Aligning and spacing text

You can align both paragraph text and artistic text horizontally. Aligning paragraph text positions the text in relation to the paragraph text frame. You can horizontally align all paragraphs, or only selected paragraphs, in a paragraph text frame. You can vertically align all paragraphs in a paragraph text frame. You can also align text to another object.

CorelDRAW text drdes96 Aligning and spacing text

You can align a text object to other objects by using the first line baseline, the last line baseline, or the edge of the text bounding box.

Artistic text can be aligned horizontally, but not vertically. When you align artistic text, the entire text object is aligned in relation to the bounding box. If characters have not been shifted horizontally, applying no alignment produces the same result as applying left alignment.

CorelDRAW text art text align Aligning and spacing text

Artistic text is aligned within the bounding box, which is indicated by eight selection handles (black squares). The text at the top is left-aligned; the text at the bottom is right-aligned.

You can change character spacing and word spacing in selected paragraphs, or in an entire paragraph text frame or artistic text object. Changing the space between pairs of characters is also known as “kerning,” and changing the spacing between characters in a group of characters or an entire block of text is also known as “tracking.” You can change the spacing between lines of text, which is also known as “leading.” Changing the leading for artistic text applies the spacing to lines of text separated by a carriage return. For paragraph text, leading applies only to lines of text within the same paragraph. You can also change the spacing before and after paragraphs in paragraph text, and you can kern selected characters. Kerning balances the optical space between letters.


To align text horizontally

CorelDRAW btnbacktotop Aligning and spacing text
1.
 
Select the text object by using the Pick tool CorelDRAW pgx pick tool Aligning and spacing text .
2.
 
In the Alignment area of the Paragraph formatting docker, choose an alignment option from the Horizontal list box.
If the Paragraph formatting docker isn’t open, click Text CorelDRAW onestep Aligning and spacing text Paragraph formatting.

CorelDRAW tip Aligning and spacing text

 
You can also align text horizontally by clicking the Horizontal alignment button CorelDRAW pgx horiz align button Aligning and spacing text on the property bar and choosing an alignment style from the list box. The property bar displays the alignment icon that corresponds to the current alignment style.
 
To align selected paragraphs in a paragraph text frame, use the Text tool CorelDRAW loc pgx text tool Aligning and spacing text to select the paragraphs.

To align paragraph text vertically in a text frame

CorelDRAW btnbacktotop Aligning and spacing text
1.
 
Select the paragraph text.
2.
 
In the Alignment area of the Paragraph formatting docker, choose an alignment option from the Vertical list box.
If the Paragraph formatting docker isn’t open, click Text CorelDRAW onestep Aligning and spacing text Paragraph formatting.

To align text with an object

CorelDRAW btnbacktotop Aligning and spacing text
1.
 
Hold down Shift, select the text, and then select the object.
2.
 
Click Arrange CorelDRAW onestep Aligning and spacing text Align and distribute CorelDRAW onestep Aligning and spacing text Align and distribute.
3.
 
Choose one of the following from the For text source objects use list box:
First line baseline aligns the text with the baseline of the first line of text
Last line baseline aligns the text with the baseline of the last line of text
Bounding box aligns the text with its bounding box
4.
 
Enable one of the following horizontal alignment check boxes:
Left
Right
Center
5.
 
Enable one of the following vertical alignment check boxes:
Top
Bottom
Center
6.
 
Click Apply.

CorelDRAW note Aligning and spacing text

 
The object used to align the left, right, top, or bottom edges is determined by the order of creation or order of selection. If you marquee select the objects before you align them, the last object created will be used. If you select the objects one at a time the last object selected will be the reference point for aligning the others. If you’ve applied a linear transformation, such as rotation, to the text and are aligning with a baseline, the objects align with the baseline point of the starting edge of the text object.

CorelDRAW tip Aligning and spacing text

 
You can also align objects by selecting them and clicking the Align and distribute button CorelDRAW pgx align distribute button Aligning and spacing text on the property bar.

To change the text spacing

CorelDRAW btnbacktotop Aligning and spacing text
1.
 
Select the text.
If the Paragraph formatting docker is not open, click Text CorelDRAW onestep Aligning and spacing text Paragraph formatting.
2.
 
Click the Spacing roll-down arrow in the Paragraph formatting docker, type values in any of the boxes.

CorelDRAW note Aligning and spacing text

 
Character and word spacing can be applied only to entire paragraphs, or to an entire paragraph text frame or artistic text object. For information about adjusting character and word spacing for selected characters, see “To kern text.”
 
Values represent a percentage of the space character. The Character values range from -100 to 2000 percent. All other values range from 0 to 2000 percent.

CorelDRAW tip Aligning and spacing text

 
You can also use the Shape tool CorelDRAW pgx shape tool Aligning and spacing text to change the spacing between words and characters proportionately. Select the text object, and drag the Interactive horizontal spacing arrow in the lower-right corner of the text object. Drag the Interactive vertical spacing arrow in the lower-left corner of the text object to change the line spacing proportionately.

To kern text

CorelDRAW btnbacktotop Aligning and spacing text
1.
 
Select the characters by using the Text tool CorelDRAW loc pgx text tool Aligning and spacing text .
If the Character formatting docker isn’t open, click Text CorelDRAW onestep Aligning and spacing text Character formatting.
2.
 
In the Character formatting docker, type a value in the Range kerning box.

Aligning and spacing text