1<table width="100%"> 2<tbody> 3<tr> 4<td width="33%"><a href="../wxdkdraw/" title="wxdkdraw">← Previous</a></td> 5<td><a href="../Home/#programs" title="Programs table of contents">↑ Programs TOC</a></td> 6<td width="33%"><a href="../wxd2lat/" title="wxd2lat">→ Next</a></td> 7</tr> 8</tbody> 9</table> 10 11[TOC] 12 13--- 14 15# Overview 16 17Wxdkdraw is a minimalistic drawing program for use in LaTeX environments. You can use it for all drawing types placing graphic objects on a grid. 18 19The [wxd2lat] program converts wxdkdraw drawings to file formats for use with (pdf)LaTeX. 20 21--- 22 23# Concepts 24 25## Mode controlled 26 27In wxdkdraw you specify the operation first, operands (objects to operate on) later. On operation selection the program activates an appropriate mode, so you can select suitable objects only. 28 29## Highlighting 30 31Once you choosed an operation and you are about to select an object, selection candidates are highlighted while you move the mouse. The following colours are used for highlighting: 32 33* Green<br>for copying objects, 34* Blue<br>for moving and modifying objects, and 35* Red<br>for deleting objects. 36 37Highlighting means the object is drawn in the highlighting colour. Additionally the control points are marked by squares larger than the line width, so you can identify highlighted objects even when object colour and highlighting colour are the same. 38For point-related operations the entire object is marked in light blue, a small square is used to highlight the candidate control point. 39 40## Coordinates 41 42The origin is in the lower left corner, <i>x</i> values grow to the left, <i>y</i> values grow upwards. 43Coordinates are saved as 32 bit signed integers. 44 45## Drawing size 46 47Wxdkdraw does not use fixed paper sizes for drawings. You can choose any drawing size you need and change the drawing size as often as necessary. The drawing size is saved in the drawing file as <i>x</i> coordinates for left and right border and <i>y</i> coordinates for bottom and top border. 48 49## Grid 50 51The optical grid is shown by horizontal and vertical lines. 52You can choose an inch-based or a centimeter-based grid. 53For zoom factor 1 (100%) the optical grid step is a half inch for inch-based grids, 1 centimeter for centimeter-based grids. 54 55Each optical grid step is divided into 4 or 5 steps to build the magnetic grid (or snap grid). All graphic objects are aligned to the magnetic grid. 56 57Both optical grid and magnetic grid are dynamic: If you change the zoom factor (i.e. when zooming into the drawing) grid steps follow the zoom factor. 58So zooming into the drawing not only allows a more detailed view, it also allows more detailed drawing. 59 60## Groups 61 62You can combine graphic objects to groups. A copy, move, delete, flip or rotate operation affects the entire group. 63 64 65## Style attributes 66 67In addition to coordinates graphic elements contain representation information: layer, stroke colour, line width, line style, join style, cap style, forward and backward arrowheads, fill colour, fill style, LaTeX text option, text alignment, font, text size and rotation. 68 69### Default style attributes 70 71The default style attributes are assigned to all new objects at creation time. 72 73If you plan to create multiple graphic objects in same style, you should set up the default style attributes first before creating the objects. 74 75### Layer 76 77Each graphic object is placed on a layer. The layer number is a signed 16 bit integer number. Lower numbers are for deeper layers, larger numbers for upper layers. 78Graphic objects in lower layers are drawn first, objects in upper layers are drawn later. Objects in upper layers can cover or hide objects in deeper layers. 79 80### Stroke colour and fill colour 81 82The additive RGB colour model is used internally. 83You can choose colours from a palette or use the system colour chooser dialog. Colours from palettes can be lightened (mixed against white) and darkened (mixed against black). 84 85### Line width 86 87The line width is specified in unsigned integer multiples of the base line width. The base line width is 1/160 inch. 88Line width 2 in wxdkdraw corresponds to line width 1 in XFig. 89 90### Line style 91 92The following line styles are available: 93 94* solid line 95* dashed line 96* dotted line 97* dash dot line 98* dash dot dot line 99* dash dot dot dot line 100 101The style value configures the dash length in multiples of the line length. 4 is a reasonable value in most situations. 102 103### Join style 104 105The following join styles are available: 106 107* mitered 108* rounded 109* beveled 110 111### Line cap style 112 113The following line cap styles are available: 114 115* butted 116* rounded 117* projecting 118 119### Arrowheads 120 12130 different arrowheads (including "no arrowhead") are available. Most arrowheads require to specify arrowhead length and width (in multiples of the line width). 122 123### Fill style 124 125In addition to "no fill" and "colour fill" you can choose from a number of fill patterns. 126 127### LaTeX text 128 129The "LaTeX" option chooses how to convert a text label to LaTeX output. For LaTeX text no conversion of special characters to LaTeX commands is applied. No information about font type and size is written to output. 130 131### Text alignment 132 133Text alignment choices are: 134 135* left 136* centered 137* right 138 139### Font 140 141For non-LaTeX text there are 35 fonts available. 