Drawing flow and dimension lines

You can draw flow lines in flowcharts and organizational charts to connect chart shapes. Objects stay connected by these lines even when you move one or both objects. For information about drawing flowchart shapes, see “Drawing predefined shapes.”

You can draw callout lines that label and draw attention to objects.

You can also draw dimension lines to indicate the distance between two points in a drawing or the size of objects. By default, dimension lines and the measurements shown on the lines change when you change an object’s size.

You can set how dimension lines are displayed. For example, you can specify dimension units, style, and precision as well as add a prefix or suffix to the dimension text. You can also set default values for all new dimension lines that you create.

CorelDRAW loc lines dimension example Drawing flow and dimension lines

Dimension lines can show the sizes of parts of an object.

To be able to use flow, callout, and dimension lines with precision, you need to snap them to specific nodes in objects. For more information about snapping and snapping modes, see “Snapping objects.”


To draw a flow line between two or more objects

CorelDRAW btnbacktotop Drawing flow and dimension lines
1.
 
In the toolbox, click the Connector tool CorelDRAW pgx interact con tool Drawing flow and dimension lines.
2.
 
On the property bar, click one of the following buttons:
Angled connector CorelDRAW pgx interact con tool Drawing flow and dimension lines — to create a flow line containing right angles. The flow line can be a sequence of vertical or horizontal segments, or both.
Straight connector CorelDRAW pgx connector straight Drawing flow and dimension lines — to create a straight flow line at any angle
3.
 
Drag from a node on one object to a node on another object.

You can also
Move a segment in a flow line containing right angles
Using the Shape tool CorelDRAW pgx shape tool Drawing flow and dimension lines, select a flow line, and drag the node that you want to move.

To draw a callout

CorelDRAW btnbacktotop Drawing flow and dimension lines
1.
 
In the toolbox, click the Dimension tool CorelDRAW pgx dimension tool Drawing flow and dimension lines .
2.
 
Click the Callout tool CorelDRAW pgx callout tool Drawing flow and dimension lines on the property bar.
3.
 
Click where you want the first callout segment to start.
4.
 
Click where you want the second segment to start.
5.
 
Click where you want the second segment to end.
A text cursor CorelDRAW loc pgx text cursor Drawing flow and dimension lines is displayed at the end of the callout line, indicating where to type a label for the object.
6.
 
Type the callout text.

To draw a dimension line

CorelDRAW btnbacktotop Drawing flow and dimension lines
1.
 
In the toolbox, click the Dimension tool CorelDRAW pgx dimension tool Drawing flow and dimension lines .
2.
 
On the property bar, click one of the following buttons:
Vertical dimension tool CorelDRAW pgx dimension vertical tool Drawing flow and dimension lines — to create a vertical dimension line that measures the vertical distance between any two nodes (along the y-axis)
Horizontal dimension tool CorelDRAW pgx dimension horiz tool Drawing flow and dimension lines — to create a horizontal dimension line that measures the horizontal distance between any two nodes (along the x-axis)
Slanted dimension tool CorelDRAW pgx dimension slanted tool Drawing flow and dimension lines — to create a slanted dimension line that measures the length of slanted line segments
Auto dimension tool CorelDRAW pgx dimension auto tool Drawing flow and dimension lines — to create a vertical or horizontal dimension line
3.
 
Click the start point and endpoints of the dimension line.
4.
 
Click where you want to place the dimension text.

You can also
Draw an angular dimension line
Click the Angular dimension tool button CorelDRAW pgx dimension angular tool Drawing flow and dimension lines on the property bar. Click where you want the two lines that measure the angle to intersect. Click where you want the first line to end, and click where you want the second line to end. Click where you want the angle’s label to appear.

To set how the dimension units are displayed

CorelDRAW btnbacktotop Drawing flow and dimension lines
1.
 
Select a dimension line.
2.
 
Make sure that the Show units for dimension button CorelDRAW pgx shwunits Drawing flow and dimension lines on the property bar is enabled.
3.
 
On the property bar, choose options from the following list boxes:
Dimension style — lets you choose fractional, decimal, or standard dimension units
Dimension precision — lets you choose a level of precision for the measurements
Dimension units — lets you choose the unit of measurement

You can also
Hide dimension units
Click the Show units for dimensions button.
Specify the position of the dimension units
Click the Text position drop down button CorelDRAW pgx txtdim dpdn Drawing flow and dimension lines on the property bar, and click a text position.
Change the point size and font of the dimension units
Select a dimension line. Click Text CorelDRAW onestep Drawing flow and dimension lines Format text. Choose a font style from the Font list box, and type a value in the Size box.
Specify a prefix or suffix to dimension text
Type a prefix or suffix in the Prefix or Suffix box on the property bar.

To set default properties for new dimension lines

CorelDRAW btnbacktotop Drawing flow and dimension lines
1.
 
In the toolbox, click the Dimension tool CorelDRAW pgx dimension tool Drawing flow and dimension lines .
2.
 
Double-click the Dimension tool.
The Dimension tool page of the Options dialog box appears.
3.
 
Specify the dimension style, precision, and units, prefix, and suffix.

Drawing flow and dimension lines