Attributes Toolbars

Related Information

Toolbar

Customize Toolbar

Rulers

Page Layout

View Main Menu

Attributes Mini Toolbars

Each drawing window has a context sensitive mini toolbar available at the top of the drawing, above the horizontal ruler (if shown) and below the main window toolbar (if in use).

This toolbar is actually a family of toolbars, it changes when graphics are selected or deselected on the drawing. The set of tools provided are chosen to be relevant to the graphics selected, or not selected, on your drawing.

The tools shown are not the primary user interface points for their functionality. They are very small and not as descriptive as their corresponding primary user interface elements. Think of them as visual short-cuts and convenience elements.

This toolbar may be shown or hidden. The primary choice is specified on the Page Layout palette. You may also turn the Attributes toolbar on or off with the item found near the bottom of the View main menu. The "preference" for showing the Attributes toolbar is controlled by the Page Layout selection.

The Attributes toolbar will change when a graphic is selected or de-selected. It is contextual. The tools provided are chosen to be the most relevant and frequently used for the type and number of graphics selected.

When no graphics are selected the toolbar shows elements pertinent to the drawing, such as grid status and grid snapping state. To access this toolbar, perform a de-select-all (apple-cmd-shift-A). It is the one shown below - top example. Tools are provided to show or hide rulers, manage grid display, a set of tools to control graphic snapping, and access to the drawing scale and units.

If text is selected the toolbar shows tools relevant to typeface, typesetting, and paragraph alignment. This set of tools is shown below, second toolbar down. Text tools are provided to select font and typeface, paragraph alignment, subscript and superscript selection, and kerning (character spacing).

A vector graphic selection provides the attributes toolset shown third below. These tools provide interaction with line style, interaction level, painting order, a conversion convenience menu, buttons to access the rounding-shaping actions, a set of flip transform tools and a menu to access the grid snap point for the graphic.

When multiple graphics are selected the 4th shown toolset is provided. This provides access to the various grouping selections, a toolset for relative alignment, tools for relative orientation and spacial distribution of the graphics.

The individual tools will enable and disable as appropriate. The disabled state is shown in a lighter gray. In most cases, the contextual aspect of this toolbar means that tools are enabled, tools and interface elements that would be disabled are generally simply not present in the toolbar.

The toolbar is also useful to provide feedback as to the state of the drawing or selected graphics. For example the snapping state of a drawing does not normally have a visual clue (off, on, vertices, or grid), but the attributes toolbar provides a place to display this state as a visual clue.

There are some elements that one might think are missing from these toolbars. For example fill, stroke, and text color, or gradient fill. The overall user interface design has provided these commonly needed tools on the Main Toolbar . They are provides as smart tools which is a more advanced capability the requires a bit larger size than is available on this mini-toolbar. The Main Toolbar is fully customizable so you will want to configure the main toolbar to compliment the tools provided in the Attributes toolbar. When used together a great deal of convenient functionality is provided in an efficient fashion.