142 143### Font size 144 145For non-LaTeX text you can specify a text size in pt. 146 147### Rotation 148 149For texts and ellipses you can specify a rotation counterclockwise in degree. 150 151## Compromises in screen representation 152 153WYSIWYG is not completely available in wxdkdraw, some graphic objects are drawn simplified to keep the wxdkdraw program responsive. 154 155### Arrowheads 156 157In LaTeX output lines are shortened so arrowheads end in the specified end point of the line. Wxdkdraw does not shorten lines. 158In LaTeX output curved arrowheads are produced on curved lines (arcs and splines). In wxdkdraw simple straight arrowheads are used. 159 160### Text labels 161 162In wxdkdraw texts are not shown in the font configured, a font with similar features is used instead. 163For LaTeX text labels the screen text is shown instead of the export text. 164 165--- 166 167# Graphic elements 168 169The following types of graphic objects are available: 170 171* Lines and polylines 172* Polygons 173* Rectangular boxes (with and without rounded corners) 174* Circles 175* Ellipses 176* Arcs (both open arcs and closed arcs - pie slices) 177* Open and closed X-splines 178* Dots 179* Pins 180* Text labels 181* Embedded bitmap images 182* Groups (Graphic elements can be combined to groups. Copy, move, delete, flip and rotate operations affect the entire group). 183* Library elements<br>You can read an existing *.wxd drawing as library element into your drawing. When inserting a library element, it appears as a group in the new drawing. 184 185--- 186 187# Main window 188 189[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc01.png" alt="wxdkdraw main window" title="wxdkdraw main window"]] 190 191In addition to menu and drawing area the main window contains some groups of controls. 192 193<a name="filebuttons" id="filebuttons"></a> 194## File buttons 195 196[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc02.png" alt="File buttons" title="File buttons"]] 197 198* Button <b>Open file</b> 199* Button <b>Save file</b> 200 201<a name="zoomcontrols" id="zoomcontrols"></a> 202## Zoom controls 203 204[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc03.png" alt="Zoom controls" title="Zoom controls"]] 205 206* Text label <b>Zoom factor</b> 207* Button <b>Zoom in</b> 208* Button <b>Zoom out</b> 209* Button <b>Reset zoom</b> 210 211After zooming out or resetting zoom I recommend to use the "View → Center view" menu item 212 213<a name="gridcontrols" id="gridcontrols"></a> 214## Grid controls 215 216[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc04.png" alt="Grid controls" title="Grid controls"]] 217 218* Option <b>Grid</b> 219* Choice <b>Grid unit</b> 220* Choice <b>Snap grid intervals</b> 221 222<a name="placementhelp" id="placementhelp"></a> 223## Placement help 224 225[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc05.png" alt="Placement help" title="Placement help"]] 226 227* Option <b>Placement help</b> 228 229<a name="createobjects" id="createobjects"></a> 230## Create objects buttons 231 232[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc06.png" alt="Object buttons" title="Object buttons"]] 233 234* Button <b>Polyline</b> 235* Button <b>Polygon</b> 236* Button <b>Rectangular box</b> 237* Button <b>Rounded box</b> 238* Button <b>Circle</b> 239* Button <b>Ellipse</b> 240* Button <b>Open arc</b> 241* Button <b>Closed arc</b> 242* Button <b>Open approximated spline</b> 243* Button <b>Closed approximated spline</b> 244* Button <b>Open interpolated spline</b> 245* Button <b>Closed interpolated spline</b> 246* Button <b>Connection dot</b> 247* Button <b>Pin dot</b> 248* Button <b>Text label</b> 249* Button <b>Image</b> 250* Button <b>Library element</b> 251 252<a name="cmdbuttons" id="cmdbuttons"></a> 253## CMD buttons 254 255[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc07.png" alt="CMD buttons" title="CMD buttons"]] 256 257* Button <b>Copy object</b> 258* Button <b>Move object</b> 259* Button <b>Delete object</b> 260 261<a name="pointmodifications" id="pointmodifications"></a> 262## Point modification controls 263 264[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc08.png" alt="Point modification controls" title="Point modification controls"]] 265 266* Button <b>Add point</b> 267* Button <b>Remove point</b> 268* Button <b>Move point</b> 269* Choice <b>Point move mode</b> 270* Button <b>Modify spline point <i>s</i> value</b> 271 272<a name="flipandrotate" id="flipandrotate"></a> 273## Flip and rotate buttons 274 275[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc09.png" alt="Flip and rotate buttons" title="Flip and rotate buttons"]] 276 277* Button <b>Flip horizontally</b> 278* Button <b>Flip vertically</b> 279* Button <b>Rotate object 90 degree to the left</b> 280* Button <b>Rotate object 90 degree to the right</b> 281 282<a name="editobjectdetails" id="editobjectdetails"></a> 283## Edit object details button 284 285[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc10.png" alt="Object details button" title="Object details button"]] 286 287* Button <b>Object details</b> 288 289<a name="groupingandungrouping" id="groupingandungrouping"></a> 290## Grouping and ungrouping buttons 291 292[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc11.png" alt="Grouping and ungrouping buttons" title="Grouping and ungrouping buttons"]] 293 294* Button <b>Group objects, select one by one</b> 295* Button <b>Group objects, select by region</b> 296* Button <b>Resolve group</b> 297 298<a name="changedrawingsize" id="changedrawingsize"></a> 299## Change drawing size button 300 301[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc12.png" alt="Change drawing size button" title="Change drawing size button"]] 302 303* Button <b>Drawing size</b> 304 305<a name="stylecontrols" id="stylecontrols"></a> 306## Style controls 307 308<a name="layercontrol" id="layercontrol"></a> 309### Layer control 310 311[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc13.png" alt="Layer control" title="Layer control"]] 312 313* Spin control <b>Layer number</b><br>Here you can modify the layer number. 