Hundreds of fully editable vector clip art graphics are available in the Styles & Clip Art palette. Use the Clip Art Stamp [y] tool and select the clip art and stamp it onto your drawing canvas. Alternatively, click-hold and drag clip art from the palette directly onto your drawing canvas.

To resize any clip art, select it with the Select [s] tool and drag one of the object’s bounding box corners, holding the Shift-key to maintain the aspect ratio. Alternatively, enter the object dimensions in the Geometry panel (click the "lock" icon in the Geometry panel to lock the aspect ratio when resizing).

HINT: Many clip art are made from "grouped" objects and must be ungrouped one or more times to edit – see "How Do I Edit Objects Grouped in Clip Art?" below. All clip art, except country flags, are fully editable.

Many of the built-in clip art are complex objects made up of grouped objects. To edit clip art after placing, first ungroup the objects as necessary by choosing Graphic > Ungroup from the main menu, or right-click and choose Ungroup from the context menu. Note, some clip art may have groups within groups. Text may be edited within a group without ungrouping. Styles may by picked up with the Style Dropper tool without ungrouping.

Your graphics can be saved as your own clip art in Artboard. Create your graphic and group the objects as necessary. Choose Edit > Add Clip Art to Library from the main menu, or click the Add Clip Art icon from the toolbar (note, the Add Clip Art icon can be added to the toolbar by customizing the toolbar). The clip art is automatically added to the Library Manager and is available immediately under My Library from the Styles & Clip Art Palette.

Double-click the name to rename clip art in the Library Manager to rename it. Drag the clip art to a new category and/or collection to organize your clip art as desired.

True Type Fonts (TTF) can be converted into individual editable shape objects. These objects can be further styled, grouped, and saved as clip art as desired.

1. Place TTF glyphs in the drawing area using the Text Box tool. Choose the font you want to use, or choose Edit > Special Characters from the main menu to open the Special Characters window.
2. After typing one or more glyphs, select the text box and choose Graphic > Convert To > Shape Group from the main menu (or right click and choose Convert to Shape Group) then Ungroup to obtain each glyph as a separate object.
3. To further explode and modify multi-layered objects, choose Graphic > Combine > Break Apart from the main menu and modify the shape or re-color individual components.

Use Union to combine two or more shapes into a single shape object. Select the shapes to be combined and choose Graphic > Combine > Union from the main menu. Note that the new shape will adopt the style of the top object in the selection.

Intersecting two shapes results in a new shape that is based on the overlapping area between them. Select two shapes to be intersected and choose Graphic > Combine > Intersect from the main menu. Note that the new shape will adopt the style of the (lower) object being intersected.

HINT: Images can be masked and cropped using non-destructive editing with the Intersect tool. See "Working with Images" for more information.

Use Difference when the portion of one shape (the top shape) is to be subtracted from another (bottom) shape. Select the two overlapping shapes to be subtracted from each other and choose Graphic > Combine > Difference from the main menu. Note that the remaining shape maintains its original style.

Combining like objects into single shapes can make your drawing more efficient. The Append command combines multiple shapes into a single shape object, with overlapping areas excluded from the new shape. Objects do not need to overlap to be appended together. Append is also appropriate for open paths, whereas the others work only with closed paths. Using Union, Intersection or Difference with an open path produces undefined results (though Undo works to correct any unexpected outcomes).

Select two or more shapes to be appended, and choose Graphic > Combine > Append from the main menu. Note that the new shape will adopt the style of the top object in the selection.

Objects that have been appended together can be broken apart into their separate components. Choose Graphic > Combine > Break Apart from the main menu.

Any object in Artboard can be copied to the system clipboard and pasted back into the drawing or other applications such as Apple Pages(TM) or Keynote(TM). Select the object(s) and choose Edit > Copy from the main menu or use the CMND-C keyboard shortcut. Choose Edit > Paste or the CMND-V keyboard shortcut to paste objects.

Within the active layer, pasted objects will be placed with a predefined offset from the original object. When the pasted object is moved, subsequent pastes will respect the new offset of the moved object. When object(s) are pasted into a new layer they will first respect the original position, while subsequent pastes will be offset.

Alternatively, hold the Option-key while clicking and dragging an object to make quick copies in Artboard.

