I have always found a limitation in the way Draw and Designer handles contours. There is no way of selecting the alignment for the contour. For example if you do an ad and want to have a frame around it and you set it to 4 points, the resulting frame will only be 2 points since it will always have its center over the page border and the outer portion of it will be cropped away in the PDF export. Any rounded corners will also look crappy for the same reason. If you specify a bleed to capture the whole outline, the ad will have the wrong dimensions.
I now had to work with InDesign for a job and although it is cumbersome in its object handling, ID has got a stroke palette where you can specify stroke (contour) alignment. This is long overdue in Draw and I expect it at the latest in the next version.
Here's how it looks in ID:
Ya Lars, I agree...
G D Delhi, India
Winners don't do different things. They do things differently
To clarify terminology, in Draw if you create an outline (stroke), yes it will automatically add half of the width to the dimension of the outline. The workaround is the contour the rectangle with no outline to the inside with the offset being the desired "outline". This provides an additional advantage in that your is actually a rectangle and can have all kinds of fills that an actual outline does not.
I'm sorry Sue, but I don't understand what you are saying. Can you please clarify?
I'm confused Lars.
I'm also with Sue, all the way on this one....we use contours here, all day long.
Unlike an outline (or stroke) what you see is what you get.
Hard to say, but in your example, it looks like you're trying to put a contour around an outline that you made by converting an outline to object.....so you're getting that half & half look.
As Sue suggeted, use a regular rectangle ( with no outline)and set your contour to either the inside or outside.
See if that doesn't work for you.
Lars,
Follow these steps:1. Select the rectangle you want to add a Contour to.2. Open the Contour Docker or Interactive Contour Tool and set the offset to 4 points/outside.3. Apply the Contour and then go to the Arrange menu and select Break Contour Group Apart.4. Now select the outside rectangle and remove the outline.
This will give you a box that is exactly 4 points larger than the original rectangle on all 4 sides.It will not get cropped by Acrobat as long as the page size and rectangle size are exactly the same and the ad is properly placed within the rectangle.
Hope this helps.
what Lars is saying is that DRAW doesn't have the options to stroke inside, center or outside an object's edge. i've never understood why either. the Corel option of placing stroke behind causes confusion since if i select a 4 point stroke width and then select to have the stroke behind the fill it's appearance is now 2 points but the file still indicates it's 4 points.
Hello Lars,
I think that what they are trying to say is that when you create an Outline tool in CorelDRAW it does work just like you say but if you try using the Contour tool instead of the outline tool you will get the results that you are looking for. The Contour tool works from the edge of the object instead of the middle. Just make sure that you set the tool to the outside and then you can specify the distance and number of steps. I think that you will be much happier. Give it a try.
Ron Bastian
ColorYourWorld: I'm also with Sue, all the way on this one....we use contours here, all day long. Unlike an outline (or stroke) what you see is what you get. Hard to say, but in your example, it looks like you're trying to put a contour around an outline that you made by converting an outline to object.....so you're getting that half & half look.
Yes, I probably uset the wrong term. I should have written outline instead of contour, but on the other hand that led you to answer how this can be solved - by using contours. But still, I really don't like that you have to use the Contour tool, I view it as a workaround, and a cumbersome one. I'm not really friends with that tool. for example you can go on forever selecting outline and fill colors and it won't do anything until you select a color from the ordinary palette (if you have the outline set to zero). This can be very frustrating. I don't know if it's as designed, but it feels like a bug and it is NOT intuitive. An outline is an outline and we should have the options to align it on the inside, outside or the middle.
I agree with you. When I want to use an outline I hate having to double the thickness for what I want it to do. That type of an adjustable setting would be great. Just make sure we can set what we want as a default setting.
Please Corel Take A NOTE for the next revision.
Sincerely, this feature it's not important for me, altough I know that most users want to have it (if Illustrator can do this, why CorelDRAW not?)
The greatest problem is with the dimensions of the object. CorelDRAW does not include the width of the outline. If you have a 100 mm square, and apply an outline of 2 mm, you must have an object of 102 mm (if outline is centered), 104 mm (if outline is outside) or 100 (if the outline is to center). But CorelDRAW allways shows the "fill size", no matter the width of the outline.
Ariel Garaza Díaz
arielgaraza.com
Still think I may be a little confused, Lars...................not exactly sure what you're trying to say here:
for example you can go on forever selecting outline and fill colors and it won't do anything until you select a color from the ordinary palette (if you have the outline set to zero).
I guess a lot depends on what you're used to and comfortable with.
Because we do art/color seps for screenprinters and a lot of vinyl work, I'm BFF with contours. Probably the single most valuable tool I use in Corel.
We use contours all day long. Hardly ever need to deal with outlines.
That being said, I totally understand your frustration with outlines and, like you, would welcome an improvement in that area.
In the meantime, why don't you give contours a whirl?
You might find out how versatile/valuable................and fun.............they can be.
<Ghiangelo> wrote in message news:45512@coreldraw.com... what Lars is saying is that DRAW doesn't have the options to stroke inside, center or outside an object's edge. i've never understood why either. the Corel option of placing stroke behind causes confusion since if i select a 4 point stroke width and then select to have the stroke behind the fill it's appearance is now 2 points but the file still indicates it's 4 points.
Jeff Harrison MacroMonster.com Daily Diversion Blog
Jeff Harrison:What you guys seem to want is contours. They are there already, for about 15 years
Created a square 4 x 4 cm. but with the outline its bit bigger when exported. At the point it is 4 x 4 cm. So there should be options for outline to be inside, center or outside otherwise we are doing with this contour tool every time, for every other shape we need.
hmm I see what you mean. But, this has never been a problem for me, I am happy with using contour tool. It goes inside, outside, and can be any color.
This macro that allows different contour modes.
Also, for uploads of diagrams, GIF is best (256 color, optimized palette, no dithering) and also 600 pixels maximum in any direction. Then it looks clear and small file.
invincible:So there should be options for outline to be inside, center or outside otherwise we are doing with this contour tool every time, for every other shape we need.