Click the Styles & Clip Art palette icon on the toolbar, or choose Window > Styles & Clip Art palette from the main menu to open the Styles & Clip Art palette.

Artboard ships with an outstanding Library of over 1700 uniques styles and custom clip art! Plus, any styles and graphics you create can be added to the user’s Library.

Artboard delivers with hundreds of Styles and Clip Art items all combined together in the Artboard Collection. Items are organized into categories accessible from the Library drop-down menu. You can tell an item’s type by its appearance in the palette:

• Path styles are shown with a curved stroke
• Fill styles are shown in a square
• Clip art look just like their graphic

Hover your cursor over any item and its name and type (style or clip art) will appear in the tooltip.

HINT: clip art may need ungrouped to edit after you place them in your drawing.

Remember the Basics: Drawing Tool + Style = Draw

• To draw with existing styles, choose a drawing tool, then choose a stroke or fill style from the Styles & Clip Art palette and start drawing.

• To change styles, click onto a different style in the Styles & Clip Art palette and continue drawing.

While styles and clip art are both present in the Styles & Clip Art palette, the palette is smart about the type of tool you have active. Choose your tool, then choose a style to apply to that tool while it is active. Items that can be used with the active tool are enabled and highlighted, disabled items are subtly grayed-out. For example, when you draw a shape the stroke and fill styles are enabled. Clip art are enabled when the Clip Art Stamp tool is being used.

All styles and clip art are enabled while the Select [s] tool is active.

From the Styles & Clip Art palette toolbar, choose the Library icon for a drop-down list of collections and categories. Use the forward and back buttons to navigate through previously visited categories. Search for styles and clip art from the search bar.

NOTE: Search results are returned for the currently selected category. If you want to search the entire Collection, make sure "Artboard Collection" is chosen from the drop-down menu.

To apply an existing style to one or more existing objects, use the Select [s] tool to select the object(s) and double-click a style in the Styles & Clip Art palette to apply. You are asked to confirm this application to prevent accidental changes. This confirmation message is an alert that can be turned on or off and can be reset in the Artboard > Preferences from the main menu.

Alternatively, drag-and-drop a style from Styles & Clip Art palette onto and existing object to apply a new style. (Note, you can also drag styles directly from the Library Manager.)

The Style Dropper tool is another convenient way to to copy (or "pick up") a style from one object and paste it onto other objects. Click onto a first object to pick up its style; clicking onto subsequent objects applies the style. The style dropper cursor shows whether dropper is “full" (will drop) or “empty" (will pick up). Return to the Select [s] tool (or any other tool) to end the Style Dropper. To pick up a new style while the Style Dropper tool is active, press the OPTION/Alt key while clicking an object with the style dropper tool. The dropper can pick up styles from inside a group.

HINT: While you are drawing you can quickly pick-up a style from a previously drawn object and keep drawing using "quick pick-up." Hold the CMND(Apple)-key (you should see the cursor change to an eye-dropper) and click an object that has the style you want to pick up. The "picked up" style becomes active (and shown in the Preview on the Tools palette); release the CMND-key and continue drawing.

Choose the Select [s] tool from the Tools palette then drag-and-drop clip art from the Styles & Clip Art palette directly onto your drawing canvas (note, you can also drag clip art directly from the Library Manager).

Alternatively, use the Clip Art Stamp tool to add clip art from the Styles & Clip Art palette to your drawing. While the Clip Art Stamp tool is active, all clip art is enabled in the palette.

HINT: All clip art in the Mapdiva built-in collection, with the exception of country flags, are fully editable vector objects. Many clip art are made up of groups of objects which need ungrouped one or more times to edit them. 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-ket to maintain the aspect ratio. Alternatively, select the object and enter the object dimensions in the Geometry panel (click the "lock" icon in the Geometry panel to lock the aspect ratio when resizing).

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.

For more information about organizing your own clip art and styles, see "The Library Manager."

To open the Tools Palette, click the Tools icon on the toolbar, or choose Window > Tools from the main menu.

Selection Tools
Select, zoom, pan and navigate with the Selection tools.

Graphics Tools
Use the robust graphics tools to draw unlimited shapes, lines and smooth Bezier curves. Cut, or split, paths with the Cut Path tool using a cutting gesture. Insert text boxes or add curved text along paths. Fine-tune your drawing objects by adding or deleting points on paths. Use the Clip Art Stamp tool to place clip art from the Styles & Clip Art palette. Use the Style Dropper to pick up and place styles among objects.