Alternatively, use the Edit > Duplicate > Once or CMND-D keyboard shortcut to quickly make single copies of the selected object(s).

Note, multiple objects cannot be selected among different layers.

There are several ways to accomplish duplicating an object and pasting in place. Quick copy a single object using the Option-key shortcut. Similar to clicking and dragging an object with the Option-key to create a copy, a simple click onto an object while holding the Option-key copies and pastes it in place.

To paste an object(s) in its original position without an offset, copy the object(s) then hold the Option-key while choosing Edit > in the main menu. The command "Paste In Place" will become available (or use the Option-CMND-V keyboard shortcut).

Alternatively, choose Edit > Duplicate > Linear Duplicate… from the main menu and set the X,Y offset to 0,0 to make multiple copies pasted in place.

Additionally, the Layer > Move To command in the main menu will cut and paste the selected object(s) in place onto a new or existing layer without offset.

Choose Edit > Duplicate > Polar Duplicate… from the main menu to make multiple copies of an object centered around a point. Type the X/Y coordinates of the center point, or use the "Target" button to interactively set the center point by clicking the drawing with the mouse. Check the option to fit copies into a circle automatically. Alternatively, use the manual settings to designate the number of copies and angular increments.

To duplicate an object several times choose Edit > Duplicate > Linear Duplicate… from the main menu. Type in the desired number of copies and the desired X,Y offset (using the current drawing units).

*Reposition move objects by selecting with the Select [s] tool and dragging, or use the Geometry panel to adjust the object’s x.y location.
*Resize (scale) shapes by dragging any of the object handles with the Select [s] tool, or use the Geometry panel to adjust size.
*Rotate objects around their center point by moving their purple rotation handle with the Select [s] key, or use the Geometry panel to set the rotation angle.
*Draw from center by holding the Alt/Option-key when drawing.
*Maintain the aspect ratio to make perfect circles and squares by holding the SHIFT-key when drawing.
*Reposition the object center point move the center blue crosshair target with the Select [s] tool to move the point of object rotation.

Within each layer, objects have a stack order as they are drawn. Newer objects are drawn on top of existing objects. This is independent of layers, which control the display order of all objects among individual layers. Use the Graphic > Bring To Front, Bring Forward, Send To Back, Send Backward commands from the main menu to change the stack order of objects. Alternatively, right-click on a graphic for quick access to the contextual menu stack order commands. These functions are also available as toolbar icons via the Customize toolbar menu.

Note, occasionally you may draw an object with a larger bounding box that is stacked "in front" of another object. Because of the overlap, the top object may either hide the lower object or make it difficult to select because the top object bounding box is "in the way". To alleviate this, either change the stack order of the objects or move objects to different layers.

Choose Graphic > Group from the main menu to group two or more objects, or use the CMND-G keyboard shortcut. Ungroup objects by choosing Graphic > Ungroup, or use the SHIFT-CMND-G keyboard shortcut. These functions are also available to the toolbar via the Customize toolbar menu.

Note that when objects are grouped, they are moved to the top of the stack order. If a style is applied to a group, all objects within the group will receive the new style. Text within a group can be double-clicked for convenient editing without ungrouping.

HINT: When you place clip art onto your drawing canvas the clip art are composed of regular drawing objects, though they may need ungrouped to edit!

Double-click a path or shape to quickly switch between shape mode and edit path mode. For example, a path object can be converted to a shape object and vice-versa.

Conversion can also be done through associated commands in the Main Menu. Convert a shape to a path by choosing Graphic > Convert To Path from the main menu, or right-clicking and choosing the command from the object’s contextual menu. Conversely, choose Graphic > Convert To Shape from the main menu to convert a path to a shape, or right-click and choose the command from the object’s contextual menu.

Paths
Path objects contain two or more points connected by a line. Points may be moved, added, and deleted. Bezier paths also have curve handles which can be moved independently, and controlled by holding either the CMND or Alt/Option keys.

Shapes
Shape objects are defined by a bounding box. Bounding box handles can be moved, and shape objects can be resized using these handles. Hold the SHIFT-key to maintain the aspect ratio when resizing shapes. Grouped objects also take on a bounding box for the outer extent of the grouped objects. A rotation handle allows easy, direct rotation of shapes and shape groups. Objects rotate around the shape’s center point, which is directly adjustable by moving the center target on the shape.

