Adding Lines

You can create a several different types of lines with one or more line segments. You can also specify whether the line should include arrows, a shadow, or other properties. If you hold down the SHIFT key when drawing a line, you can use the line tool to draw straight lines and angles.

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How to Add a Line to an Image

  1. Open in the image in the Capture Editor.
  2. Select Object > Objects > Lines. Then choose the type of line you want to create.
  3. Click at the spot where you want the line to begin, and move your mouse in the direction where you want the line to be displayed. As you do this, a red line shows your progress.

  4. If you want the line to contain multiple line segments (e.g., you might want a line that goes left and then up), click at each location where you want a new segment to begin and drag the mouse in the appropriate direction. When you want to signal the end of the line, double-click your mouse. A line is displayed (by default with an arrow at the end).

    To draw perfectly straight line segments and perfect angles, hold SHIFT while dragging the mouse.

  5. (Optional) You can move the line or line segments, create line segments, and set arrows, color, and width.

    To Move the Entire Line

    Click and drag the line to the new location.

    Note If you have dragged the line outside the current boundaries of the image, padding is automatically added to compensate for the space needed. Double-click the image (not the line) to open the File Properties dialog. Then, on the Appearance tab, use the fields in the Background section as necessary. For field descriptions, see File Properties Dialog.

    To Move Line Segments

    If you want to adjust a particular line segment, click the point (small circle) at the end of the segment and drag it as necessary.

    To Create new Line Segments

    If you have a line segment and want it to become two line segments, do the following.

    1. Click the midpoint (smaller circle) in the middle of the segment.

    2. Drag it in any direction to break the segment into two. When you do this, new segment points and midpoints will be created automatically.

    To Set Arrows for the Line

    1. Double-click the line.
    2. Use the Arrows tab to make your selections.

    3. Click OK. For more information, see Setting the Arrows for a Line.

    To Set the Color and Width for the Line

    1. Double-click the line.
    2. Use the Appearance tab to make your selections.

    3. Click OK. For more information, see Setting the Color and Width for a Line.

  6. Click to save your work.

Polyline Creates a line with one or more straight line segments

Curved Creates a line with one or more rounded line segments

Wave Creates a line with one or more ribbon-like line segments

Dashed Creates a line with one or more dashed line segments

Zig Zag Creates a line with one or more short, sharp line segments

Examples

Example  

Following are examples of Capture's line tools.

Polyline

Curved

Wave

Dashed

Zig Zag

Example  

Here is a line with one segment and an arrow at the head.

Here are two lines with arrows at the head of each line.

Here is a polyline with three segments, an arrow at the head, an arrow at the tail, and a shadow.

Example  

This polyline was drawn freehand.

This polyline was drawn while holding SHIFT. Holding SHIFT while drawing the line lets you draw straight lines and perfect angles, making it easier to create precise shapes.

Note A very useful tool when working with objects is a palette, which lets you store objects for future use. For example, if you are including callouts with some images, chances are that you'll want to use the same look and feel for all of the callouts you create. Instead of creating new callouts from scratch each time or copying them from other images, you can create an initial model callout and then add it to a palette. Then, when you're ready to use a callout in another image, you can just drag your model callout from the palette to the image (and make minor changes, such as the text, from there). See Palettes.

Note In addition to the main image file, Capture creates an XML-based file with a .props extension. This file holds all of the property information (including object layer information). Therefore, the objects are not merged into the image, which means that you can easily change the object information later without having to start over from scratch. It also means that the XML files can be opened and modified with third-party tools. This is especially useful if you need to localize the callouts in your images (e.g., have them translated into other languages).

What’s Next?

If necessary, you can continue editing the image (e.g., adding objects, effects, a border, a callout; cropping the image; resizing the image). Otherwise, you can finalize the image by saving it. See Editing Images.