314 315<a name="linestylecontrols" id="linestylecontrols"></a> 316### Line style controls 317 318[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc14.png" alt="Line style controls" title="Line style controls"]] 319 320* Colour view <b>Line and text colour</b><br>The current line and text colour is shown. Click on the colour view to open a palette based colour chooser. Right-click on colour view to open the systems colour chooser. 321* Spin control <b>Line width</b><br>Here you can modify the line width. 322* Button <b>Line style</b><br>The button image shows the current line style. Click the button to open the "Line style" dialog. Here you can choose solid line, dashed line, dotted line, dash dot line, dash dot dot line, or dash dot dot dot line. For styles with dashes involved another dialog is shown asking for the style value. This is the dash length in multiples of the line length. 323* Button <b>Line join style</b><br>The button image shows the current line join style. Click the button to open the "Line join" dialog. Here you can choose "Mitered", "Rounded", or "Beveled". For "Mitered" another dialog comes up asking for the miter limit. This is the maximum value for (distance between inner edges intersection and outer edges intersection) divided by line width. 324* Button <b>Line cap style</b><br>The button image shows the current line cap style. Click the button to open the "Line cap" dialog. Here you can choose "Butted", "Rounded", or "Projecting". 325* Button <b>Arrowhead forward</b><br>The button image shows the current arrowhead. Click the button to open the "Arrow type" dialog. Here you can choose between "no arrow" and 29 arrowheads and line end symbols. 326* Button <b>Arrowhead backward</b> 327 328 329<a name="fillstylecontrols" id="fillstylecontrols"></a> 330### Fill style controls 331 332[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc15.png" alt="Fill style controls" title="Fill style controls"]] 333 334* Colour view <b>Fill colour</b><br>The current fill colour is shown here. Click on the colour view to open a palette base colour chooser. Right-click on the colour view to open the systems colour chooser. 335* Button <b>Fill style</b><br>The button image shows the current file style. Click the button to open the fill style dialog. Here you can choose between "No fill", "Pure colour fill" and 22 fill patterns. 336 337<a name="textstylecontrols" id="textstylecontrols"></a> 338### Text style controls 339 340[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc16.png" alt="Text style controls" title="Text style controls"]] 341 342* Option <b>LaTeX</b><br>Set and reset the feature "LaTeX text". 343* Button <b>Text alignment</b><br>The button image shows the current text alignment. Click the button to open the "Text align" dialog. 344* Button <b>Font name</b><br>The button image shows the font currently used. Click the button to open the "Text font" dialog. In this dialog you can choose a font family first. For most families additional options (normal/bold, upright/italic,oblique) are available. 345* Spin control <b>Font size</b><br>Modify the text size. 346 347<a name="rotationcontrol" id="rotationcontrol"></a> 348### Rotation control 349 350[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc17.png" alt="Rotation control" title="Rotation control"]] 351 352* Spin control <b>Rotation</b><br>For text and ellipse objects you can specify a rotation counterclockwise in degree. 353 354<a name="mousebuttonhints" id="mousebuttonhints"></a> 355## Mouse button hints 356 357[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc18.png" alt="Mouse button hints" title="Mouse button hints"]] 358 359* Text label <b>L:</b> 360* Text label <b>M:</b> 361* Text label <b>R:</b> 362 363The texts show the actions you can perform using the mouse buttons. 364 365<a name="coordinatestexts" id="coordinatestexts"></a> 366## Coordinates 367 368[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc19.png" alt="Coordinates" title="Coordinates"]] 369 370* Text label <b>X:</b> 371* Text label <b>Y:</b> 372 373The cursor position is shown here in the unit choosen for the grid. 374 375<a name="statusline" id="statusline"></a> 376## Status line 377 378[[img src="wxdkdraw-sc20.png" alt="Status line" title="Status line"]] 379 380* Text label 381 382For some operating modes the status line shows additional information. 383 384--- 385 386# Procedures 387 388## Operations on the entire drawing 389 390### Open drawing 391 392Click the <b>Open file</b> button. If the current drawing contains unsaved changes you are asked whether you want to save the drawing. 