments by tapping the ARROW keys. To adjust the distance that the object is moved when you tap the arrow keys, look for the 'NUDGE OFFSET' dialogue box on the PROPERTY BAR and type in a value. For a more permanent adjustment GOTO: TOOLS-OPTIONS-EDIT and make changes. Here you can adjust the SUPER NUDGE value. To activate SUPER NUDGE when you are using the arrow keys to move an object, hold the SHIFT KEY down as you tap the arrow keys.

CONSTRAINING WITH CONTROL
If you hold down the CONTROL key after Clicking and Dragging an object, it will be constrained to move only Horizontally or Vertically.

A QUICK WAY TO DUPLICATE
CLICK-N-DRAG an object and before releasing the left mouse button, TAP the right mouse button and a duplicate will be created. OR for multiples in ( Vers 9 up ), TAP the space bar where ever you want the duplicates as you drag the object.

SELECTING AN OBJECT WITHIN A GROUP
It is possible to select and manipulate an object within a GROUP. Hold the "CONTROL KEY" down and select the object within the GROUP. You will notice the selection handles of that object will be round instead of the usual square shape.

A QUICK WAY TO SELECT ALL OBJECTS
If you double click on the PICK TOOL on the tool bar, all objects will be selected, This works in both CorelDRAW® & Corel PHOTO-PAINT®

Creating a Quick Duplicate
Say you have an image selected and want to create a duplicate of it. Simply hit the (+) Plus key on your numeric Key Pad and a duplicate image will be placed directly on top of the original image

LINKING PARAGRAPH TEXT
It is possible to link Paragraph text together so that as you type, the type will flow from one paragraph to the next. This is very useful if you are typing long News letters, or you have text separated by graphics and or pages.

With your text tool selected, click-N-drag on your page to draw a paragraph text frame, do this 3 times. Now select the pick tool - click on the text frame at the upper most part of your page to select it. You will notice a small hollow square at the bottom of the frame - click on this square with the pick tool and a text pad image will appear as your mouse. Now click inside one of the other text frames on your page. They are now linked.

As you type in the first text frame and it becomes full, the type will begin to flow into the next text frame until it becomes full and so on. You can link any number of frames together.

SPELL CHECKER - CUSTOMIZED WORD LIST
I have added by mistake a misspelled word in the spell checker word list and do not know how to remove it. What you are looking for is in the spell checker. After you run it, choose not to close it and you will see a button marked 'Options' click on it and choose 'User Word Lists' scroll down to your entry and delete it.

The F8 Fix - Repairing a corrupted workspace
While the ‘F8’ fix has been touted for fix everything from memory problems to the common cold, it does have some merit. All the Corel gurus (Foster Coburn, etc.) will quickly tell you that one of biggest issues with CorelDRAW is video cards/drivers. Always keep them updated.

I had 3 major ‘crashes’ when I tried to hook my laptop up to a video projector with a 50 ft. cable. One of them I got a ‘missing .DLL file, and the Dockers would come up but quit working. The reason for all of these errors turned out to be a corrupted workspace. The ‘F8’ fix is used to replace a corrupted workspace with the factory default. Here’s the procedure:

Press the F8 key on your keyboard and launch CorelDRAW 12 simultaneously. A message dialog will appear showing "Are you sure you want to overwrite the current workspace with the factory default?" Select "Yes".

The workspace you last used will be replaced with the current factory default settings.

I spend much time getting my workspace just the way I want it. If it does get corrupted, then I want a back up, not a complete wipeout. After I have created my perfect workspace, I create a duplicate of it called ‘Laser Workspace-Backup’. If my ‘Laser Workspace’ gets corrupted, I will restart with the ‘F8’ fix. This replaces the values in this workspace to factory defaults. Then I will delete ‘Laser Workspace’, open ‘Laser Workspace-Backup and create a new ‘Laser Workspace’ using my backup settings. Be sure and change to ‘Laser Workspace’ as your default workspace.

Luckily, I’ve never had to reinstall CorelDRAW, except on a new computer. The fix has always been my solution. And, a reminder from Jeffrey, this fix also works on Corel PhotoPaint.