<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE html
  PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD XHTML 1.0 Transitional//EN" "http://www.w3.org/TR/xhtml1/DTD/xhtml1-transitional.dtd">
<!--#config errmsg="" --><!-- saved from url=(0022)http://help.adobe.com/ -->
<html lang="en-us">
    <head>
        <meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=UTF-8" />
        <meta name="lang" content="en-us" />
        <meta name="area" content="livedocs" />
        <title>InDesign CS4 * Drawing with the line or shape tools</title>
        <meta name="product" content="$product" />
        <meta name="productv" content="" />
        <meta name="keywords" content="" />
        <script type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8"><!--[CDATA[
        var currentTreeNode = "WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6c1fa.html";
// ]]--></script>
<script src="terms.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="help.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script>  <script src="utilities.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="event.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="treeview.js" type="text/javascript" language="Javascript" charset="UTF-8">...</script> <script src="toc.js" language="Javascript" type="text/javascript" charset="UTF-8">..</script> 
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
var headId = document.getElementsByTagName("head")[0];         
if (use_ie_6_behavior) {
    var linkId = document.createElement("link");
    linkId.href = "content-ie6.css";
    linkId.rel = "stylesheet";
    linkId.type = "text/css";
    headId.appendChild(linkId);
}
// ]]-->
</script>
<!--#include virtual="/livedocs/ssi/globalheader.ssi" -->
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="tree.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="content-fonts.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="content-hyperlinks.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="content.css" />
        <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="localeSpecific.css" />
    </head>
    <body id="content_body" onload="window.focus();">
        <a name="top"></a><div id="mnemonic">
            <div class="InDesign"><table><tr><td class="banner">InDesign CS4</td><td class="pod"><img src="images/PDF.gif" width="16" height="16" hspace="15" valign="50%" />&#160;&#160;
                     <a title="PDF" href="http://help.adobe.com/en_US/InDesign/6.0/indesign_cs4_help.pdf">
                         PDF (adobe.com) 
                    </a></td></tr></table></div>
        </div>
        <div id="searchbar">
<!-- BEGIN SEARCH CONTENT -->
            <form class="search_form" id="search" name="search" action="search.html" target="_self">
                <img src="images/search.png" />
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
function clearSearch(){
    if (document.search.q.value == terms_AHV_SEARCH_BUTTON){document.search.q.value = ""}; 
}
document.write('<input class=\"search_input\" \
        name=\"q\" \
        id=\"q\" \
        type=\"text\" \
        maxlength=\"256\" \
        value=\"' + terms_AHV_SEARCH_BUTTON + '\" onclick=\"clearSearch()\"><\/input>'); 
// ]]-->


</script> 
            </form>
        </div>
<!-- BEGIN PAGE CONTENT WRAPPER -->
        <div id="page_content_wrapper">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE WRAPPER -->
<table id="page_content_table">
<tr>
<td id="col1">
<!-- BEGIN IONCOMMENTCOUNT -->
            <div id="ionComCount">
            </div>
<!-- END IONCOMMENTCOUNT -->
<!-- BEGIN GROUP TOC WRAPPER -->
            
<!-- END GROUP TOC WRAPPER -->
<!-- BEGIN NAV WRAPPER -->
            <div id="group_toc">
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
if ( typeof(terms_BOOK_SHORT) != 'undefined' ) {
  document.write("<p>" + terms_BOOK_SHORT + "<\/p>");
}
// ]]-->


</script> 
            </div>
            <div id="nav_content">
            </div>
<!-- END NAV WRAPPER -->
</td>
<td id="col2">
<!-- BEGIN CONTENT WRAPPER -->
<!-- BEGIN BREADCRUMBS -->
            
            <div id="breadcrumb">
                
<ul class="navigation"><li class="prev"><a accesskey="p" class="prev" href="WS5D46593F-4593-4f0c-A23F-81B9509450F2.html" title="About direction lines and direction points"><img src="images/blank.gif" alt="Previous" width="17" height="17" /></a></li><li class="next"><a accesskey="n" class="next" href="WS4CCAA516-C476-4cd9-B36A-DB88AD124DBA.html" title="Drawing with the Pencil tool"><img src="images/blank.gif" alt="Next" width="17" height="17" /></a></li></ul><div class="hierarchy"><a href="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6c24a.html"><b>Drawing</b></a> 
     </div>