Preview
The Preview displays the style or clip art that is active for use with the graphics tools.

Note that drawing tools work with both fill and line styles. For example, the Irregular Polygon can create filled areas when applying fill styles and linear objects when applying line styles.

Draw using Artboard’s simple, direct drawing tools paired with existing Library styles or with styles that you create.

Remember the Basics: Drawing Tool + Style = Draw

To draw with existing styles, choose a drawing tool, then choose a stroke or fill style from the Styles & Clip Art palette and start drawing. To change styles, click onto a different style in the Styles & Clip Art palette and continue drawing. See "The Styles & Clip Art Palette" for more information about drawing with Artboard’s extensive built-in styles.

To draw with styles you create, choose a drawing tool, edit the style, and start drawing. To reset to the default style, click the "Reset" button in the Format Bar, edit the style, and continue drawing. See "The Format Bar" for more information about creating simple styles.

Artboard goes way beyond simple fill and stroke. See "Using the Style Inspector" for detailed information about creating expert stacked styles.

Choose the Rectangle [r] or Oval [o] tool, choose a line or fill style as desired, and click onto the drawing canvas to begin drawing the shape. Hold the cursor and drag to continue, releasing the cursor to end the shape.

• To make perfect circles and squares, hold the SHIFT-key when drawing to maintain the aspect ratio
• Double-click the object to quick-convert the shape to an editable path

HINT: Drawing handles can be set to large or small in Preferences… > Options in the main menu. The tooltip feedback window when dragging objects can be turned on or off in Preferences… > Editing.

Choose the Irregular Polygon tool to draw any irregularly shaped object. Begin by choosing a line or fill style from the Styles & Clip Art palette as desired, or click "New" or "Clone" in the Format Bar to create a new style.

• To draw an open path, click onto the drawing canvas to add the first point; continue clicking to add additional points connected by straight line segments; double-click to end the path or press the ESC-key to end the path
• To draw a closed-loop path, click onto the drawing canvas to add the first point; continue clicking to add additional points connected by straight line segments; click onto the first drawn point to automatically end drawing the path; the coincident points will act as a single point
• To open a closed-loop path, hold the CMND-key and drag the last point away from the first point

HINT: If you prefer to have paths formally closed (with a straight line segment between first and last points), you can enable this behavior in the Preferences… > Editing in the main menu; to open formally closed paths, right-click and choose "Open" from the contextual menu or Edit > Paths (+Option-key) > Open from the main menu
HINT: If you prefer coincident first and last placed points to not act as a single point, you can disable this behavior in the Preferences

Arcs, wedges, stars, regular polygons and round rectangles are directly adjustable with special object handles. Drag handles to make adjustments on these special objects.

• Handles on Arcs directly control the object’s rotation, radius, and arc angle.
• Handles on Wedges directly control the object’s rotation, radius, and arc angle.
• Handles on Regular Polygons/Stars directly control the object’s rotation, radius, radial ratio, tip, and valley settings. Use the Geometry pane to change the number of sides (from 3 to 16). Additionally, to instantly create perfect triangles, hexagons, octagons and more, uncheck the "Star" setting in the Geometry pane and adjust the number of sides.
• Handles on Round Rectangles directly control the object’s rotation and corner radius.

Double-click with the Select tool to convert any of these special objects to a regular shape or path for further editing.

• To reposition objects, select and drag using the Select [s] tool, or use the Geometry panel to adjust the location x/y position
• To resize (scale) shapes, drag any of the object handles with the Select [s] tool, or use the Geometry panel to adjust size
• To draw from center, hold the Alt/Option-key when drawing

No more digging through menus to find the rotate command. Keep your attention where it should be – on your drawing canvas.

• To rotate objects move their purple rotation handle with the Select [s] key
• To constrain rotation angle to 15-degree increments, hold the SHIFT-ket while rotating objects
• To reposition the object pivot point move the center blue crosshair target with the Select [s] tool and rotate
• To rotate several objects around a common point, group them then set the center target for the group and rotate

In addition to being resized and repositioned directly in the drawing canvas, objects can be precisely adjusted using numeric input in the Geometry panel. The lower left panel under the Layers list is reserved for the Geometry panel.