393 394The file chooser dialog "Open drawing" is shown. Choose the *.wxd file you want to open. 395 396### Save drawing 397 398Click the <b>Save file</b> button. If the file name is not yet known, a file chooser dialog is shown to specify the file name. 399 400If the drawing was saved successfully, the "unsaved changes" marker - an asterisk before the file name in the window title - is removed. 401 402### Change drawing size 403 404Click the <b>Drawing size</b> button. The program goes to the "select drawing size corner" mode. The drawing size is shown by a blue rectangle. 405 406Click one of the corner points to move it. The corner point is attached to the mouse. The program goes to "place corner point" mode. 407 408Click on the new position to place the corner point. The program goes back to "select drawing size corner" mode. You can either select another corner point to move or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 409 410After changing the drawing size I recommend to use the "View → Center View" menu item. 411 412Typically you choose a drawing size larger than needed while drawing. When the drawing is finished, reduce the drawing size to the region really needed. 413 414## Operations on existing objects 415 416### Style changes 417 418When wxdkdraw is started, the program is in "no operation" mode and has no object currently selected. 419The style controls are connected to the default styles, so you can modify the default values assigned to new objects. 420 421When moving the mouse across the drawing objects near to the mouse are hightlighted as selection candidates. Click the mouse to select an object. The control points of the selected object are highlighted by stroked blue squares, the style controls are connected to the selected element. You can now use the style controls to modify the object. 422Click on another object to select it for modifications or right-click to unselect all objects. 423 424### Copy object 425 426Click the <b>Copy object</b> button. The program goes to "select object to copy" mode. 427 428Move the mouse to the object you want to copy. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in green colour to indicate: A mouse click will not modify any existing object. 429 430Click the object you want to copy. The program goes to "place copy" mode. The copy is attached to the mouse, move the copy to the intended position and click to place the copy. 431 432The program goes back to "select object to copy" mode. You can either select another object to copy or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 433 434### Move object 435 436Click the <b>Move object</b> button. The program goes to "select object to move" mode. 437 438Move the mouse to the object you want to move. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in blue colour to indicate: A mouse click will apply changes to existing objects. 439 440Click the object you want to move. The program goes to "move object" mode. The object is attached to the mouse, move it to the intended position and click to place the object. 441 442The program goes back to "select object to move" mode. You can either select another object to move or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 443 444### Delete object 445 446Click the <b>Delete object</b> button. The program goes to "delete" mode. 447 448Move the mouse to the object you want to move. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in red colour to indicate: A mouse click will delete the object. 449 450Click the object(s) to delete. 451 452Right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 453 454### Add points to polylines, polygons and splines 455 456Click the <b>Add point</b> button. The program goes to "select order to add point". Selection candidate objects are highlighted in light blue to indicate: Object will be modified. The neighbour(s) of the new point are highlighted in green to indicate: Something is to be added to the drawing. 457 458Place the mouse near a control point to select the neighbour point(s) and click. The program goes to "place new point" mode. 459 460You can now click to place the new point on the desired position. The program switches back to "select order to add point" mode. You can either add further points or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 461 462### Delete points from polylines, polygons and splines 463 464Click the <b>Delete point</b> button. The program goes to "delete point" mode. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in light blue to indicate: Object will be modified. The candidate point is highlighted in red colour to indicate: On mouse click this point is deleted. 465 466Click on the point(s) you want to delete. 467 468Right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 469 470### Move control points 471 472You can move control points of any object. For circles moving a control point results in changing the radius. For ellipses moving a control point results in changing radii and rotation. For connection dots, pin dots, and texts moving the control point results in moving the object. For all other objects moving a control point results in a changed shape. 473 474Click the <b>Move point</b> button. The program goes to "select point to move" mode. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in light blue to indicate: Object will be modified. The candidate point is highlighted in blue colour. 