Using the Layers panel in Macromedia

Using the Layers panel

The Layers panel displays all layers in your document and lets you add, copy, arrange, and remove layers. You can use the Layers panel to select, create, and delete layers; hide and lock layers to avoid accidentally moving or deleting objects; merge layers; choose display and printing options for layers; and display guides to precisely align and place objects.

To display the Layers panel:

Choose Window > Panels > Layers.

Aligning and distributing objects:

You can align or distribute objects or points relative to other objects, other points, or the current page. Aligning moves objects so that they lie on a straight line along one edge or their centers. Distributing spaces objects evenly by one edge or their centers, or by evenly spacing the distance between them. Points are aligned or distributed by their position, since they don't have an edge. You can lock an object so that it does not move during alignment. Other objects will align relative to the locked one. You can also use blends or power duplicating to evenly space identical objects across a page.

To align or distribute selected objects or points:

1.      Choose Window > Panels > Align to display the Align panel.

The three rectangles in the preview illustrate the current alignment settings; when you select a distribute option, a fourth rectangle appears.

2.      Do one of the following:

v  In the preview window, click to set alignment options. For example, click the left edge to align objects by their left edges.

v  Choose alignment or distribution options using the pop-up menus.

v  Select Align to Page to align or distribute objects relative to the current page dimensions.

3.      Click Align.

Using type overview:

Text that you place in a FreeHand document is contained in a text block. To control the appearance of text in your document, you can manipulate text and text blocks in a variety of ways. You can precisely control type specifications and apply stroke and fill colors to text and text blocks. You can format type in columns, rows, and tables. You can also place text inside objects or along paths, or place inline graphics in text blocks. To ensure that type on your pages displays and prints correctly, you should use either PostScript or TrueType fonts.

The Text toolbar

The Text toolbar contains buttons for many common type adjustments. To apply an attribute, you choose an option from the pop-up menus or click a button. You can use the Text toolbar to adjust the font, size, type style, leading, alignment, and baseline shift; attach a path to text or run text around a path, flow text within a path, or convert text to paths; open the Text Editor; check spelling; or find and replace text. The Text toolbar can be customized with additional toolbar buttons.