• To edit numeric input, highlight or double-click the existing number and type in the new number
• To lock or unlock the object’s aspect ratio when changing object width and height, click the lock icon
• The numeric input menu is context sensitive to the current selected object and the object type is displayed

When you are finished using it, click back onto your drawing canvas to remove the focus from the Geometry panel.

Units of measurement reflect the settings in File > Drawing Size & Units. Additional special object settings, such as star tips and valleys will be editable when available. To hide the Geometry panel, click the Geometry panel icon in the bottom of the window.

Drawing objects can be quickly converted between shape mode, in which the object has a bounding box, and edit mode, in which the shape is comprised of a path and its points.

• To quickly convert between modes, double-click a shape or path object
• Alternatively, choose Graphic > Convert To in the main menu or right-click contextual menu for expanded convert-to options
• Additionally, text objects can be converted to shape and shape groups from this menu

Arcs, wedges, regular polygons/stars, and round rectangles are converted to regular shape objects in this process; double-click again to convert to path.

To draw a Bezier path:

• To place a point with a curve, click-and-drag out it’s curve handles then release
• To place a point with it’s curve handles retracted (for example, a corner), click once and release
• To remove the last placed point while you draw a path, use the Delete-key to step backwards each placed point
• To end a path, use the ESC-key or double-click to end the path
• To draw a closed-loop path, click onto the first drawn point to automatically end drawing the path; the coincident points will act as a single point
• To open a closed-loop path, hold the CMND-key and drag the last point away from the first point

Bezier curves offer some of the greatest control and flexibility when drawing. However, it may be the least familiar tool to some users. A hands-on exercise is available in File > New From Template > Exercises & Demos to help you quickly master Bezier curves.

Bezier curves and freehand lines contain curve handles at points along the path. When Bezier curves are placed, their curve handles are symmetrical in length and direction. Using the Bezier Curve tool, click-hold and drag the cursor to place the starting point and begin spreading the curve handles. release the cursor to place the curve handles. Click again and repeat to continue. Clicking to place a point (without hold-and-drag) while drawing a Bezier curve will place a point with curve handles retracted, allowing corners and curves within the same path. If you can’t see the curve handles where a point was placed, CMND-click on the point and drag the handles away from the center point. Press the Delete key while drawing a Bezier curve to remove the last placed point.

Alternatively, open Edit > Paths from the main menu to access expanded path commands.

HINT: If you prefer to have paths formally closed (with a straight line segment between first and last points), you can enable this behavior in the Preferences… > Editing in the main menu; to open formally closed paths, right-click and choose "Open" from the contextual menu or Edit > Paths (+Option-key) > Open from the main menu
HINT: If you prefer coincident first and last placed points to not act as a single point, you can disable this behavior in the Preferences

Curves are easily adjusted after placement by dragging the curve handles, shown in blue. When adjusting curve handles, the length of the left and right ends of the handle are adjusted independently. Modifier keys provide control over curve handle adjustments.

SHORTCUTS AND MODIFIER KEYS:

To modify a path after it has been drawn, use the Select [s] tool and select the path, then:


• To move a point along a path, select and move it with the cursor or nudge it with the keyboard arrow keys (nudge will move in increments based on your drawing units and graph paper settings)
• To drag a handle away from its point, or to adjust curve handles independently of each other, including length and direction, hold the CMND-(Apple) key while adjusting the curve handles
• To keep the length of the curve handles symmetrical to each other when making adjustments, hold the ALT/OPTION-key while adjusting the curve handles
• To temporarily toggle snapping to grid or guides while adjusting curve handles, hold the CTRL-key after clicking on the handle
• To constrain curve handles’ angle to 15-degree increments, hold the SHIFT-key while adjusting a curve handle
• To "Nudge" one or more points or curve handles, select the points and move with the keyboard arrow-keys
• To join two paths, make sure their end points are close and select both paths, then use the CMND-J keyboard shortcut (or choose Edit > Paths > Join from the main menu)
• To open a closed path, hold the CMND-(Apple) key and drag the end point away from the start point; alternatively, right-click the path and choose "Open Path" from the contextual menu; or use the Cut Path tool
• Don’t forget, you can also use the Add Point To Path [+], Remove Point From Paths [-], and Cut Path [u] tools