Note that special shapes, such as stars and round rectangles, will be converted into paths then back to normal shapes through this process (they cannot be converted back into special shapes).

Text
Text objects are conveniently converted to Path, Shape, or Shape Group using the ‘convert to’ commands. Text-box text can also be converted to Text On Path. Converting text to a Shape Group enables several glyphs to be converted into a group of individual shapes. Ungroup a shape group to render each glyph as an individual shape which can be independently styled and manipulated.

The Artboard toolbar gives you one-click access to many of the actions you’ll use when working with drawings.

As you work in Artboard and get to know which actions you perform most often, you can add, remove, and rearrange toolbar buttons to suit your working style. To see a description of what a button does, hold the pointer over the button.

To customize the toolbar:

1 Choose View > Customize Toolbar, or right-click the toolbar and choose "Customize" from the contextual menu. The Customize Toolbar sheet appears.

2. Make changes to the toolbar as desired.
– To add an item to the toolbar, drag its icon to the toolbar.
– To remove an item from the toolbar, drag it out of the toolbar.
– To restore the default set of toolbar buttons, drag the default set to the toolbar.
– To make the toolbar icons smaller, select Use Small Size.
– To show only icons or only text, choose an item from the Show pop-up menu.
– To rearrange items in the toolbar, drag them to position.

3. Click Done.

You can also perform several toolbar customization activities without using the Customize Toolbar sheet:

1. Remove an item from the toolbar by pressing the Command key while dragging the item out of the toolbar.

2. Move an item by pressing the Command key while dragging the item around in the toolbar.

To show or hide the toolbar, choose View > Show Toolbar or View > Hide Toolbar from the main menu or click the white pill button at top right of window frame.

Using the Fonts panel you can change a text object or label’s typeface, size, and other options.

To open the Fonts panel:
Click the Fonts icon in the toolbar, or choose Text > Show Fonts from the main menu.

Choose one or more text objects. Use the Fonts panel to choose typefaces, font sizes, and other font formatting, including text shadows and strikethrough.

Here is a summary of the text effects buttons, from left to right across the top:

– The Text Underline pop-up menu to choose an underline style (such as single or double).
– The Text Strikethrough pop-up menu to choose a strikethrough style (such as single or double).
– The Text Color pop-up menu to apply a color to text.
– The Text Shadow button to apply a shadow to selected text.
– The Shadow Opacity, Shadow Blur, Shadow Off set, and Shadow Angle controls affect the appearance of the shadow.

In addition, Artboard adds Text Outline and Text Mask controls at the bottom of the Fonts panel.

If you don’t see the text effect buttons, choose Show Effects from the Action pop-up menu in the lower-left corner of the Fonts panel.

HINT: Save a Text Box as clip art to save and quickly reuse the text styles.

If you frequently use the Fonts panel, there are time-saving techniques. To quickly locate fonts you use frequently, organize them into font collections. Click the Add (+) button to create and name a font collection, and then drag the font name from the Family list into the new collection.

Choose Add To Favorites from the action menu to save a particular font in your Favorites collection.

To open the Image Browser, click the Image Browser icon in the toolbar or choose File > Image Browser from the menu.

Artboard imports PNG, JPG, non-editable PDF, and TIFF images as well as vector SVG files. Drag images from the Image Browser directly to your drawing canvas. If an image is larger than the Artboard canvas size, it will be scaled to fit the canvas (though can be rescaled in the Geometry panel). You can even drop pictures directly onto any Artboard object with a fill style to fill the shape with the image. The Image Browser provides quick access to your iPhoto, Pictures folder, and Smart folders, and you can attach other folders as desired. Select a root folder or iPhoto folder to browse images. To add folders, click the "+" button and navigate the the folder to browse, or to remove a folder from the list, select it and click the ‘-’ button.

Images (like other shape objects) have sizing handles located around the outside edges of the image bounding box. The direct rotate handle is located to the right of the center point.

Images can be masked, cropped, scaled, enhanced, and more! See "Working With Images" for details.

Artboard features advanced SVG 1.1 vector file importing. Similar to images, simply drag editable vector SVG 1.1 files from the Image Browser to your drawing canvas. Imported vector graphics are fully editable vector graphics, though they may need ungrouped to edit.

