Application Suite: Draw

Draw

Draw is a powerful and sophisticated drawing package. You can use it to draw and edit diagrams and pictures made up from various kinds of graphical objects. These can include bitmap objects, such as Sprites and JPEGs, as well as vector objects. Before using Draw it is worth knowing the difference between vector and bitmap objects.

Bitmap Objects

These are objects that are made from pixels. Each pixel is a square of colour. Draw can display several types of bitmap file, but cannot edit the individual pixels, instead the editing of these objects should be done in Paint. If you zoom into a bitmap object you will start to lose quality as the squares of colour get bigger.

Vector Objects

A vector object is made up of lines and curves. It isn't a picture, it is a description of how the picture can be drawn. Because it's a description it can be zoomed in with no loss of quality. If you zoom in then everything is drawn larger.

Before you start

You will probably find that the easiest way of learning Draw is to read through Basic ideas (in chapter 1) and then work through the Draw tutorial, before reading the more detailed sections.

If you are already familiar with Draw you may wish to skip directly to the chapter New features for RISC OS 6 which describes the principle changes and additions implemented in Draw from RISC OS 4.02 onwards.

• Draw
  
  • Starting Draw
    
  • Basic ideas
    
  • The Draw window
    
  • Draw objects
    
  • Draw modes
    
  • Tools and short-cuts
    
• Draw tutorial
  
  • Selecting Draw objects
    
  • Draw the butterfly
    
  • Draw the first wing
    
  • Draw the second wing
    
  • Draw the butterfly's body and antennae
    
  • Start assembling the butterfly
    
  • Colour the butterfly's wings
    
  • Create the second pair of wings
    
  • Colour the body and assemble the butterfly
    
  • Add the eyes
    
  • Finish off and give your picture a caption
    
• Draw reference section
  
  • Using the Toolbox
    
  • Paths
    
  • Ellipses and rectangles
    
  • Text
    
  • Select mode
    
  • The Tool submenu
    
  • Using the Grid to place objects accurately
    
  • Advanced details
    
  • Zooming in and out of your drawing
    
  • Displaying an alternative part of the same file
    
  • Working with multiple Draw files
    
• Editing objects
  
  • Path edit mode
    
  • Editing curves
    
  • Editing text lines
    
  • The Path edit submenu
    
  • Cancelling your last operation
    
• Changing the way an object looks - its style
  
  • Setting and editing the object style
    
  • Winding rule
    
  • Rotating and enlarging objects accurately
    
  • Editing existing objects using the Selection menu
    
• Interpolation and grading
  
  • The difference between interpolation and grading
    
• Loading and saving Draw files
  
  • Loading sprites
    
  • Saving files from Draw
    
• Printing Draw files
  
• Text area objects
  
  • Creating and editing text areas
    
  • An example
    
  • Text area commands
    
  • Rules for displaying text
    
  • Exporting text from a text area
    
  • Default text area header
    
  • DXF files
    
• Configuring Draw
  
  • Setting your choices
    
• Keystroke equivalents
  
  • Keystroke equivalents in Enter mode
    
  • Keystroke equivalents in Select mode
    
  • Keystroke equivalents for tool selection
    
  • Keystroke equivalents in Path edit mode
    
• Principal changes in Draw between RISC OS 4.02 and RISC OS 6
  
  • Video acceleration
    
  • User interface changes
    
  • Draw's menu structure
    

This documentation is copyright 3QD Developments Ltd 2013 and may not be reproduced or published in any form without the copyright holder's permission. RISC OS is subject to continuous development and improvement as such all information is provided by 3QD Developments Ltd in good faith and is believed to be correct at the time of publication E&OE. 3QD Developments Ltd cannot accept any liability for any loss or damage arising from the use of any information provided as part of the RISC OS Documentation.

HTML document version r23142 (3rd November 2015)