Paint Shop Pro: Part 2 of our Free PSP Training Course

Manipulating Graphics

Selecting Vector Objects

Use the Object Selection tool to select vector objects you want to move, cut, copy, resize, rotate, or otherwise manipulate:

1. From the Tools toolbar, select the Object Selection tool.
2. On the canvas, click on the object you want to select.

A bounding box now appears around the object:

You can select multiple objects by holding down the Shift key and clicking on each object, or by clicking and dragging around all the objects. The bounding box expands to include all the objects you select:

Editing Object Properties

When you select an object with the Object Selection tool, the Tool Options palette changes to provide options for object distribution and positioning. If you need to edit the properties of the object itself, such as stroke and fill color, stroke width, and line style, click the Properties button on the Tool Options palette.

This opens the Vector Property dialog:

Make your changes and click OK.

Note that you can also access this dialog by double-clicking on the object name in the Layers palette.

Moving Vector Objects

To move an object:

1. Use the Object Selection tool to select the object you want to move.

1. Click and drag the object to the new position:

When you release the mouse button, the object is moved.

Tip:

To move an object one pixel at a time, hold down the Ctrl key while using the arrow keys to move the object in the direction you want. To move an object 10 pixels at a time, hold down the Ctrl and Shift keys while using the arrow keys.

Resizing Vector Objects

To resize vector objects:

1. Use the Object Selection tool to select the object you want to resize.

1. Click and drag one of the handles on the bounding box:

When you release the mouse button, the object is resized.

• To maintain the object’s proportions when resizing, right-click and drag one of the corner handles.
• Hold down the Ctrl key while dragging a corner handle to symmetrically change the perspective.

• Hold down the Shift key while dragging a corner handle to asymmetrically change the perspective.

You can quickly make multiple objects the same size using the existing dimensions of one of the objects:

1. Use the Object Selection tool to select the object that has the dimensions you want to use.
2. Hold down the Shift key and select the objects to be resized.
3. On the Tool Options palette, click one of the Make Same Size buttons: Make Same Height, Make Same Width, or Make Same Width and Height.