• To expand hidden curve handles, right-click a point and choose "Expand Handles" from the contextual menu (or hold the CMND-key and drag the handle away from its point)
• To collapse one or more curve handles, right-click a curve handle or point and choose "Collapse Handles"  from the contextual menu
• To collapse or expand all curve handles, right-click on the path and choose "Select all Handles" and then choose the collapse or expand all option from the contextual menu
• To open a closed-loop path, hold the CMND-key and drag the last point away from the first point

HINT: To open a formally closed path (a straight line segment connects the first and last point), hold the CMND-(Apple) key and drag the end point away from the start point; alternatively, right-click the path and choose "Open Path" from the contextual menu; or use the Cut Path tool. If you prefer not to have paths automatically close, you can disable this behavior in the Preferences… > Editing in the main menu.

Drawing with the Freehand Line tool is much like drawing with a pen. Choose the tool, place the first point and move the cursor begin drawing, picking up the cursor to release the path and end the path. Points and curve handles are added automatically as the line is drawn, enabling later adjustment as desired. Freehand line curve handles may be asymmetrical in length as the line is drawn.

To make the smoothest paths with the Freehand Path, make sure the Graphic > Snap To… settings are all disabled (unchecked). If a path drawn with the Freehand Line tool appears choppy or ‘stair stepped’, it is likely that snapping to Graph Paper, Guides, or Other Objects is on. Uncheck Graphic > Snap To settings in the main menu to disable snapping and continue drawing. Relative smoothness settings for the Freehand Line tool are available in the Preferences… > Editing.

Ending the path at your first drawn point automatically ends the path and forms a closed-loop path. To open a closed-loop path, hold the CMND-(Apple) key and drag the end point away from the start point.

• To add points on a path, (with a path selected so existing points are shown) choose the Add Point To Path [+] tool and click onto the path where the point is to be added
• To remove points on a path, (with a path selected so existing points are shown) choose the Remove Point From Path [-] tool and click on the point(s) that is to be removed

As needed, double-click a shape to convert it to edit mode to show points.

Use the Style Dropper to quickly pick up a style from an existing object and apply it to other objects, as well as pick up a style from an existing object and continue drawing. Click onto a first object to pick up the style; clicking onto subsequent objects applies the style. The style dropper cursor shows whether dropper is “full" (will drop) or “empty" (will pick up). To pick up a different style while the Style Dropper tool is active, press the OPTION/Alt key while clicking an object with the Style Dropper. The dropper can pick up styles from inside a group of objects.

To copy a style from one object in your drawing to multiple other objects, Select [s] the object and click the Copy Style icon in the toolbar, then Select [s] one or more other objects and click the Paste Style icon in the toolbar.

HINT: To quickly pick-up another object’s style while using a graphic drawing tool, hold the CMND-key to activate the Style Dropper without switching tools.

• To cut a path into two sections, use the Cut Path [u] tool and click onto the path at the location of the cut, or use a cutting motion with the tool
• To join two paths into one path, move the endpoints together then choose the Edit > Paths > Join (CMND-J keyboard shortcut) from the main menu

Three "snap" settings control object location and enable perfect alignment. Go to Graphic > Snap To > Graph Paper, Guides, or Other Objects to enable these snap settings. Snap to graph paper creates an invisible set of evenly spaced invisible hot spots which make the objects subtly move in even increments. Snap to guides creates hot spots along layout guide lines, which the object handles will snap to when active.

HINT: To enable intelligent use of snap settings when graph paper is turned-on or -off, enable "Snap to graph paper when graph paper is visible" in the Preferences… > Editing in the main menu.

HINT: To avoid the Freehand Path tool producing choppy or "stair stepped" lines, make sure Snap To settings are turned off.

When drawing any object, it may be desirable to constrain it in various ways to keep lines perpendicular or at set angles to the page. Holding the SHIFT-key while drawing constrains the line angle to 15-degree increments while drawing, constrains rectangles to squares, and ovals to circles. When resizing an object or object group, holding the SHIFT-key constrains its aspect ratio.

Holding the OPTION key while resizing a shape or group of shapes holds the center point in place.

By default, tools are "sticky" – the tool will remain active until you choose a different tool (active tool will appear highlighted orange).

