The upper limit for nudge distance is 600 inches, which is fair enough, because, for
example, nudging a shape 600 inches to move it is more easily accomplished by simply
entering the intended position in the property bar’s X and Y fields (then you press
ENTER to
apply the move).
Nudge distance can be set on-the-fly within the workspace, and Super and Micro
Nudge scale apply to the new nudge distance. With nothing selected, set a new value
in the Nudge Distance box.
Ill 7-3
There’s an easy way to remember some modifier keys. In many applications, CTRL
means “constrain,” “to limit”—while SHIFT often means “to add to” or “to
extend.” So super-nudging can be thought of as an extension to normal nudge
distances (you hold
SHIFT while pressing arrow keys), and micro-nudging is a
constrained version of normal nudging (you hold
CTRL).
Specifying Units, Origin, and Tick Divisions for Your Rulers
In the fields below Nudge options, you’ll find all the controls for what appears, and where,
on the rulers displayed on your drawing page. Here’s how each option controls ruler
appearance:
●
Units Units are measurement values. Choose a Horizontal unit measure to specify
unit measures for all drawing units in your document. To specify different units of
measure for vertical ruler and drawing units, click to deselect the Same Units For
Horizontal And Vertical Rulers option, shown in Figure 7-4.
●
Origin Although you can manually set the origin as described in the previous
section, you can also perform precise origin definition using this field. The origin
point can be set anywhere from –50 to 50 yards, in precise increments as small as
0.001 inch.
●

Ill 7-4
The Typical Scales drop-down list includes a selection of the most commonly used
drawing ratios ranging from 100:1 to 1:100, with the most common standard measure scales
included. When selecting ratios, the first number represents the object Page Distance; the
second number represents the real-world distance, labeled “World Distance.” Usually small
objects such as circuitry and clock parts are illustrated using ratios where the Page Distance
is larger than the World Distance. Conversely, the best setup for a technical drawing of a
skyscraper is to set Page Distance much smaller than World Distance.
The moment you change either the Page Distance or the World Distance, the Typical
Scales selection in the drop-down list turns to Custom. Page Distance is the measured
distance on your document page, while World Distance refers to the distance represented by
your ruler and drawing units in your document. Settings can be made independently of each
other and to different units of measure to a range between 1,000,000 and 0.00001 inches in
increments of 0.1 inch.
Calibrating Ruler Display
You buy a Lamborghini Gallardo (about $200,000); you pull into a gas station, and you want
to put Regular in the tank? No. Similarly, you can’t expect precision when you use CorelDRAW
on an uncalibrated monitor. CorelDRAW provides a very simple way to ensure what you see
on your monitor screen matches real-world measurements. Occasionally, your display might
176 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide
not show perfectly square pixels, and as a result, your 5-inch line in a very important
drawing might measure 4.88" when you print it. To calibrate the rulers in CorelDRAW to
match your screen, to match real-world output, you’ll need a plastic foot-long ruler (clear is
better than solid, about $1 at a stationery store), about 30 seconds, and the following steps:
1. In a new document create a 5"-wide square. With the Rectangle tool, hold CTRL
(constrains proportions to 1:1), and then drag while watching the size fields on the
property bar. If you’re close but not precisely 5", type 5.0 into either field with the
Lock Proportions icon clicked (see following illustration), and then press
ENTER.
Ill 7-5

Ill 7-6
Setting Grid Properties
You’re going to have a variety of designing needs, which will certainly call for different
appearances of grids, which is why they’re customizable. Changing grid-line frequency and
spacing is often needed. You can use options in the Grid page of the Options dialog to tailor
your grid just the way you need it to appear. To open this page, as shown next, choose View |
CHAPTER 7: Measuring and Drawing Helpers 179
7
Show grid
Grid Setup (right-click)
Setup | Grid And Ruler Setup from the command menus, or right-click your ruler and
choose Grid Setup.
Ill 7-7
Use the Object Manager to set all grid properties, including visible, printable, and/
or editable states. Grids are controlled by the Grid layer properties, which is a
layer on the master page. To open the Object Manager, choose Window
Dockers
Object Manager (see Chapter 9).
The Grid page’s Grid Lines Per Inch and Inches Apart options for units might look
similar, but there’s an important distinction. The Grid Lines Per Inch (“frequency”) option
gives you control over the grid appearance according to the number of lines that appear
within a given distance. The Inches Apart (called “spacing” in CorelDRAW version X4)
option controls the physical space between the grid lines based on distance. Both are set
according to the current drawing units choice, and you choose frequency or spacing;
choosing both would be impossible. You can also set the horizontal and vertical spacing
independently of one another, which is very useful when you have an object such as a tall
fluted glass that you want to put etching on. You’d use more horizontal than vertical grid
lines, and your design would turn out flawlessly.
180 CorelDRAW X5 The Official Guide
When illustrating or drawing based on a specific unit of measure—such as inches—

7
●
Snap To Guidelines Guidelines are covered later in this chapter. To cause your
objects to snap to any type of guideline, choose this option from the drop-down list.
●
Snap To Objects To have objects snap to and align with other objects, choose
Snap To Objects from the drop-down list; it’s faster to remember the shortcut
ALT+Z.
When objects are set to snap to each other, they can use snap points on either the
source (the magnet) or target (the object that’s attracted) object. Snap points are set
using options and modes in the Snap To Objects page of the Options dialog (see the
later section, “Setting Snap Behavior”).
●
Snap To Page When you want to draw an object that’s aligned perfectly to any
edge of the drawing page, use this Snap To option. Snap To Page is also great for
snapping an existing object’s edge or corner to the edge of the page.
●
Dynamic Guides This feature in CorelDRAW X5 is akin to object snapping. Press
ALT+SHIFT+D, or use the drop-down menu to toggle the dynamic guides on or off.
This feature is covered in detail in the next section.
Snapping To It
1. You have a web page to design, with six 1-inch squares (three across, two down),
with a ½-inch space between them. Don’t get out a pocket calculator, and don’t
resort to colorful language—at their defaults, Snap To Grid and Snap To Objects
make this task go like a charm. Enable Snap To Grid and Snap To Objects from the
Snap To drop-down list and make sure Grids are turned on.
2. With the Rectangle tool, begin close to a grid intersection, and then drag down and
to the right until the property bar tells you either the height or width of the rectangle
is very close to 1". Release the mouse button when your cursor is over a grid intersection.
3. Choose the Pick tool.

Snap To Objects On Clicking this check box toggles the Snap To Objects feature
on or off. You can also do this from the Snap To drop-down list on the property bar.
●
Snapping Radius Use this to set snapping sensitivity, based on screen proximity
to snap points. Experiment with what works best for you in a specific design situation;
CHAPTER 7: Measuring and Drawing Helpers 183
7
FIGURE 7-7 Duplicating and aligning objects makes accurate composition of a design a breeze.