Editing Your Work With The Edit Menu--Chapter 10

It is inevitable that during your drawing you'll occasionally make a mistake! Perhaps you'll move or resize something that you didn't intend to. Or again, you may add a rectangle when you meant to add an ellipse because you inadvertently clicked on the wrong tool. To deal with mistakes, you're going to need the Edit Menu.

Additionally, the Edit menu gives you access to the Windows clipboard functions: Cut, Copy and Paste.

You will learn

1. How to "undo" mistakes.
2. How to remove those unsightly, unwanted objects.
3. The value of the Windows clipboard.

The EDIT/Undo and EDIT/Redo commands

CorelDRAW offers a powerful undo/redo feature. Basically, undoing is exactly as it says...it reverses just about any transformation or multiple object menu command you can perform. In fact, CorelDRAW supports undoing an unlimited number of actions. Of course, this is a little unrealistic! (You control the number of actions in the TOOLS/ Options>Workspace>General dialog box.)

Exploring EDIT/Undo

1. Choose FILE/New to start a fresh document.
2. Draw an ellipse.
3. Perform 3 distinct transformations on an ellipse on your screen.
• Move the ellipse.
• Resize the ellipse.
• Rotate the ellipse.
4. Having done this, invoke the undo command four times and watch it as you do so.
• Choose EDIT/Undo.

Observe!

• The command reads Undo Rotate.
• Choose EDIT/Undo again.

Observe!

• Now it says Undo Stretch.
• Choose EDIT/Undo again.

Observe!

• Now it says Undo Move
• Choose EDIT/Undo again.

Observe!

• Finally it says Undo Create.
5. On your own, invoke EDIT/Redo and notice it puts everything back one step at a time. Invoke it 4 times to bring the ellipse back to the final state. This allows you to play a whole host of "what ifs?"

Undoing with the Standard Toolbar

The Toolbar offers a nifty alternative to using the menus. Note the little section of the toolbar, shown on the left, above. Click on the left arrow to get a list of the possible undos; click on the right to access a redo list. Then simply drag the mouse down to select the number of steps you wish to undo/redo. We prefer good ole' Ctrl Z and Ctrl Shift Z, to take undo/redo one step at a time, but we want you to know this option exists.

Cut/Copy/Paste/Delete

One of the most common mistakes is putting something on the page that you didn't intend to put there. There are two commands to remove selected objects from the editing area:

1. EDIT/Delete.
2. EDIT/Cut.

At first appearance these 2 commands seem to do the same thing. Behind the scenes, however, they are very different.

EDIT/Delete

EDIT/Delete literally removes selected objects and puts them into never never land, vamoose, gone, good-bye. The only way deleted objects can be brought back, should you desire, is to "Undo" them back into existence. However, should you miss that opportunity, those objects are now history, gone forever into the computer cosmic consciousness.

EDIT/Cut

EDIT/Cut removes the selected objects from the work page but places them on the Windows clipboard. Those objects will remain there, and are then retrievable in this or any Windows application. They remain on the clipboard until a new object is placed on the clipboard. Think of "Cut" as "Cut to the Clipboard."

While we're on the discussion of the clipboard, we can discuss the EDIT/Copy and EDIT/Paste.

EDIT/Copy

EDIT/Copy copies the selected object(s) to the clipboard while leaving the original(s) in place on your work page.

EDIT/Paste

EDIT/Paste places the contents of the clipboard onto the work page.

Using Cut/Copy/Paste/Delete

1. On the current document, add a circle and a rectangle.

Observe!

• The rectangle is selected as it was the last item placed on the page.
2. Choose EDIT/Cut.

Observe!

• The rectangle disappears.
3. Select the circle and choose EDIT/Delete.

Observe!

• Deleting also removes an object from the work page, but watch what happens in the next step.
4. Choose EDIT/Paste

Observe!

• The rectangle reappears on the work page.

Note You've just learned one method of duplicating an object...repeated pasting from the clipboard.

5. Choose EDIT/Paste again.

Observe!

• A second rectangle pastes from the clipboard. Prove this to yourself by moving the selected rectangle to see that there is a second rectangle immediately below.
6. Close your document without saving.

Toolbar Shortcuts

This document is Copyright © 1998 by Retlab Graphics Inc used with permission by Unleashed Productions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. No part of these documents shall be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from Retlab Graphics Inc. No patent liability is assumed with respect to the use of the information contained herein. Although every precaution has been taken in the preparation of this document, the publisher and authors assume no responsibility for errors or omissions. Neither is any liability assumed for damages resulting from the use of the information contained herein. For information, address Retlab Graphics Inc., 1972 W. Foster Ave., Chicago, IL 60640.

You may print one copy of this document for your personal use.

Copyright © 1995–2012 Unleashed Productions, Inc., All Rights Reserved.