Depending on the task at hand, having the tools revert immediately back to the Select [s] tool after each use may be preferred. Double-click on any tool to release them from the sticky state (active tool will appear blue or graphite depending on your system ‘appearance’ setting). In the non-sticky state, click a tool to "turn it on" and use it once. Afterward, you’ll revert back to the direct Select [s] tool.

To make non-sticky tools sticky again, double-click on any tool.

Select
Unlike other more complicated software, you can select objects, move vertices, change shapes, and more with a single direct Select [s] tool!

Trackpad pinch-to-zoom gesture are supported to zoom the main view. Trackpad two-finger double-tap gesture is a shortcut for "Zoom To Selection" if there is a selection, or "Zoom To Fit Window" if there isn’t.

Pan
To move across the page, use the track pad or scroll mouse. Alternatively use the Pan [h] tool (hand) to grab, hold down your mouse button, and drag the drawing into position.

To enable quick-pan scrolling while zoomed into a drawing while any tool is active, hold the Spacebar to temporarily activate the Pan tool and drag to reposition your drawing canvas. Releasing the Spacebar reverts automatically to the active tool.

• To zoom-in, click the magnifying glass Zoom In tool and click-and-drag onto your drawing over the area you want to enlarge; click once to enlarge the drawing a click at a time
• To zoom-out, click the Zoom Out tool and click once to reduce the drawing a click at a time

Zoom Shortcuts

• The shortcut for ‘Fit-to window‘ is to double-click the Pan tool
• The shortcut for ‘Actual Size‘ (100%) is to double-click the Zoom In / Out tools

Scroll-wheel mouse zooming

• Holding the Option-key while using a scroll-wheel mouse will zoom in and out of your drawing at the current mouse position
• The Preferences > Options let you invert the scroll-wheel zoom direction as desired

Pinch to zoom

• If your device has a magic trackpad, use standard gestures to pinch to zoom-in and -out

HINT: Shadows are automatically disabled at very high zoom levels (over 800%) for enhanced performance. This setting can be changed in Preferences > Performance in the main menu.

Choose a magnification level from the View pop-up menu at the bottom left of the drawing window. It’s often useful to “fit to window” so that you can see your entire drawing at once.

To zoom to the objected you currently have selected, choose View > Zoom To Selection in the Main Menu.

Also under the main menu, choose View > Zoom In, or View > Zoom Out. To return a drawing to its actual size, choose View > Actual Size. To return a drawing to fit the display window, choose View > Zoom To Fit.

To open the Tools Palette, click the Tools icon on the toolbar, or choose Window > Tools from the main menu.

Note that drawing tools work with both fill and line styles. For example, the Irregular Polygon can create filled areas when applying fill styles and linear objects when applying line styles.

Hold the SHIFT key to maintain the aspect ratio on shapes, for example to make perfect circles and squares, and to constrain the angle on lines, wedges, and arcs.

To make the smoothest paths with the Freehand Path, make sure the Graphic > Snap To… settings are all disabled (unchecked).

A flexible print dialog offers single page and “poster-tiled” printing. Choose File > Print to open the print dialog. Click Show Details to reveal the print options, including “Fit to Single Page,” “Graph Paper,” and “Crop Marks.” Your drawing canvas can be larger than your actual printer paper size – if it is larger you can either “poster-tile” print your drawing over multiple sheets (default), or “Fit to Single Page” when printing. To make sure your printer is set with the proper paper size and page orientation, choose File > Page Setup… before printing.

Printed drawings come in all shapes and sizes, but you are limited by the size of paper in your printer. Drawings can be larger or smaller than the physical paper size that you have in your printer. If the drawing is larger, your drawing is automatically tiled over multiple printed sheets enabling you to print large posters, or ‘shrink to fit’ on a single page. If you’re feeling crafty, tiled sheets can be pieced together manually after printing. Choose "Crop Marks" from the Artboard print options to show the seams between printed sheets.

For best results, consider your purpose and what size you want during drawing setup. For easy setup, use an appropriately sized blank page template by choosing File > New From Template. Blank templates are formatted for common paper sizes. If you need a different sized layout, change settings by choosing File > Drawing Setup in the main menu.

Choose File > Page Setup… from the main menu to define your printer paper size and page orientation.

When tiling large artwork isn’t desired, you can change settings so a drawing will shrink to fit on a single page. Printing options include a simple checkbox for scaling the entire drawing to a single page by choosing File > Print > from the main menu, then checking Fit to a single page in the application print options.