The Library Manager operates behind the scenes. It’s where all styles and clip art are organized into collections and categories.

To open the Library Manager, choose Window > Library Manager from the main menu (note, you can add the Library Manager to the toolbar by customizing the toolbar). The Library Manager uses an interface which is very similar to other applications such as Finder and iTunes(TM), and this familiarity should make it quick and easy to learn and use. Similarly to the Styles & Clip Art palette, items can be dragged directly from the Library Manager to your drawing canvas.

The Library Manager’s left sidebar lists the collections and categories, and its main window displays items an icon view or list view. The Library Manager view is customizable.

The Library Manager contains two libraries – the Mapdiva Library and the user’s My Library.

Mapdiva Library
The Mapdiva Library contains a Built-In Collection with hundreds of fun styles and clip art ready for making your next masterpiece. Items in this library cannot be modified, though they can be reorganized into various categories and subcategories, and also copied (cloned) to My Library for further customization.

My Library
My Library is the location of user created styles and clip art. Organize your styles and clip art into categories as desired.

Save your custom styles to your User Library via the Style Inspector’s "Add to User Collection…" button. Save your own clip art by choosing Graphic > Save Clip Art To Library in the main menu. These saved items are managed in the Library Manager under "My Library" and can be renamed, categorized, locked/unlocked, and more.

Renaming User Styles and Clip Art
Double-click the name of your style or clip art in the Library Manager to rename it. To add a description, select the style or clip art and click the "i" information button on the Style Inspector toolbar. NOTE: Items in the built-in Mapdiva Library cannot be renamed.

Move Items
Drag-and-drop to move items between collections and categories. To copy an item from one collection to another, hold the Option-key while dragging the item. NOTE: Dragging from the Mapdiva Library to your own collection will copy the item rather than move it.

Editing within the List View
To edit an item’s name, double-click the name. Items can be locked and unlocked from within the list view.

Editing within the Icon View
Double-clicking a style within the icon view opens the Style Inspector for further editing.

Categories keep your styles and clip art organized and easy to find. You can freely add categories to organize the collections, and categories can be divided into subcategories.

Adding a New Category
To add a new category, click the ‘+’ button or choose "New Category" in the Action Menu (looks like a gear). A new "untitled category" is added to the active collection (or, if you have selected a category, a new subcategory (child) of the selected category is added). Type a name for the category. A category can be renamed at any time by double-clicking its name and typing a new one. Category names must be unique within a collection.

Deleting Categories
To delete a category, select the category and click the ‘-’ button or choose "Delete Category…". Deleting a category does not delete the styles and clip art it contains – items remain available in the "All Items" category unless intentionally deleted – but they may be harder to find later. This operation cannot be undone.

Adding Items to Categories
Individual styles and clip art can belong to one or more category. Items are organized into categories using drag-and-drop. Simply select the "All Items" category to show the content of the library, then drag items (shift-click to select multiple items) to the desired category in the left-hand list. To nest and unnest categories, just drag-and-drop the category where you want it.

Removing Items from Categories
To remove items from a category, select the items, right-click and choose "Remove From Category" from the contextual menu. Alternatively, select the category and drag items out of the window to some empty space. Removing an item from a category does not delete it from its collection – it will remain available in the "All Items" category unless intentionally deleted. Items can’t be removed from or directly added to any of the automatically managed categories, such as "All Items."

In addition to normal categories, a special type of category exists called a "Smart Category." Smart Categories are shown having a purple-colored icon.

Smart Categories work by filtering the entire collection based on a set of criteria you establish. As such, their content is dynamic and will change automatically as items are added, removed and edited. Smart Categories are similar to Smart Folders and Smart Playlists feature in applications such as Finder and iTunes(TM).

Adding a New Smart Category
To create a Smart Category, select the collection to add it to and choose New Smart Category… from the Action Menu. The criteria editor is opened ready to edit the category. You can build up the desired filter by combining different criteria as you wish; click ‘+’ to add a new criteria to the query, ‘-’ to remove a criteria. You can also limit the content to a fixed number of results if you wish. Click ‘Save’ to establish the Smart Category which will immediately display the content matching the query. Double-click the name or right-click and choose "Rename" from the contextual menu to change a Smart Category’s name.