            </div>
<!-- END BREADCRUMBS -->
            <div id="content_wrapper">
<!-- BEGIN PAGE TITLE -->
                <h1>
                    Drawing with the line or shape tools
                </h1>
<!-- END PAGE TITLE -->
                <br clear="both" /><div id="minitoc"><div class="t"><div class="b"><div class="l"><div class="r"><div class="bl"><div class="br"><div class="tl"><div class="tr"><div><h3>Contents [<a href="#" onclick="return toggleMiniToc('minitoc-links', this);" class="hideLink">Hide</a>]</h3><ul id="minitoc-links"><li><p><a href="#WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6c1ea"><h3 class="topictitle3">Draw basic lines and shapes</h3>
</a></p></li><li><p><a href="#WS4F865A7E-44F8-4994-88BB-B26BF95DE344a"><h3 class="topictitle3">Draw a placeholder shape</h3>
</a></p></li><li><p><a href="#WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6c1ca"><h3 class="topictitle3">Specify polygon settings</h3>
</a></p></li><li><p><a href="#WSE14D7C36-F2DD-4e35-A5A4-0856DB5A2A2Ba"><h3 class="topictitle3">Change the shape of a path automatically</h3>
</a></p></li></ul></div></div><br clear="both" /></div></div></div></div></div></div></div></div><br clear="both" /><div><ul class="navlinklist"></ul>
</div>
<div id="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6c1ea" class="nochunk"><a name="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6c1ea"></a><h2 class="topictitle2">Draw basic lines and shapes</h2><div><ol><li><span>In the toolbox, do one of the following:</span><ul><li><p>To
draw a line or shape, select the Line tool&#160;<img src="images/P_Line_Lg_N.png" />, the
Ellipse tool&#160;<img src="images/P_Ellipse_Lg_N.png" />, the Rectangle
tool&#160;<img src="images/P_RectTool_Lg_N.png" />, or
the Polygon tool&#160;<img src="images/P_Polygon_Lg_N.png" />. (Click
and hold the Rectangle tool to select either the Ellipse or Polygon
tool.)</p>
</li>
<li><p>To draw a placeholder (empty) graphics
frame, select the Ellipse Frame tool&#160;<img src="images/P_OvalFrameTool_Lg_N.png" />, the
Rectangle Frame tool&#160;<img src="images/P_RectFrameTool_Lg_N.png" />, or
the Polygon Frame tool &#160;<img src="images/P_PolygonFrameTool_Lg_N.png" />.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
<li><span>Drag in the document window to create the path or frame.
To draw from the center out, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac&#160;OS).</span></li>
</ol>
<div class="section"><div class="tip"><img src="images/tip_help.png" />To constrain a line to 45° angles, or
to constrain the width and height of a path or frame to the same
proportions, hold down Shift as you drag. </div><div class="fignone"><img alt="" id="as_06" src="images/as_06.png" /><div class="figdesc">Dragging to create a basic circle</div><br /></div><div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:  </span>The result shown above displays a bounding box
around the path. If the Selection tool&#160;<img src="images/P_Select_Lg_N.png" /> was
recently active, you’ll see this bounding box. If the Direct Selection
tool&#160;<img src="images/P_AnchorSelect_Lg_N.png" /> was
more recently active, the path appears with anchor points instead.</div>
</div>
</div></div>
<div id="WS4F865A7E-44F8-4994-88BB-B26BF95DE344a" class="nochunk"><a name="WS4F865A7E-44F8-4994-88BB-B26BF95DE344a"></a><h2 class="topictitle2">Draw a placeholder shape</h2><div><div class="section"><p>A
placeholder shape is an ellipse, rectangle, or polygon that appears
in the document window with an X, indicating that it should be replaced
by text or an image later.</p>
</div>
<ol><li><span>In the toolbox, select the Ellipse Frame tool&#160;<img src="images/P_OvalFrameTool_Lg_N.png" />, the
Rectangle Frame tool&#160;<img src="images/P_RectFrameTool_Lg_N.png" />, or
the Polygon Frame tool &#160;<img src="images/P_PolygonFrameTool_Lg_N.png" />.</span></li>
<li><span>Drag in the document window to create the path or frame.
Hold down Shift to constrain the width and height of the frame.</span></li>
</ol>
<div class="section"><div class="para"><div class="tip"><img src="images/tip_help.png" />You can change the crop amount, reference
point, and other fitting options for a placeholder frame by choosing
Object&#160;&gt; Fitting&#160;&gt; Frame Fitting Options.</div></div>
</div>
</div></div>
<div id="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6c1ca" class="nochunk"><a name="WSa285fff53dea4f8617383751001ea8cb3f-6c1ca"></a><h2 class="topictitle2">Specify polygon settings</h2><div><div class="p"><span><img src="images/dingbat.png" />&#160;Double-click
the Polygon tool&#160;<img src="images/P_Polygon_Lg_N.png" />, specify
the following settings, and click&#160;OK:</span><ul><li><p>For Number of Sides, type a value for the
number of sides you want for the polygon.</p>
</li>
<li><p>For Star Inset, type a percentage value to specify
the length of a star’s spikes. The tips of the spikes touch the
outer edge of the polygon’s bounding box, and the percentage determines
the depth of the depression between each spike. Higher percentages
create longer, thinner spikes.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div class="section"><div class="note"><span class="notetitle">Note:  </span>Polygon settings apply only to the next
polygon you draw; you cannot apply them to a polygon you’ve already
created.</div>
</div>
</div></div>
<div id="WSE14D7C36-F2DD-4e35-A5A4-0856DB5A2A2Ba" class="nochunk"><a name="WSE14D7C36-F2DD-4e35-A5A4-0856DB5A2A2Ba"></a><h2 class="topictitle2">Change the shape of a path automatically</h2><div><div class="section"><p>You
can convert any path into a predefined shape. For example, you can
convert a rectangle to a triangle. The stroke settings for the original
path remain the same for the new path. If the new path is a polygon,
its shape is based on the options in the Polygon Settings dialog
box. If the new path has a corner effect, its radius size is based
on the size setting in the Corner Options dialog box.</p>
</div>
<ol><li><span>Select the path.</span></li>
<li><span>Do any of the following:</span><ul><li><p>Choose Object&#160;&gt; Convert Shape&#160;&gt; <i>[new shape]</i>.</p>
</li>
<li><p>In the Pathfinder panel (Window&#160;&gt; Object
&amp; Layout&#160;&gt; Pathfinder), click a shape button in
the Convert Shape area.</p>
</li>
</ul>
</li>
</ol>
</div></div>