When fitting to a single page, all objects including text will be shrunk to fit.

Alternatively, your drawing can be printed to PDF format. PDF format is the only export option that exports vector graphics that are fully scalable. Common PDF viewers provide various shrink to fit page printing options.

Your drawing files can be exported to PDF, TIFF, JPEG and PNG file formats. PDF is a vector file format created by Adobe Systems and is the native file format for Adobe Illustrator(TM) – except with a different file extension (AI). Drawings exported as PDF are saved as vector files and can be opened and edited by other vector editing software, such as Adobe Illustrator (TM).

Export your entire drawing, or limit the export to the objects you have selected in your drawing by choosing "Selection only."

File format-specific options are available, as well as the option to include the graph paper grid in your export.

When you have one or more objects selected in your drawing, the "Selection Only" option is available from the export menu. When checked, only the selected objects are exported using the designated file format and settings. Note, selected objects must be within the same layer.

TIFF and PNG file formats support preserving background alpha transparency – in other words the background areas within a drawing will be rendered transparent rather than white filled (unless the drawing has all background ares filled with graphic objects). PDF automatically preserves background transparencies.

The Export dialog features an arbitrary scaling factor for raster image types TIF, JPG, and PNG. This effectively allows any desired resolution or image size to be exported.

For best results, consider your purpose and what format you will need during drawing setup. On any given project, determining from the beginning what file format is required is a best practice – particularly if you have publication standards that must be met! In the most general terms, static web graphics require a 72 dpi resolution and will typically use JPEG or PNG formats. Printing for publication typically requires 300 dpi (dots per inch) resolution.

The file formats TIFF, JPEG, and PNG output raster-based graphics files. In general, JPEG and PNG files are useful for making a web images or graphics not intended for printing. For drawings that are primarily represented with vector graphics, PNG will typically give crisper results. ‘PNG’ stands for Portable Network Graphics format, a format for storing bitmapped (raster) images. Interlaced PNG files, though slightly larger file size than non-interlaced, can improve display times on slow (modem) Internet connections – perhaps less of an issue than in the old days. ‘JPEG’ stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group; it’s great for photographs but not really intended for representing vector graphics, thus is recommended when an image (such as a photograph) is the background of your drawing. ‘TIFF’ stands for Tagged Image File Format and is widely supported by image-manipulation applications, by publishing, and page layout applications. TIFF alpha transparency is a supported export option.

Apple’s Preview(TM) application is an excellent tool for viewing and adjusting exported graphics (and is a free application included with the OS). Several functions are available, such as clipping images, adjusting size, and matching image color profiles. A note about viewing exported graphics in Preview: The default preferences for images is to scale them to fit the document window. To view images at their actual size, set the Preview > Preferences > Images to actual size and to respect the image and screen DPI for scale.

‘PDF’ stands for Portable Document Format and is the only export format that produces editable vector-based graphics. Drawings exported to PDF format retain their vector properties and are therefore scalable without loss in resolution. If your drawing will be enlarged or reduced for publication, PDF is our recommended export format. PDF is also a good choice for creating a zoomable image, and for example to view with Adobe Reader(TM) or Apple Preview(TM).

Exported PDF graphics naturally preserve their background transparency. Like other graphic formats, PDFs can be placed as graphics into other software programs, such as Microsoft Word(TM) and Apple Pages(TM), and will respect image wrapping settings. PDF graphics may also be placed into your drawings. For example, use the Image Browser to place a PDF graphic created in one drawing file, into another drawing file. Because it is vector-based, the graphic will scale without loss of resolution in your new document (though PDF files cannot be editted).

HINT: When copying a graphic to open or paste into other software, the image-PDF file format is the system default.

Exported vector PDF files can be edited in other vector drawing software that are enabled to edit PDF, such as Adobe Illustrator(TM). This example shows a drawing that was exported as a PDF file. When opened in Adobe Illustrator, each object is an editable vector graphic, represented here on individual layers.

Note, PDF is a file format created by Adobe Systems and is the native file format for Adobe Illustrator(TM) – except with a different file extension (AI). As needed, you can change the file extension from .pdf to .ai without affecting the file contents.