475 476Click the point to move. The program goes to "place moved point" mode. Depending on the <b>Point move mode</b> choice the point is immediately moved to the cursor position and follows move movements (snap) or follows the relative position change of the mouse (relative). 477 478Click on the desired position to place the point. The program goes back to "select point to move" mode. So you can either select another point to move or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 479 480### Set spline <i>s</i> value 481 482Click the <b>Modify spline point <i>s</i> value</b> button. 483 484Click the spline point to modify. The "Spline s value" dialog is shown, here you can modify the value. 485 486After finishing the dialog the program is still in "modify <i>s</i> value" mode. So you can either select another spline point to modify or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 487 488### Flip objects 489 490Click the <b>Flip horizontally</b> or <b>Flip vertically</b> button. The program goes to the "flip object" mode. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in blue. 491 492Click the object(s) you want to flip. 493 494Right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 495 496### Rotate objects 497 498Click the <b>Rotate object 90 degree to the left</b> or the <b>Rotate object 90 degree to the right</b> button. The program goes to "rotate object" mode. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in blue. 499 500Click on the object(s) you want to rotate. The control point of the object you clicked is used as pivot point. You can click multiple times to rotate by 180 or 270 degree. 501 502Right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 503 504When rotating an embedded image, either directly or as part of a group, only the coordinates for image area are rotated, not the image itself. 505 506### Modify object details 507#### Rounded corner radius for rectangular boxes 508 509Click the <b>Object details</b> button. The program goes to "modify object details" mode. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in blue. 510 511Click on the box you want to modify. The "Box options" dialog is shown. Use the slider to modify the corner radius, confirm by clicking the "OK" button. Setting the radius to 0 will make the box rectangular without rounded corner. 512 513When returning from the dialog the program is still in "modify object details" mode. You can either modify further object details or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 514 515#### Connection dot diameter 516 517Click the <b>Object details</b> button. The program goes to "modify object details" mode. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in blue. 518 519Click on the dot you want to modify. The "Dot options" dialog is shown. In the "Diameter" spin control you can specify the dot diameter in multiples of the base line width. 520 521When returning from the dialog the program is still in "modify object details" mode. You can either modify further object details or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 522 523#### Pin dot diameter and line width 524 525Click the <b>Object details</b> button. The program goes to "modify object details" mode. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in blue. 526 527Click on the dot you want to modify. The "Dot options" dialog is shown. In the "Diameter" spin control you can specify the dot diameter in multiples of the base line width. In the "Line width" spin control you can specify the line width in multiples of the base line width. 528 529When returning from the dialog the program is still in "modify object details" mode. You can either modify further object details or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 530 531 532#### Texts 533 534Click the <b>Object details</b> button. The program goes to "modify object details" mode. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in blue. 535 536Click on the text label you want to modify. The "Text input" dialog is shown. In the "Export text" text field you can modify the text written to LaTeX output. For LaTeX texts you can modify the text shown on screen in the "Screen text" text field. 537 538When returning from the dialog the program is still in "modify object details" mode. You can either modify further object details or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 539 540#### Image file name and options 541 542Click the <b>Object details</b> button. The program goes to "modify object details" mode. Selection candidate objects are highlighted in blue. 543 544Click on the image to modify. A file chooser dialog "Choose image" is shown. Here you can select another image file. 545 546Next the "Image options" dialog is shown. Image options are used by the wxd2lat program when converting the drawing to output for LaTeX. 547 548Option|Purpose 549------|------- 550RGB to gray|Select the method to convert RGB to gray if gray output is wanted. 551Keep aspect ratio|You can either keep the aspect ratio, probably leaving some parts of the image area unused or use the full image area showing the image probably distorted. 552Use alpha channel|An alpha channel can be used or ignored if present. Using the alpha channel means mixing foreground data against a background using alpha channel data as opacity. Ignoring the alpha channel results in just using the foreground pixel data. 553DCT data|DCT encoded data from JPEG files can be re-used directly when producing PDF or EPS output. This results in shorter conversion time and smaller output than uncompressing the image and recompressing it to flate or LZW compression.