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Working with Text

Most of the text formatting tools are located in the Text tab of the Inspector window.
Some operations common for different types of objects are described in Basic Operations on Objects.

Adding and Editing Text

To type text, you should add a text box which behaves as a container for text. For this:

1. Click the Text tool in the toolbar.
   
   
2. Place the cursor over your design and click to add a text box.
   
   
3. Now, the text cursor is blinking in the text box. The edit mode is activated. You can type or paste text.
   
   
4. If necessary, change the font, size, alignment or other text properties. The formatting tools can be found in the Text tab of the Inspector.
   
   
5. To finish editing text, click outside the text box.
   

To edit existing the text, double-click on it.

Removing Text

To remove a text box, select it and press the Delete key on the keyboard.
An alternative way is using the Delete command from the Edit menu.

Formatting Text

Most of text formatting tools are located in the Text tab of the Inspector window. To access them, select Window > Inspector > Text in the menu bar.

If a text box is selected, formatting is applied to the entire text in it. If a portion of text is selected inside the text box, text formatting will apply to this text only.

To set up the shadow for text, use the Fill and Shadow tab of the Inspector.

Changing Text Font and Color

You can change the font attributes and color of the text by using the system Font and Colors panes.
To open the Font pane, press Cmd-T, or click the Fonts button in the Inspector.
To open the Colors pane, press Cmd-Shift-C, or click the Text Color button in the Inspector.

If the entire text box is selected, the changes you make in the dialogs will apply to the entire text. If a portion of the text is selected, the changes will apply to the selected text only.

Changing the Font Size

To change the size of the font, use the Size controls: the slide bar, the “A” buttons or the Size edit box. The operation will change the portion of the text that was selected, or the whole text if the text box was selected.

Alignment

To align text within a text box, use the buttons in the Format section of the Text tab of the Inspector.
The same commands are available via the Format > Text menu.

The Vertical Expansion controls determine in which direction the address panel expands or shrinks if the address in it is substituted with a new one, containing more or less lines of text. This function is very useful for merge printing to ensure all the addresses fit correctly on the labels or envelopes.

Capitalization

The Capitalization controls allow you to change the text so it appears in all uppercase, all lowercase, or with the first letters capitalized.

Spacing Settings

You can change the default text spacing settings of text by using the Spacing controls in the Text tab of the Inspector window.

Between Characters – changes the spacing between characters. This can be applied to the whole selected text box, or to the selected part of text.
Between Lines – the spacing between lines. This can be applied to the whole selected text box, or to a selected part of text.

Changing the Color, Width and Pattern of the Text Box Frame

To make the text box frame visible, select the Line check box in Inspector > Fill & Shadow tab > Line section.

To modify the parameters of the frame:

1. Select the text box.
   
   
2. Open the Fill & Shadow tab in the Inspector.
   
   
3. Use the corresponding controls in the Line section to change the parameters.

Changing the Background Color of the Text Box

To change the text background color:

1. Select a text box.
   
   
2. Open the Fill & Shadow tab in the Inspector.
   
   
3. Select the Fill check box.
   
   
4. Click the Color button in the Fill section to change the color.
   

Applying the Shadow Effect

To apply the shadow effect to text:

1. Select the text box.
   
   
2. Open the Fill & Shadow tab in the Inspector.
   
   
3. Select the Shadow check box.
   
   
4. Use the corresponding controls in the Shadow section to change the parameters of the shadow.

Note: Shadow can be applied to the whole text. If the text box frame is enabled, it will also get shadow.

Moving and Rotating Text Boxes

Moving and rotating text boxes is similar to moving other objects and is described in Basic Operations on Objects.

Checking Spelling

You can check the spelling of text in Labels & Addresses. Spelling can be checked for the entire text box or for a part of text.

To check the spelling for the entire text box, double click on it to enter the text editing mode and select Edit > Spelling > Spelling from the menu. If your text has spelling errors, the program will highlight the first one. Misspelled words will be underlined with a red dotted line. The Spelling window will show the possible options for that word and you will be able to correct or ignore it. Click Next to find the next misspelled word.

At the bottom of the Spelling window there is a list of available languages. The program uses the system spell checker, so the dictionaries available will be those installed in your system.

If you want to check the spelling for a part of text, select that part of text and run the spelling check.

You can check spelling without the Spelling window. Select Edit > Spelling > Check Spelling from the menu or press Cmd-";". Every time you do this, the next misspelled word will be shown.

To have the program underline misspelled words at the same time as you type, select Edit > Spelling > Check Spelling as You Type from the menu.

Finding and Replacing Text

The program lets you find and replace a word, number or some character set in a text box.

Double click on a text box to enter the text editing mode and select Edit > Find > Find from the menu. Enter a word you are looking for in the Find text box and click Next.
If you need to replace a word, enter the new word in the Replace text box and click Next and Replace.

Edit > Find >Find Next will find the next occurrence, Edit > Find > Find Previous - the previous one.

Select a word and choose Edit > Find > Use Selection for Find and the selected word will be the criteria for search.

If you have selected a part of the text, the option Jump to Selection will scroll the editing window (if needed) to make the selection visible.