Rotating objects by dragging

This is an easy way of rotating objects as you can see the results as you drag.

image\PRCARROW.gif To rotate objects by dragging

1. Select the object or objects.

2. Ensure the selection handles are in rotate/skew mode (see Switching selection handle mode).

3. Either

image\BULLET.gif drag the corner selection handles to rotate the selection around the transformation center,

image\BULLET.gif or Shift-drag the corner selection handles to rotate the selection about its center.

Solid drag

You will see the entire object rotate in real time, to allow for easy placement of items in your document. If you wish to just seen an outline of an object as you resize it (which may be quicker, if the object is complex) press the tab key whilst dragging. You can press the tab key again to go back to solid drag.

You can see the solid drag status in the bottom right of the Xara LX window:

indicates that solid drag is currently turned on. indicates that solid drag is currently turned off.

You can also double click this icon to turn solid drag on or off accordingly.

Note: If Xara LX detects that your system is too slow to perform a solid drag, it will automatically switch over to outline drag if necessary—ensuring you can continue to work with ease and speed.

Tips

image\BULLET.gif CTRL-drag to constrain the angle of rotation. See Changing the constrain angle.

image\BULLET.gif To leave copies of the object as you rotate it, drag as normal, but click the right mouse button where you want each copy (or press ' +' on the numeric keypad).

image\BULLET.gif To rotate the object but not any fill applied to it, press and release NumPad '-' during the drag. This is useful if you want to rotate an object with a bitmap fill and not rotate the bitmap.

Movie—click below (not working in this version)

Using selection handles