Text

Text is the basic object used for adding text characters to a project. Text objects are usually best used as titles and labels for pages and other objects. If you want to put in a large block of text, it may be easier to use a TextBox object instead of a text object. When new text is added to a project from the toolbar, the content of the text is "New Text". You must then use the Object Properties window to enter the text that you want. The Object Template Panel contains a variety of different fonts and styles for you to choose from.

To add a new Text object

1. In the object toolbar, click .
2. In the Text Properties window, adjust the settings and click OK.

Text Input Mode and Ranged Text Input Mode

Normally, you change the content of a text object by double-clicking it and using the Object Properties dialog box. But Text Input Mode allows you to enter text directly on the canvas. To enter Text Input Mode, go to the Edit menu and click Text Input Mode. When you are in Text Input Mode, you can just click a part of the canvas and the input caret will appear as a blinking line. Then you can enter some text on the keyboard and it will appear. When you are done entering the text, click another part of the canvas or select some other function. The text that you have entered will now be a text object. You can also click previously created text objects and edit them directly. Just click where you want to edit the text and begin typing.

Ranged text input mode allows you to enter some text only within a certain area on the canvas. To enter Ranged Text Input Mode, go to the Edit menu and click Ranged Text Input Mode. When you do so, the two green lines will appear above and on the left side of the canvas. They determine the area in which you may enter text. Click on the blue anchor points at the end of the lines to change the size and location of the input area. If you enter text that goes outside of this area, it will automatically be reformatted to stay within the area.

Line Space Settings

You can change the amount of space that is placed between a line of text and the line below it when you press the Enter key. To do this, go to the Page menu and click Set Text Line Spacing. In the dialog box that appears, you can choose between single space, double space, and a user-defined amount of space. To enter the amount of space yourself, click User Define and enter the number of pixels that you want to separate lines of text. The line space setting applies to the current page only. The default setting is single space.

Text Edit Keys

When you are editing text in Text Input Mode, the following keys have special functions.

1. Home: Moves the caret to the beginning of the text string.
2. End: Moves the caret to the end of the text string.
3. Left Arrow: Moves the caret one character unit to the left.
4. Right Arrow: Moves the caret one character unit to the right.
5. Up Arrow: Moves the caret to the text string added just previous the current text string.
6. Down Arrow: Moves the caret to the text string added just after the current text string.
7. Back Space: Deletes the character behind the caret. If the caret is at the beginning of the text string, the current string will attach itself to the end of the previously added text string (Combine Text Strings).
8. Delete: Deletes the character located after the caret. If the caret is at the end of the current text string, the later-added text string will attach itself to the end of the current text string (Combine Text Strings).
9. Enter: Brings the text string located after the caret one line below the current text string and creates a new separate text string (Separate Text Strings). If the caret is at the beginning of the text string, the entire text string will be lowered one line. If the caret is at the end of the text string, the caret will move down one line and will wait for new text input. Here, the newly added text string will become the next in order compared to the previous text string. (Clicking the mouse on an empty area on the page to input a new text string will add the new text string as the last in order)

Combining two text objects

In Text Input Mode, you can combine two text objects to create one string of text. Drag a text object and place it on top of another text object. The dragged text object will attach itself at the end of the other text object. For example, if you drag a text object that contains "DEFGH" and place it on top of a text object that contains "ABC", the two will be combined as a single text string, "ABCDEFGH." (If not in Text Input Mode, the text objects will not be combined and only the positions of the text objects will change.)

Text Settings

• Preview Window: Displays the currently set properties.
• IfHeight: You can specify the height of a font. When you change the height of a font, its width automatically adjusts to 1/2 of the size specified.
• IfWidth: You can specify the width of the font.
• Space: You can specify the character spacing (space between each character) in pixels. The default value is zero (0). You can specify a pixel value between 100 and 100.
• Character Mode/String Mode: There are two modes: character mode and string mode. In character mode (the default setting) editing and object In/Out effects are performed on the character-level. For example, if you have an In effect that causes the object to come in from the side of the screen, each character will come in separately. With string mode, editing and object In/Out effects are performed on the string-level. So if you used the same In effect, the whole string of text would come in at once.
• Bevel Type: Beveling makes the text appear rounded and raised.
  • makes the center of the text its normal color with black shadows on the edges.
    
  • makes the text transparent with black shadows on the edges.
    
  • makes the text transparent with its shadows of its normal color on the edges.
    
• Bevel Depth: Determines the thickness of the shadowing on the edge of the bevel (see above). The default value is 0 which means there is no bevel. Values between 1 and 15 can be entered.
• Align: You can align the text to the left, middle or center.
• Face: The face is the main body of the characters. Click (Color) to change the color of the face.

In the drop down list, you can choose the type of face.

1. is the default setting and creates a soft type of face.
2. creates a sharp type of face.
3. The other items in the drop-down list change the direction of the text's face.
   

• Link with Variable: This links the text to a variable. For more information, see Linking Text or a TextBox to a variable.
• Edge: The edge is the border that surrounds the face of the characters. Click to change the color of the edge.

In the drop down list, you can choose the type of edge you want.

1. is a soft edge
2. is a sharp edge and the default setting.

The Thickness determines the thickness of the edge. You can input a value between 0 and 7. If the value is 0, there is no ed

• Shadow: Shadow creates the appearance of a shadow behind the text. Click to change the color of the shadow.

In the drop down list, you can choose the type of shadow you want.

1. is the default setting.
2. is a blurred version of the default shadow.
3. is a 3D shadow.
4. is a blurred 3D shadow.

The X and Y values determine how far the shadow is offset from the text in terms of pixels. X determines the horizontal offset and Y determines the vertical offset. Values between 0 - 50 can be entered.

• Text: This is the actual text that will be shown. Simply enter it into the field.
• Font: This is the font of the text. Click the button to open the Font dialog box. For more information, see Using the font dialog box.