Editing Smart Categories
Smart Categories are not directly editable in that you can’t drag items into or out of them, but you can edit the filter criteria. To edit the filter criteria, select the category and choose "Edit Smart Category…" from the Action Menu. The criteria editor is opened ready to edit the category.

Deleting Smart Categories
To delete a Smart Category, select the category and click the ‘-’ button or choose "Delete Category…". Deleting a category does not delete the styles and clipart it contains – items remain available in the "All Items" category unless intentionally deleted. This operation cannot be undone.

The "Get Info" drawer slides out and displays information about the selected style or clip art. This information includes the name, description, and other item metadata. Use the information panel to edit the name and descrition of your User Library items.

If you receive a collection from another user (or from Mapdiva), you can import it by first unzipping it as necessary, then choosing "Import Collection…" from the Action Menu. The collection will be imported into My Library and displayed.

Export from My Library to create a zip file on disk of the entire collection, allowing you to backup and share it with other users. Select the desired collection to export, then choose "Export Collection…" from the Library Manager – Action Menu (looks like a gear).

Click the Sidebar icon in the Toolbar to show and hide the layers list. The Sidebar can also be dragged open and closed using your cursor.

Think of Artboard’s layers like a stack of tracing paper (or transparent mylar). Just like drawing on paper, each layer can hold multiple graphics in your drawing. You can use each layer as its own "page" to organize your graphics. Within each layer, drawing objects have their own stack order and objects can be moved in front of or behind each other. Just like with a stack of tracing paper, your graphics on upper layers are shown “drawn on top” of objects in lower layers. Create your drawing with one or more layers. Use layers to stack objects in front of or behind each other, to organize for printing or exporting, and to hide or isolate objects for easy editing.

Click onto a layer name in the Layers list to activate the layer (designated by the white arrow). To keep your drawing organized, only objects in the currently active layer can be selected and manipulated. To select an object on a different layer, first click onto the layer to which it belongs to make the layer active. Note, multiple objects cannot be selected among different layers.

The active layer is highlighted and designated by a white arrow to the left of the layer name. A dot at the left of a layer name indicates that one or more objects within the layer that remain selected, even though the layer is no longer active.

Drag to re-order layers. Click the "+" and "–" icons to add or delete layers. Layers can be locked and unlocked by clicking the "Lock" icon, as well as made hidden or visible by toggling the “show” (eye) icon. Color-wells indicate the color of the selection handles when an object on that layer is selected. To set the color, click the well and choose a new color in the pop-up menu.

To rename a layer, double click the layer name in the Layer view and enter a new layer name, or right-click in the layer view and select “Rename” to change the name of the selected layer.

A Guide layer and Graph Paper layer are available in every drawing file. Click the "show" (eye) icon to make them visible.

Layer behavior is also controlled in the Main Menu. Advanced layer behaviors, such as moving selected objects among new or existing layers, are available. To quickly move the selected object(s) from one layer to another, choose Layer > Move To > from the main menu. Moving to a new layer will both create a new layer and move objects. Only layers that are visible and unlocked will be active in the move-to list.

By default, you can select objects only within the currently active layer. To enable the ability to automatically switch active layers when selecting objects, choose Layer > Auto-Activate Clicked Layer from the Main Menu. Note, multiple objects cannot be selected among different layers.

One of the most powerful aspects of Artboard is its ability to go way beyond simple stroke and fill styles. The Style Inspector is used to create and edit expert "stacked" styles, such as styles with gradients, arrows, and images adornments.

To open the Style Inspector, click the Style Inspector icon in the toolbar, or choose Window > Style Inspector from the main menu.

Remember the Basics: Drawing Tool + Style = Draw

• To draw with a style you create, choose a drawing tool from the Tools palette and draw a shape or path. With the shape still selected, click the "Reset" button in the Style Inspector to build a new style, or the "Clone" button to copy the style currently in use and then edit it. Use clone, for example, when you want to change the stroke width but keep all other settings the same. Click the "+" and "-" buttons in the Style Inspector to add and remove style components as desired. Drag style components to rearrange their stack order in the Style Inspector. Continue drawing with the style you have defined. When you are ready to change styles, click "Reset" or "Clone" to build a new style.