Artboard delivers with dozens of templates for backgrounds, blank standard paper, and popular layouts. Choose File > Template > New From Template… from the main menu. Choose a template as desired, or "Cancel" to skip templates. Check "Show this window at launch" if you wish to be presented with the template window each time you open Artboard. This setting can also be turned on and off in Artboard > Preferences in the main menu.

User templates are accessed under "My Templates" (use File > Templates… > Save Copy As Template to create your own templates).

Note that templates are of varying paper sizes, some of which are sized for poster (tiled) printing or can be shrunk to fit to a single page upon printing.

Open a new file from template. Within any given template, drawing objects are placed on different layers to keep objects organized. Click onto a layer to make it active. Use the Select [s] tool and click an object within the active layer to select it. You can add or delete objects using the drawing tools.

To edit text, use the Select [s] tool and double-click the text to edit it.

Note, if you need to access user-created template files to rename or back-up your files, they are saved to a special folder located at ~/Library/Application Support/com.mapdiva.artboard/My Templates, where ~ is your home directory. In Mac OS 10.7 and later, you can right-click a user template within the Template Window and choose "Reveal In Finder".

Artboard is optimized for Mac OS 10.8 “Mountain Lion”, including auto-saving and versions. Auto-save will periodically save your work for you (these features require at least OS 10.7+ "Lion"). Choose File > Save… to manually save your file. Choose File > Duplicate to create a new file that is a copy of the current file. Note, if you prefer not to use Autosave and Versions you can disable it under Artboard > Preferences > Options.

In OS "Lion" Apple removed the "Save As" dialog in the standard File menus and replaced it with "Duplicate." With the release of OS 10.8 "Mountain Lion", Apple has returned the "Save As" file dialog (yippie!). In the File menu, hold down the Option-key to change Duplicate to Save As.

Templates are master documents that, when opened, provide a copy of the file as a new document. Template files can be used over and over again. To save a copy of a drawing file as a template for re-use, choose File > Templates > Save Copy As Template… from the main menu. Next time you open File > Templates > New From Template you will see your saved template files.

Note: If you need to access your template files to rename or back-up the files, they are saved to a special folder:

• In Mac OS 10.6 – located at ~/Library/Application Support/com.mapdiva.artboard/My Templates, where ~ is your home directory.
• In Mac OS 10.7 and greater, you can right-click a user template within the Template Window and choose "Reveal In Finder".
• In OS 10.8 these files are moved to the Artboard Sandbox located at ~/Library/Containers/com.mapdiva.as.artboard/Data/Library/Application Support/com.mapdiva.as.artboard/My Templates

Layout is a key aspect to good design. Guides are used extensively during layout to keep objects properly aligned. Guides are placed on a Guide layer.

With the Rulers visible (View > Show Rulers & Format Bar from the main menu), drag from a ruler onto your drawing canvas. A guide will be placed. Multiple guides can be placed, and the layer can be made visible or hidden from the layers list. Guides are not printed.

With the Guide layer active, click onto a guide and drag it into desired position. Constrain guides to the Graph Paper divisions by holding the SHIFT key while moving a guide. To keep objects and text aligned to the guides, choose Graphic > Snap To Guides from the main menu. When you are finished, click back onto a drawing layer to make it active and continue drawing.

Drag a guide off the canvas area onto a ruler to delete it.

Open the Drawing Setup window by choosing File > Drawing Size & Units… from the main menu.

Choose your drawing units, for example inches, centimeters, or points, from the drop-down list. Enter the width (w) and height (h) of your canvas size. When creating a drawing for the printed page, enter the paper size and check "Subtract paper margins." You can access the printer Page Setup… from this menu to change printer paper size and orientation.

Background let you choose from a selection of colors or textures to use as a background.

A layer called "Graph Paper" is included in all new drawings, and by default it is not visible. To turn on graph paper from the Layers list, click to activate the “show” (eye) icon on the Graph Paper layer to make it visible.

The graph paper layer is customizable through the Graph Paper pane in the Drawing Setup dialog. Open File > Graph Paper… from the main menu. Graph paper shows a Cartesian standard grid by default. Optionally, Artboard can display an isometric grid to assist with drawing in perspective. Grid line spacing, colors, and rulers are customizable. Note, object drawing can be set to snap to graph paper grid by choosing Graphic > Snap To > Graph Paper from the main menu.

Open the preferences menu to enable snapping to grid automatically when graph paper is visible.