Editor functions

On editor area you can observe and manage all objects placed on currently selected presentation's screen.
Selecting any object in Inspector structure tree leads to selecting of corresponding element on editor area.

Element frame
Selected element has a frame that allows you to manage this element - move it or change it's size.
Color of this frame depends on element's state:
black - editable element
red - element is a base element for aligning operations
gray - element can not change its location and size.

Outside objects
Outside objects - objects that are defined on previous presentation's screen and rest visible on currently selected screen.
List of outside objects is placed on right part of Inspector panel.
Properties of outside objects can be changed only on the definition screen.
Frames for outside objects have a title with a name of the screen, on that this element is defined. Color of frame for such elements can be changed in shell settings.

Navigating
Selecting
Resizing
Arranging
Aligning
Copy/Paste operations
Screen locking

Navigating
You can navigate between presentation's screens by corresponding buttons on the Tool bar or via menu Navigation, or just by clicking on any object inside Inspector structure tree.

You can jump to definition screen of any outside object by command "Go to definition screen" of menu Objects.

You can jump to resource that is linked to object (image, text, audio) by command "Go to resource" of menu Objects.

Selecting
You can select an object by clicking a mouse button on corresponding row of project's tree in Inspector panel or on any object that is displayed in Editor area.
When object is selected a frame is displayed around it.
You can deselect an object in Editor area by clicking a mouse button on it while pressing "Shift" key.
Multiple selection
You can select many objects on Editor area by clicking a mouse button on each of them when "Shift" key is pressed.
If in editor area many objects are selected, one of them has a red colored frame. This object is a base object for aligning operations. You can change a base object just by clicking on another currently selected object (if only it is allowed by z-order of this object, in other words if newly clicked object does not covered by current base object).
You can move multiple selected objects (if only they are not outside objects and have property "Moving allowed" = "yes") by moving one of selected objects.
You can change size of all currently selected objects at one time (if only they are not outside objects and have property "Resizing allowed" = "yes") by resizing one of selected objects.
Lasso tool
You can select multiple objects by using editor's lasso tool.
This tool can be activated by pressing a button on the Tool bar. After you perform drag and drop operation by mouse, all objects inside lasso area will be selected and lasso tool will be deactivated automatically.

Resizing
You can change size of objects by element's frame stretching on editor area or by changing corresponding property from Inspector properties panel.

Resizing by object's frame can be performed in two modes:
- free resizing
- resize with preserving object's proportions.
You can change the mode of resizing by clicking on corresponding button on the Tool bar or via menu Edit.

Arranging
Structural elements
Structural elements can be arranged by position in object's tree. You can change position of single element inside corresponding hierarchy level in the tree, in other words, you can "swap" positions of two screens, of two sections or of two presentations.
To arrange structural elements you can use commands "Move Up", "Move Down" of the menu Edit.

Basic elements
Basic elements can be arranged by z-level (depth). You can change z-order of a single selected element by changing corresponding property from Inspector properties panel or by next commands of the menu Edit:

Move backward - moves editable element one step down by z-level

Aligning
You can align a group of selected elements by location or size via aligning commands of menu Edit.
Base (etalon) element for aligning operations has a red color of frame inside editor area.

Copy/Paste operations
You can copy/cut a single object (with its children) into clipboard and paste it later in other place.

Note. When you cut object, references on this object (hide/stop objects, references on input) will not be deleted from presentation, so you should check objects set after you complete cut/paste operation.

Screen locking
You can lock screen to prevent its objects from editing.
Commands to lock/unlock screen accessible via menu Edit.

Return to Contents

(C) AtPresent Software Co. 2004-2005. All rights reserved.