• To change styles, click "Reset" or "Clone" in the Style Inspector, edit the style, and continue drawing.

The following sections describe how to use the different style components to define expert styles.

To create a new style from scratch, the "Reset" button resets the default simple style with a black stroke and gray fill. To customize the style, add or remove any of the many available style components by clicking the "+" or "-" buttons and adjust the and settings as desired. Continue drawing.

A "Clone" is a copy of the style you are currently using so you can make changes to it and continue drawing without affecting the original. To create a style from an existing style, click the "Clone" button and adjust some properties, such as a stroke’s width or color, while retaining other style component settings as desired.

HINT: Styles in the built-in Mapdiva collection cannot be over-written. To edit styles in the built-in collection, use "Clone" to make a copy of the original.

Styles you create while you are drawing are called "ad hoc" styles unless they are added to your user library.

Optionally, use the Style Inspector to name your styles and add them to "My Collection…" for future use. Saved styles are “master styles” and by default are set as not editable to prevent unintended changes. To enable editing of a library style, check "Editable" in the Style Inspector. Note, styles in the built-in Mapdiva collection cannot be over-written – to enable editing of styles in the built-in collection, use "Clone" to make a copy of the original.

Play with the Style Inspector’s many style components to build "stacked" styles and you’ll be an expert in no time flat.

Styles are "built" by combining various style components. Click the "+" button to add a style component from the drop-down list. For example, to build this cased line with a center dash, three strokes of varying widths are defined and stacked. In this example, we combine a black solid line, a narrower magenta solid line, and a green dashed line. The black stroke is defined first, then the magenta, then the green line. The list shows the order that components are drawn, so the last item in the list is drawn last, which will appear ‘on top’ of components already drawn. Drag to rearrange the stacking order of style components.

From the Style Inspector, you can add a wide assortment of components to create custom styles.

Note, to edit a style component it must be enabled (check box). Disabled components can neither be edited, nor show up when the style is used to draw an object. If desired, individual components of a style can be uniquely named by double-clicking in the master list of the Style Inspector.

In the Style Inspector, the following properties can be edited for strokes: color, width, dashes, cap and join, clipping, offset, and shadow. Note shadows will affect drawing speed and should be used sparingly for good performance while using Artboard.

An Arrowed Stroke component is easily customizable. Color, line width, and dash properties are set in the same way as a standard stroke. Linear, diameter, radius, and angle dimension settings are available.

Set the arrowhead size by dragging the knob (small square) In the arrow preview area. The Arrowed Stroke is highly flexible in that you can set arrow head style on one or both ends. Choose from these options for styling the ends of Arrowed Strokes.

Dimension lines can be created with an arrowed stroke. Choose the dimension setting, including the location along the line, tolerance, and the dimension unit (linear, diameter, radius, or angle). Edit the font appearance by clicking the "A" button. Dimensions will be displayed in the current drawing units.

Occasionally, you may want your work to have a roughened appearance. With the Rough Stroke, you can easily mimic pencil lines or apply color and transparency to mimic markers or even watercolor. Adjust roughness properties in the Style Inspector.

The Tagged Stroke offers an amazing flexibility for easily creating strokes with "tags" or hatches. Properties include options to define the type of tag, including lines, squares, triangles, semi-circles, circles and "v"s. Color, size, and spacing can be set, as well as the option to show or hide the main stroke and taper the tags at either end of the stroke.

Artboard’s Tapered Stroke supplies an elegant way to form styles for such linear features. Options include tapering at one or both ends, as well as setting color, off-set, and stroke width.

The Zig-Zag Stroke adds settings for the amplitude, wavelength, and spread of the zig-zag. Color, line width, and dash are set in the same way as a standard stroke.

Add objects, symbols, or images repeatedly along a path using Path Decorator. For example, draw a circle on the drawing canvas and copy it. Paste it into the image well under Path Decorator. The circle is now added at regular intervals along the path and its scale, spacing, lead-in, end-ramp, off-set, alternating offset, and clipping can be fine-tuned as desired.

For good performance (drawing speed), the image should be small, not too complex, and not too closely spaced.

Use Gradient Fill for stylish linear and radial gradients. The color slider is the place to control the details of color and placement. The gradient well gives you the "big" picture. Gradients can have 2 or more color-stops for awesome effects.