<br>Note: Re-using DCT data means embedding the entire JPEG file into output including EXIF data like locations, timestamps... 554Image interpolation|Set image interpolation flag. This flag allows rendering programs to attempt to optimize the image representation. 555Image interpolation for DCT data|For DCT compressed data the interpolation flag should not be necessary as DCT compression and decompression already results in some smoothing. 556Enforce background|An image file can contain both an alpha channel and a background chunk containing the background colour. Here we have to choose whether to use the background chunk data or the fill colour specified in the drawing. 557 558When returning from the dialog the program is still in "modify object details" mode. You can either modify further object details or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 559 560### Group objects 561 562#### Select objects one by one 563 564Click the <b>Group objects, select one by one</b> button. The program goes to "group single objects" mode. 565 566Click all the objects you want to add to the group. Group member candidates are highlighted in black. If you accidently clicked a wrong object, click it again to remove it from the selection list. 567 568Click into some empty space in the drawing (no candidate highlighted). This indicates: Element selection finished, create group. 569 570The program remains in "group single objects" mode. So you can either click other elements to build yet another group or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 571 572#### Select objects by region 573 574Click the <b>Group objects, select by region</b> button. The program goes to "group region, first point" mode. 575 576Click one corner point of the rectangular region containing the objects to group. The program goes to "group region, second point" mode. 577 578Click the opposite corner of the region. The group is finished, the program goes back to "group region, first point" mode. You can either start a new group or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 579 580### Ungroup objects 581 582Click the <b>Resolve group</b> button. The program goes to "resolve group" mode. 583 584Click the groups you want to resolve/ungroup. 585 586Right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 587 588## Create objects 589 590Before creating objects you probably want to use the style controls to set up default style values for the new objects. 591 592### Create line or polyline 593 594Click the <b>Polyline</b> button. The program goes to "add first polyline point" mode. 595 596Click on the start position of the line. The program goes to "add further polyline point" mode. 597 598Click on the further points of the polyline, including the final point. 599 600Right-click to indicate the line or polyline was finished. The program goes back to "add first polyline point" mode. You can either click to start another polyline input or right-click once more to go back to "no operation" mode. 601 602### Create polygon 603 604Click the <b>Polygon</b> button. The program goes to "add first polygon point" mode. 605 606Click on the first polygon point. The program goes to "add further polygon point" mode. 607 608Click on the further points of the polygon, including the final point. 609 610Right-click to indicate the polygon was finished. The program goes back to "add first polygon point" mode. You can either click to start another polygon input or right-click once more to go back to "no operation" mode. 611 612### Create rectangular box 613 614Click the <b>Rectangular box</b> button. The program goes to "add first box point" mode. 615 616Click on one intended corner point of the box. The program goes to "add second box point" mode. 617 618Click on the opposite corner point. The box is finished, the program goes back to "add first box point" mode. You can either click to start the next box input or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 619 620### Create rectangular box with rounded corners 621 622Click the <b>Rounded box</b> button. The program goes to "add first box point" mode. 623 624Click on one intended corner point of the box. The program goes to "add second box point" mode. 625 626Click on the opposite corner point. The box is finished, the program automatically selects a corner radius, one quarter of the smaller side length. 627 628The program goes back to "add first box point" mode. You can either click to start the next box input or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 629 630### Create circle 631 632Click the <b>Circle</b> button. The program goes to "circle center" mode. 633 634Click on the intended center point of the circle. The program goes to "circle radius" mode. 635 636Click on any point of your intended circle. The circle is finished, the program goes back to "circle center" mode. You can either click the next center point to add a further circle or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 637 638### Create ellipse 639 640Click the <b>Ellipse</b> button. The program goes to "ellipse center" mode. 641 642Click on the intended center point of the ellipse. The program goes to "ellipse radii" mode. 643 644Clock on one corner point of the ellipses bounding box to specify both radii at once. The ellipse is finished, the program goes back to "ellipse center" mode. You can either click the next center point to add a further ellipse or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 645 646### Create open arc 647 648Click the <b>Open arc</b> button. The program goes to "first arc point" mode. 649 650Click on the arcs start point. The program goes to "second arc point" mode. 651 652Click on a point the circular arc traverses. The program goes to "third arc point" mode. 653 654Click on the final point. The arc is finished, the program goes back to "first arc point" mode. You can either click the start point of a further arc or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 655 656### Create closed arc 657 658Same procedure as for open arc, but use the <b>Closed arc</b> button. 