Selecting Objects

We all know how to use the Pointer tool: click it on an object and unless it's on a locked layer, it's selected. If you don't have the Pointer tool currently chosen, you can access it by holding down Command/Control to turn the cursor into the Pointer tool temporarily. There's also a Keyboard Shortcut (Command/Control+P) to select the Pointer tool when you are in any tool EXCEPT the Text tool.

The Subselect and Lasso tools were new in FreeHand 10, and being the arrogant soul I am, I ignored them. I figured I could select just about anything with the Pointer tool and the use of the Option/Alt key. When I started beta testing FreeHand MX, I wanted to try as much of the program I could in order to find as many problems that could be fixed before ship time. That meant that I had to use tools that I normally would ignore, including the Lasso and Subselect tools.

So much for smug arrogance. The Lasso tool has become an invaluable tool in my everyday bag of tools. I use it enough that I gave it a personal Keyboard Shortcut. The tool works similar to the tool of the same name in Photoshop, but instead of drawing an open path, the FreeHand Lasso draws a closed "rubber-band" path that has a straight path from the starting point to the position of the cursor. Simply drag the Lasso cursor around the group of points you want to select (or deselect), and when you have surrounded what you need, just let go of the mouse. All the points inside the path you've drawn will be selected. It's great for selecting a portion of a path without selecting anything else.

You can still activate the Subselect tool by holding down the Option/Alt key. With this tool you can click objects and paths within a group, or inside a compound path (such as when you've used Paste Inside). It's great too, if you've converted some text to paths and Split some of the characters that have "holes" in them - o, p, e, g, and so on. Many times the Split function will drop the hole behind the larger, outside portion of the letterform. If you have a solid fill for the letter, you can't see the counter (hole), but a click in the general area with the Subselect tool should create a selection.

Of course, the newest use of the Subselect tool lies in its use with what Macromedia calls Simple Objects - Ellipses, Rectangles, and Polygons. But you'll have to read about that use of the tool in a different article.

Artists Organize!

And, if you are organized, and you use layers while you're drawing. You can select all the objects on a layer by holding down the Option/Alt key and clicking the name of the layer in the Layers panel. That saves an awful lot of time and needless pecking around the drawing.

Last, but not least, you have the options of selecting all the objects on a page, or all the objects in the document. Choose Edit>Select>All on Page, or All in Document. I prefer to use the Keyboard Shortcuts, Command/Control+A, and Shift+Command/Control+A as it's much quicker than a trip to the menu.

Keeping Text In Line

FreeHand is set by default to create an auto-expanding text block if you just click the Text tool on the page and begin typing. If you simply click the Text tool on the page and start typing, you can type forever (or until you hit Return/Enter) without wrapping to a new line. To create a specific width to the text block, drag a box with the Text tool before you begin typing. The cursor will automatically go to the beginning of the text block, and will be on the left, right, or center, depending on how you have the text alignment set.


An auto-expanded text block.

If you have drawn a text block and you want the text to go wider, do this: Click the Text tool outside the text block to change the cursor to the Pointer tool, then drag any of the CORNER points to the desired width, or double-click the center point of the vertical sides of the text block.


A fixed-size text block.

This will create an auto-expanding text block, and the text will become one line deep. To make the block thinner, double-click the center point again and drag a corner point back to the desired width, or simply place the cursor where you want the line to break and hit Return/Enter. Caution: Dragging the center point of the text block will distort the text itself by making the text stretch to fit inside the block. I call this "rubber type." This should be avoided at all costs - unless distortion is your primary aim.


An example of "rubber type."


Every issue, we try to bring you some news about the new features, bugs, workarounds, and other information that can make your FreeHand life more comfortable.

Blend Tool. Okay, blends have been with us for several years, and you can still make a blend in the ÒoldÓ way (Modify>Combine>Blend), but now there's a tool in the Toolbar that can be used to do some pretty cool things the old way can't. First, you create two or more objects, then choose the Blend tool and click the object you want on the bottom of the blend, then drag the cursor to the next object in the blend, the next and so on. As you near an object, you will see the default 25-step blend appear in keyline until you release the mouse. Then the blend is activated. Whichever object is selected last becomes the top object in the blend. But the fun doesn't stop there. You'll notice that one point on each path gets an enlarged bullseye icon that connects to the same icon on the next object in the blend. You can move that point and change the course of the blend! There's also no restriction on strokes and fills - anything goes, although not all steps in the blend will contain bitmap or vector effects.

Extrude Tool. This won't cause you to put Adobe Dimensions away, but with just a little exposure to the new tool you'll find yourself using Dimensions a whole lot less. There are multiple light sources, and the extrusion can be rotated in any direction with complete editability of the extrusion. You can quickly extrude text, and the text remains editable! One caveat: spot colors will convert to CMYK if you print the document. This is due to the need for multiple colors to create shadows.

Simple Object Manipulation. Huh? According to Macromedia, simple objects are rectangles and ellipses, and now you have some really neat ways to manipulate them. Start with rectangles: use the Rectangle tool to draw a rectangle. Then either select the Subselect tool (hollow pointer) or the regular Pointer tool and hold down Option/Alt. Select the rectangle and you'll notice new point indicators at each corner. Dragging any of these points away from the corner results in automatic rounded corners. In the Object Inspector panel, you can change the defaults to manipulate single corners, or have concave corners and asymmetric corners. Move on to the Ellipse tool and draw a circle shape. Choosing the Subselect tool again adds an icon at the top of the ellipse. Move that point to the left or right to take a wedge out of the shape. The Object Inspector panel gives you further options.