Drawing vector objects

Fireworks has many tools for drawing vector objects. With these you can draw basic shapes, freeform paths, and complex shapes by plotting points one by one. You can also draw Auto Shapes, which are vector object groups that have special controls for adjusting their attributes.

Drawing basic lines, rectangles, and ellipses

You can use the Line, Rectangle, or Ellipse tool to draw basic shapes quickly. The Rectangle tool draws rectangles as grouped objects. To move a rectangle corner point independently, you must ungroup the rectangle or use the Subselection tool. To draw a basic rectangle with beveled, chamfered, or rounded corners, see the following procedure. To draw a Auto Shape rectangle with rounded corners, see Adjusting beveled, chamfered, and rounded rectangle Auto Shapes.

To draw a line, rectangle, or ellipse:

1. Select the Line, Rectangle, or Ellipse tool from the Tools panel.
2. If desired, set the stroke and fill attributes in the Property inspector. See Applying Color, Strokes, and Fills.
3. Drag on the canvas to draw the shape.

   For the Line tool, Shift-drag to constrain lines to 45° increments.

   For the Rectangle or Ellipse tool, Shift-drag to constrain shapes to squares or circles.

To draw a line, rectangle, or ellipse from a specific center point:

• Position the pointer at the intended center point and Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Macintosh) the drawing tool.

To constrain a shape and draw from the center point:

• Position the pointer at the intended center point and Shift-Alt-drag (Windows) or Shift-Option-drag (Macintosh) the drawing tool.

To adjust the position of a basic shape as you draw it:

• While holding down the mouse button, press and hold the Spacebar, then drag the object to another location on the canvas. Release the Spacebar to continue drawing the object.

  NOTE

  An exception is the Line tool. Pressing the Spacebar while using the Line tool does not change a line's position on the canvas.

To resize a selected line, rectangle, or ellipse, do one of the following:

• Enter new width (W) or height (H) values in the Property inspector or the Info panel.
• In the Select section of the Tools panel, select the Scale tool and drag a corner transform handle. This resizes the object proportionally.

  NOTE

  You can also resize an object proportionally by selecting Modify > Transform > Scale and dragging a corner transform handle, or by selecting Modify > Transform > Numeric Transform and entering new dimensions. For more information on resizing and scaling objects, see Transforming and distorting selected objects and selections.

• Drag a corner point on a rectangle.

  NOTE

  Scaling a vector object does not change its stroke width.