Formatting Text

Most of text formatting tools are located on the Text tab of the Inspector window. To access them, use Window > Inspector > Text menu item.
Some operations common to different objects are described in Basic Operations on Objects.

The text can be deselected and selected (you can see the selection frame with the resize handles) as well as in the editing mode (the text cursor is blinking in the text box, you can edit text). Depending on the state of a text box, text formatting is applied to the whole text or to its part.

In the editing mode, formatting is usually applied to the current paragraph (where the cursor is). If all text is selected, the change affects all text. When you change formatting of the selected text box, all text will be affected.

Text properties can be saved and applied later as a text style.

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 buton in the Inspector.

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

The default font can be set in the program preferences.

Changing the Font Size

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

Alignment

To align text within the 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.

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 parameters.

Changing the Background Color of the Text Box

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

Spacing Settings

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

Between Characters - changes the spacing between characters; can be applied to the whole selected text box, or to the selected part of text.
Between Lines - the spacing between lines, can be applied to the whole selected text box, or to a selected part of text.
Before Paragraph - the space after the current paragraph (where the text cursor is).
After Paragraph - the space before the selected paragraph (where the text cursor is).

Inset Margin lets you control the spacing between the text and text box borders.
By increasing this value, you increase the distance between the text and its border on all sides: top, bottom, left and right.

Creating Lists

To create a list, select a piece of text or the entire text box. Then, open the Text tab of the Inspector and click the Lists pop-up menu to select the bullet type. Each paragraph of text in the box (or in the selected part of the text in the text box) will become a separate item of the list.