659 660### Create open spline 661 662Use the <b>Open approximated splin</b> or <b>Open interpolated spline"</b> button. The program goes to "first spline point" mode. 663 664Click on the first control point. The program goes to "further spline point" mode. 665 666Click on the remaining spline points, including the final one. 667 668Right-click to indicate the spline is finished. The program goes back to "first spline point" mode. You can either click to start adding a further spline or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 669 670### Create closed spline 671 672Use the <b>Closed approximated splin</b> or <b>Closed interpolated spline"</b> button. The program goes to "first spline point" mode. 673 674Click on the first control point. The program goes to "further spline point" mode. 675 676Click on the remaining spline points, including the final one. 677 678Right-click to indicate the spline is finished. The program goes back to "first spline point" mode. You can either click to start adding a further spline or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 679 680### Create dot 681 682Before creating a dot you probably want to use the "Options → New objects" menu item to set the default dot diameter. 683 684Click the <b>Connection dot</b> button. The program goes to "add dot" mode. 685 686Click on all desired dot positions. 687 688Right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 689 690### Create pin 691 692Click the <b>Pin dot</b> button. The program goes to "add dot" mode. 693 694Click on all desired dot positions. 695 696Right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 697 698### Create text label 699 700Click the <b>Text label</b> button. The program goes to "add text" mode. 701 702Click on the anchor point for the text label. The "Text input" dialog is shown. In the "Export text" text field enter the text written to LaTeX output. For LaTeX texts you can enter a different text shown on screen in the "Screen text" text field. 703 704After closing the dialog the program goes back to "add text" mode. So you can either click an anchor point position to add a further text or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 705 706### Embed image 707 708Click the <b>Image</b> button. The program goes to "first image point" mode. 709 710Click one corner point of the image area. The program goes to "second image point" mode. 711 712Click the opposite corner of the image area. The file chooser dialog "Choose image" is shown. Choose the image file. 713 714The program goes back to "first image point" mode. You can either click another corner point to insert a further image or right-click to go back to "no operation" mode. 715 716### Insert library element 717 718Click the <b>Library element</b> button. The file chooser dialog "Choose library element" is shown. Choose the *.wxd file you want to use as library element. The program goes to "place library element" mode. 719 720Use the mouse to move the library element to the desired position and click to place the element. 721While initially placing the symbol you can use the "r" key to rotate the symbol counterclockwise. Use the "v" and "h" keys to flip the symbol vertically or horizontally. These keys are only available when placing a symbol initially. They are not available in later placements, i.e. in copy or move operations. 722 723The file chooser dialog is shown again. You can either choose a file to place yet another library element or cancel the dialog to go back to "no operation" mode. 724 725When opened the first time, the file chooser dialog is in the wxdkdraw library root directory. Here you can find one ore more subdirectories "IN-4", "IN-5", "CM-4" or "CM-5". The directory names correspond to grid settings (inch/cm, 4/5 magnetic grid steps per optical grid step). 726I recommend to only import library elements with grid settings equal to current drawing. 727 728--- 729 730# Options 731 732## Colours 733 734The colours used for border, drawing background, grid, placement help, highlighting objects, and highlighting missing image file can be changed. 735 736## New objects 737 738For colour filled dots and white filled dots you can specify a default diameter to use when creating new dots. The diameter is specified in integer multiples of the base line width. 739 740## Screen representation 741 742### Texts 743 744*Exact fonts* 745By default text labels are shown in a font similar to the font configured for the label. A font matching the combination of roman/sans-serif/typewriter, normal/bold, and upright/italic is used. 746The "Exact fonts" option searches for a better matching font but uses the similar font as fallback if no better font is found. 