To set gradient colors, select the color stops at each end of the gradient bar. Choose colors form the Colors panel. Add and remove color stops using the “+” and “-” on the left side of the gradient bar, or drag color stops off of the slider bar to remove them. Drag color stops to reposition along the gradient bar.

Rotate the knob on the Iris controls to set the angle of the gradient. Hold the SHIFT-key to constrain the angle of the gradient to 15-degree increments. The angle can be set relative to the object or relative to the page. The center point of a radial gradient is adjusted by moving the position of the gradient Iris controls. Adjust the color blend between two circles of color using the Iris controls to adjust the radius and center point.

The color fill component lets you select the color well and choose from millions of colors using the Colors panel. From the Colors panel, transparency can also be set using the Opacity Slider.

Fill objects with tiled images using the Paste Image command (pastes from clipboard) or use Image File… to add an image from a file. Images can also be dragged-and dropped from the Image Browser into the image-well.

Shadows can be applied to fill components by checking the Shadow option and setting the shadow color, angle, distance, and blur.

Zig-zag fills can be useful for defining styles for unusual shapes. The amplitude, wavelength, and spread are adjustable in the Style Inspector.

Using the Pattern Fill, objects, symbols, or images are regularly repeated within the fill area. Draw an object or add a symbol to your drawing canvas and copy it. Next, paste it by clicking Paste Image in the Style Inspector. Last, set the scale, spacing, alternating offset, and angle as desired.

Random spacing, random scale, and random angle properties allowing more stochastic pattern effects to be realized.

Keep the image small, not too complex and not too densely spaced for good drawing performance (drawing speed).

When a new object is drawn using a pattern fill style, the image objects in the pattern may appear clipped at the edges of the shape. You can use "Suppress clipped images" to hide images at the edge of a shape if they would otherwise appear as clipped.

Hatch fill is used to create patterns of lines or dots. This component offers control over line width, spacing, lead-in, color, and angle. Lines can be dashed, and roughness and wobble can even be added to create a wavy pattern. Add two or more Hatch Fill components with differing angles to create grid patterns.

Adjusting the “Density” setting will automatically generate a dot pattern. Changing “Line width” with a dot pattern will adjust the dot diameter. Changing the “Angle” will adjust the orientation of the pattern.

Several stroke and fill style components contain a "Transform…" setting enabling interesting 3-d visual effects. Based on user input, transform adds copies of the style component in a stacked fashion under the original object. The X and Y offset slide the stack in a distance and direction from the center of the object at the angle designated, whereas X and Y scale adjust the size of the copies. Finally, Blend applies a color blend from the original style component color to the color designated in the colorwell.

Apply an image to any shape using an Image Adornment style component. The Image Adornment style component enables various settings for scaling, clipping, angle and image opacity. Choose an image file or copy and paste an image into the image-well.

Dropping an image from the Image Browser or Finder onto any shape with a fill automatically adds the image as an Image adornment. Use the Style Inspector to adjust the Image Adornment settings.

Note: Although they look similar, an Image Adornment is different from adding a regular image object to your drawing. An Image Adornment is an actual component of the style, which can be applied like any style to any shape. Whereas a regular image object (for example, added from the Image Browser) is a single object.

Core Image Filters are advanced style component that apply filters to other style components. A wide assortment of image filters are available.

To use them, first add a Core Image Filter style component to your style. Drag the style component to which the filter will be applied into (under) the Core Image Filter Group. Our example shows an orange stroke moved into the Core Image Filter Group. From the Core Image Filter Group, choose the desired filter from the drop-down list. Filters are well suited to work with images such as an Image Adornment style component, while a limited number of filters work with strokes and fills, such as Gaussian Blur.

If you want to save a style for later, you can. When you’re satisfied with your new style, click back onto the "Style" heading in the component list to return to the front dialog. Click the untitled style name and enter a new name for your new creation. Click on "Optional Description" to enter a description. Click "Add To My Collection…" to save it into the Library Manager. By default, new styles are added to the My Library > My Collection in the Library Manager. To organize your styles and clip art, drag-and-drop them among categories. New styles are immediately available in the Styles & Clip Art Palette where you can use them for drawing. Your styles are retained in the Library Manager for future use, editing, and even sharing.