CorelDRAW

Cropping, splitting, and erasing objects

You can crop, split, and erase portions of objects.

Cropping objects

Cropping lets you quickly remove unwanted areas in objects and imported graphics, eliminating the need to ungroup objects, break linked groups apart, or convert objects to curves. You can crop vector objects and bitmaps.

Cropping objects

When cropping objects, you define a rectangular area (cropping area) that you want to keep. Object portions outside the cropping area are removed. You can specify the exact position and size of the cropping area, and you can rotate and resize it. You can also remove the cropping area.

You can crop only selected objects without affecting other objects in a drawing, or you can crop all objects on the drawing page. In either case, the affected text and shape objects are automatically converted to curves.

Splitting objects

You can split a bitmap or vector object in two and reshape it by redrawing its path. You can split a closed object along a straight or jagged line. CorelDRAW lets you choose between splitting an object into two objects, or leaving it as one object composed of two or more subpaths. You can specify whether you want to close paths automatically or keep them open.

The Knife tool creates two separate objects by cutting the ellipse in half (left). The two objects are separated and used to form the top of the screw (right).

Erasing portions of objects

CorelDRAW lets you erase unwanted portions of bitmaps and vector objects. Erasing automatically closes any affected paths and converts the object to curves. If you erase connecting lines, CorelDRAW creates subpaths rather than individual objects.

You can also delete virtual line segments, which are portions of objects that are between intersections. For example, you can delete a loop in a line that crosses over itself, or loops in line segments in which two or more objects overlap.

To crop objects

2.

In the toolbox, click the Crop tool .

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You can move, rotate, and size the cropping area interactively as you would any object. To move the cropping area, drag it to a new position. To size the cropping area, drag any of its handles . To rotate the cropping area, click inside, and drag a rotation handle .

To split an object

1.

In the toolbox, click the Knife tool .

You can also
Split an object along a freehand line	Point to where you want to start the cut, and drag to where you want it to end.
Split an object along a Bézier line	Hold down Shift, click where you want to start cutting an object, drag the control handle to where you want to position the next node, and click. Continue clicking to add more straight segments to the line. If you want to add a curved segment, point to where you want to place the node and drag to shape the curve. If you want to constrain the line by 15-degree increments, hold down Shift + Ctrl.
Split an object into two subpaths	Click the Leave as one object button on the property bar.
Split an object while keeping only one of its parts	Click the object’s outline where you want to start the cut, and point to where you want the cut to end. Press Tab once or twice until only the part of the object that you want to keep is selected, and then click.

To erase portions of an object

2.

In the toolbox, click the Eraser tool .

To delete a virtual line segment

1.

In the toolbox, click the Virtual segment delete tool .

Deleting virtual line segments

Cropping, splitting, and erasing objects