747The recommended value for this option is: off. 748 749### Splines 750 751*Bezier segments per X-spline sub-segment* 752X-splines use 5<sup>th</sup> degree functions, Bezier splines use 3<sup>rd</sup> degree functions. As our file format uses X-splines but screen drawing operations are available for Bezier splines, we use multiple Bezier segments to draw each X-spline segment. 753You can modify the number of Bezier splines used to draw an X-spline segment in the range 2 to 32, the recommended value is 4. 754 755### Point add / delete / move / modify operations 756 757*Reduce markup size* 758For operations on an entire object the objects control points are marked by squares larger than the line width. So you can easily identify a selection candidate even if the object colour is the same as the highlighting colour. 759For operations on one control point of an object we need to identify one unique point even if the line is wide and the control points are close to each other. So small squares are used to highlight control points. 760The recommended value for this option is: on. 761 762## Reset all options 763 764This menu item resets all options and the style defaults to the programs default values. 765 766--- 767 768# FAQ 769 770## Drawing size 771 772### Which drawing sizes can be used in wxdkdraw? 773 774Drawings in wxdkdraw are not bound to paper sizes, you can choose any drawing size you want. The drawing size configured in wxdkdraw is used as bounding box for (E)PS output or crop box for PDF output. 775The coordinates used in wxdkdraw allow drawing sizes up to 264 inches (670 centimeters). If you want to use non-negative coordinates only, the drawing size is limited to 132 inches (335 centimeters). 776 777### When do I have to set the drawing size? 778 779You can change the drawing size as often as needed. 780I prefer to set the drawing size finally when everything is drawn. So I can set the drawing size to include all graphic elements and a little space at all borders. 781 782### Which drawing sizes do I use to create icons and toolbar images? 783 784To produce an icon file for a program I recommend a 1 inch × 1 inch square. 785To produce an XPM file for a toolbar button I recommend a rectangle 1 inch wide, 15/16 inches high. 786 787## Text 788 789### What is the difference between LaTeX text labels and non-LaTeX text labels? 790 791For LaTeX text labels the text is transferred to LaTeX output "as is". When producing an object no font or text size information is written to LaTeX output. When the object is used in a TeX document, text labels in the illustration use the same font and size as the document text. 792 793For non-LaTeX text labels all characters not allowed as text in LaTeX (i.e. percent sign, underscore, german umlauts...) are replaced by appropriate LaTeX commands. 794When producing an object a font with similar features is selected, the size is used as configured in the text label. 795When producing a document, the exact font and size is used as configured in the text label. 796 797### Are there limits on non-LaTeX text labels? 798 799The translation of illegal characters to LaTeX commands is table based, files \*.t2l in the /usr/share/dktools/charmap directory assign LaTeX commands to Unicode characters. At this time there is only support for some European languages. 800 801### What is the difference between "Export text" and "Screen text"? 802 803For LaTeX text labels you can enter two texts. 804The "Export text" is the text written to LaTeX output by the wxd2lat program. 805The "Screen text" is the text shown on screen by wxdkdraw. 806If the export text contains longer instructions like "\(R_{\text{C}}\)" the text may overlap other graphic elements on screen. So for better overview it is better to specify a shorter screen text "RC". 807 808## Export 809 810### How do I convert drawings for use with LaTeX? 811 812The wxd2lat program converts wxdkdraw drawings to formats for use with LaTeX. You can either produce objects or documents. 813An object is a file or file pair you can use in a LaTeX document as illustration for your text. 814A document is a file or file pair you can directly process using pdflatex resulting in a PDF file. 815 816### How do I convert the resulting PDF files to other formats? 817 818See [Graphics conversion hints](gxhints:wiki:Home) for suggestions. 819 820### Is there an "Export" option in wxdkdraw? 821 822No, it isn't. And there are no plans to add it. 823Please use the wxd2lat program to convert wxdkdraw drawing into formats for use with LaTeX. 824Internal representation of drawing data differs between wxdkdraw and wxd2lat. 825In wxdkdraw the graphic objects are sorted by layer number only, in wxd2lat the sort order also includes style attributes. The purpose is to produce smaller output file by bundling similar objects, so less "set line width", "set line colour" ... instructions are needed. 826In wxdkdraw the coordinates use integer values, in export we have to use floating point numbers. 827 828--- 829 830<table width="100%"> 831<tbody> 832<tr> 833<td width="33%"><a href="../wxdkdraw/" title="wxdkdraw">← Previous</a></td> 834<td><a href="../Home/#programs" title="Programs table of contents">↑ Programs TOC</a></td> 835<td width="33%"><a href="../wxd2lat/" title="wxd2lat">→ Next</a></td> 836</tr> 837</tbody> 838</table> 839