                <div id="related">
                    <div class="separator">&#160;</div>
                    <div><p>&#160;<a href="WS714a382cdf7d304e9f688c1003dbfac89-7ffca.html">Selecting objects</a></p><p>&#160;<a href="WS84A76091-8105-40e0-A7F9-F0E224959F93a.html">Gallery of drawing and type tools</a></p>
</div>
                    
                </div>
                <div id="footer">
                    <p><img src="images/Community.png" />&#160;<a title="community help (adobe.com)" href="http://www.adobe.com/go/lr_InDesign_community_en">community help (adobe.com)</a></p>
<!-- BEGIN IONCOMMENTS -->
                    <div id="ionComHere">
                    </div>
<!-- END IONCOMMENTS -->
<!--#include virtual="ionComments.ssi" -->
                    <p id="creativecommons"><a href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/" id="creativecommons_text"><img id="creativecommons_img" src="images/CC.png" alt="This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License" /></a></p>
                </div>
            </div>
<!-- END CONTENT WRAPPER -->
</td>
</tr>
</table>
        </div>
<!-- END PAGE CONTENT WRAPPER -->
<script type="text/javascript">
<!--[CDATA[
scrollToNameAnchor();
// ]]-->
</script> 
<!--#include virtual="/livedocs/ssi/globalfooter.ssi" -->
<!--#include virtual="/ubi/analytics/analytics_ssi.html" -->
    </body>
</html>