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Cropping and combining objects

Cropping means masking (hiding) parts of an object, for example to improve composition or create a special effect. The underlying object remains intact. Two types of cropping are possible—square cropping or irregular cropping.

square crop	irregular crop

Combining starts with more than one object, but creates a special composite object with one or more “holes” on the inside where the component objects’ fills overlapped one another—useful for creating mask or stencil effects.

To crop using the object’s original outline:

1. Select the object, then select the  Square Crop Tool on the Attributes toolbar’s Crop flyout.

2. For a vector object (shape, line, etc.), drag one of its edge or corner handles inward for unconstrained cropping; press the Shift key while dragging for constrained cropping (aspect ratio is maintained). For pictures (above), the crop operation is constrained by default.

3. To scale the object within the crop outline, press the Ctrl key, click your left mouse button, then move your mouse upwards or downwards.

To crop by modifying the object’s outline:

• Select the object and select the  Irregular Crop Tool on the Attributes toolbar’s Crop flyout. The Curve context toolbar appears, which lets you control the displayed nodes and connecting segments that define the object’s crop outline. See Editing lines.

• To move a node (control point) where you see the  cursor, drag the node.

• To move a line segment (between two nodes) where you see the  cursor, drag the segment.

To position a cropped object within its crop outline:

• With either crop tool selected, click the object and drag its center (when you see the hand cursor).

To feather the crop outline:

• With either crop tool selected, click the object.

• From the Crop context toolbar, set a Feather value using the up/down arrows, slider or by direct input. Feathering is applied outside the crop outline by the set point size.

To uncrop (restore full visibility):

• Click the  Remove Crop button on the Attributes toolbar’s Crop flyout.

Cropping one shape to another

The Crop to Shape command works with exactly two objects selected. Either or both of these may be a group object. The lower object (the one behind the other) gets clipped to the outline of the upper object, leaving a shape equivalent to the overlapping region.

To crop one shape to another:

1. Place the “clipping” object in front of the object to be cropped, using the Arrange menu and/or Arrange toolbar as needed.

2. With both objects selected (or grouped), choose Crop to Shape from the Tools menu.

You can restore an object cropped in this way to its original shape, but the upper “cropping” object is permanently deleted (use Undo to recover it if necessary).

Cropping to the wrap outline

Objects other than inline pictures have a wrap outline which determines how text flow changes if the object overlaps a text frame. Initially the wrap outline is set to match the crop outline, but for adjustment purposes the two are independent unless you specify that the crop outline should match the wrap outline. If you’re planning to wrap text around an object and also need to crop it somewhat, it will save effort to adjust the wrap outline first, then set the crop outline to match.

To crop a selected object to its wrap outline:

1. Click  Wrap Settings… on the Arrange toolbar, or choose Wrap Settings… from the Arrange menu.
   – or -
   Right-click the object and choose Wrap Settings….

2. Check the Crop object to wrap outline box.

For details, see Wrapping text to an object.

Combining lines and shapes

Combining curves is a way of creating a composite object from two or more lines or drawn shapes. As with cropping to a shape, the object in front clips the object(s) behind, in this case leaving one or more “holes” where the component objects overlapped. As with grouping, you can apply fo
rmatting (such as line or fill) to the combined object and continue to edit individual nodes and segments with the Pointer Tool. Unlike those other methods, a combined object permanently takes the line and fill properties of the front object. Combining is reversible, but the component objects keep the line and fill properties of the combined object.

Combining is a quick way to create a mask or stencil cutout:

QuickShapes	Convert to Curves	Combine Curves	Drop Shadow Added

To combine two or more selected lines or drawn shapes:

1. Draw your two lines or QuickShapes.

2. Place the “clipping” object in front of the object to be cut out.

3. Select each object and choose Tools>Convert To>Curves for both.

4. Select both objects.

5. Choose Combine Curves from the Arrange menu.

To restore the original shapes from a combined object:

• Select it and choose Split Curves from the Arrange menu.

Detaching lines from shapes

The Detach line feature lets you create a separate object from an original object’s line, leaving the “inner” object intact.

To detach a line (creating a new object):

1. Select the object.

2. Click Detach Line from the Arrange menu. A new object is created from the original object’s line; the original line color is retained.

3. Drag from the center of the object to move the new object away from the original object.

4. You can detach lines from multiple selections of objects or groups also.

Cropping and combining objects