GeoPublish Tutorial Part 18 – Drawing Tools Part 2

This time we are going to play around with the rest of the drawing tools that geoPublish (gP) comes equipped with. We have some special areas available in which to work as well. At the bottom of pages 2, 4 and 10 we have unused space that is just perfect to try out the Spline, Polygon and other tools.

Open TutorialPart1 and Goto Page 2. Change to Page Graphics mode and then open the Zoom box with its' top left corner at about 8" and 1 1/2". You should be able to see the footer at the bottom of the page as well as part of the end of article tagline in the top right of the window.

You may notice that there is a line that only runs half way across the page above the footer. This is the line that we placed in Master Pages Mode. The text region in the left column ends at the 8" mark so it doesn't cover up the line the way the full-length region does in the right column. Don't worry, the entire line will be visible on the printout.

Overlays

We will start with the rectangle shape that we are already familiar with. Select the rectangle tool [gP Page 3-6] and then open the Attributes. We want the Square Shape, narrowest frame width, Opaque Draw Mode and Solid Black Pattern. Click OK and draw a rectangle from about 9" and 2" to 10 1/8" and 4 1/4".

Select the Attributes again and press the down arrow beside Pattern once to get a solid white fill. After you click OK position the crosshairs just to the left and just above the box we just drew. A good offset to use is the width of the crosshairs up and the same to the left. Click to place the rectangle and then drag down to the lower corner and use the same crosshair distance for the offset there.

What we have just created is a box with a nice drop-shadow. This is a simple method to add a bit a flair to your pages and the offset can go whichever way you feel. Another, less precise, way to create the shadow is to draw the empty box and then just draw two thick lines along its' sides.

Select the text tool and open the Attributes. Select LW_Giannini, 14 points, black, left and across. Place the text box near the upper left corner of our rectangle. Type the word `Shadow' and press OK. Choose the Pointer Tool, click on the word `Shadow', and expand the text box to fill most of our rectangle. Open the Attributes again, change to Center justification, press the Edit button and enter this text:

"Shadow created by offsetting Opaque rectangle over solid-filled rectangle."

Press OK to set the text and then re-size the text box to allow a bit of room for the text to grow when printed. You may want to center the text vertically in the rectangle as well. Press the Pointer Tool to de-select the text box.

We could have done this entire thing in the reverse order and that, sometimes, is easier. If you write out your text first then you know how big to make the blank rectangle around it. Finish by drawing the solid rectangle over the top of the text and blank rectangle. The Background Tool [gP Page 3-5] is then used to move the solid rectangle behind the text and blank rectangle. Play around with the Foreground [gP Page 3-6] and Background Tools with our rectangles and Update [gP Page 3-5] the page.

Splines

The next tools we are going to use are the Closed Spline [gP Page 3-5] and the Spline [gP Page 3-6]. Scroll the page all the way over to the left edge to get some free space to work in.

The first thing we will do is select the Text Tool, open the Attributes and change to Left justification. The Toolbox is right where we want to work so hide it by clicking `toolbox' under the options menu or use the C= T shortcut. Place the text crosshairs near 8 1/2" and 7/8" and click to place the text. Enter the word `Closed', press the Return key 4 times and type `Spline'. Press OK. Press C= T to get the Toolbox back.

Select the Closed Spline Tool, open the Attributes and press the Up Arrow once to increase the line thickness, and then hide the Toolbox again. These tools work a bit different than the other tools we have used so far. With lines and boxes you click once to set the start point and once to set the end point. The Splines allow you to draw curved connected lines containing multiple points (up to 64).

We want to draw a figure 8 around our two words. I used 26 points to draw my figure 8 shape. When you want to stop drawing the spline you have to double- click your mouse and then the spline will be drawn on the screen and connected with the first point.

Scroll to the right about an inch and select the Text Tool. Place the word `Open' at 8 1/4" and 2 1/4" and the word `Spline' at 8 1/2" and 3 1/4". Make sure you expand each text box after you place it. Select the Spline Tool, open the Attributes, select Round Shape and then press the down arrow 6 times from Solid Black. When printed in color this Spline will be Turquoise. Click OK and draw a snake shaped Spline from the top left corner above the word `Open' down, under it and then up and over the word `Spline' and end by wrapping the tail down and under the word `Spline'. I used 12 points in my snake. Double-Click when you are done.

Connected Lines & Polygons

The last two tools are similar to the Splines except the lines are drawn straight rather than curved. Scroll all the way to the right edge of the page now. Select the Text Tool and write `Connected Line' at the 10" and 5" position. Then select the Connected Line Tool [gP Page 3-6] and open Attributes. Set Square shape, second line width and solid black pattern. I used 10 points to make a Mountain Range over my words.

Select the Text Tool and write the word `Polygon' at the 8 3/4" and 5 1/4" position. Set the word in Italics. Select the Polygon Tool [gP Page 3-5] and change the Line Width to the narrowest setting. Draw a shape to surround the word `Polygon'.

That is all I am going to do on this page. If you want to play around with these tools some more in the open spaces go ahead.

Some More Color

Stay in Zoom View and Goto Page 4. You will see the open space in the lower right corner of the page. Select the Text Tool, take off the Italics, set Center, and enter "This rectangle will be filled with Green when printed." Size the text box so you have 4 lines of text and then select the Rectangle Tool. Set the attributes to Square, second width, Transparent and click up 11 times from Black. Draw a box around the text. What you will notice this time is that the box is still outlined in Black but the pattern will fill the box with Green when printed to a Color PS Printer with PostPrint.

Circles / Ellipses

Remain in Zoom Mode and GoTo Page 10. Below our tagline we have about 1 inch of space. We are going to use the Circle/Ellipse Tool [gP Page 3-6] to fill this space and, once again, demonstrate the effects of the Opaque/Transparent Attributes.

Select the Text Tool, set Left and Bold, and click at 9 7/8" and 5 1/4". Type `Filled' press Return twice, type `Ellipse' and press OK. Select the Circle Tool, set Round, Narrow Width, click up 6 times from Black. Draw an Ellipse from 9 1/4" and 4 1/2" to 10 1/8" and 6 3/4". Select the Text Tool and write the word `Transparent' at 9 5/8" and 6 1/4".

Select the Circle Tool, set Blank Pattern and draw a circle around the word `Transparent'. Scroll to the left so the right edge is about the 7 1/2" mark on the ruler. Change the Circle Attributes to be Opaque and draw a circle from 9 1/4" and 4 1/4" to 10 1/8" and 5 1/4". Place the word `Opaque' inside this circle and our lesson this time is done.

These circles provide good examples of how to overlay various objects. Use your imagination and have fun creating your geoPublish documents.

Next time we will see how easy and quick it is to make a poster in geoPublish.

Until then, enGEOy your Commodore!

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