Own shapes in Draw

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    Foreword

    The video shows how to create and save "Own Shapes in Draw - LibreOffice" and links to this page here, which provides further information and details.

    Link to the Video

    Link to the Video (in German [DE]):

    Eigene Formen in Draw - LibreOffice

    Basic shapes - My Drawings

    When you open Draw and use the shapes from the "Drawing" toolbar, they will be drawn with a "Dark Blue 1" line and a "Light Blue 2" filled area.

    If the "Drawing" toolbar is not visible, choose View ▸ Toolbars ▸ Drawing from the menu.

    Often there is a wish that these shapes can be drawn immediately with other colors.

    To do this, proceed as follows:

    Open Draw.

    Now use the Sidebar.

    If the Sidebar is not visible, choose View ▸ Sidebar ( Ctrl + F5 )

    Choose Styles ▸ Drawing Styles from the sidebar.

    Right-click on the Drawing Style "Default Drawing Style" and choose Modify….

    In the "Graphic Styles: Default Drawing Style" dialog, in the "Line" tab, for "Color", select "Black", for example.

    In the tab "Area" click on the button None.

    Click on the OK button.

    Before you save the document as a template, you can also change other properties, such as font type and size within the objects.

    Save as document template

    Then save the document as a Document template.

    Choose File ▸ Templates ▸ Save as Template… from the menu.

    In the "Save As Template" dialog, select the desired template Category and a template name , e.g. "Default Draw".

    In the dialog, place a check mark next to "Set as default template".

    Click on the Save button.

    The next time you open Draw, you can draw the objects in the colors you specified.

    Reset default drawing document

    Choose File ▸ Templates ▸ Manage Templates… from the menu. ( Ctrl + ⇧ Shift + N ).

    In the "Templates" dialog, click the Manage. button and select "Reset Default Drawing".

    Create own shapes

    Drawing toolbar
    two Objekts
    three Objects

    The shapes available in the "Drawing" toolbar provide a good basis to create drawings.

    However, sometimes you need shapes that are not available in the toolbar.

    You can create new shapes using the "Merge", "Subtract" and "Intersect" functions.

    As an example, draw a Block-arc and place a rectangle over it (Image: two Objekts).

    Copy the two objects several times so that you can test the functions.

    Select two objects that lie on top of each other and right-click on them.

    In the context menu select Shapes ▸ function, ( function = Merge, Subtract or Intersect ).

    You will receive Image: three Objects.

    See also:

    Example: Punching a ring

    To punch a ring, draw two circles of different diameters.

    Place the two circles on top of each other, smaller circle in front.

    Mark both circles together.

    Right-click on the selected circles and choose Align Objects from the context menu. (Centre and Center).

    Right-click on the selected circles and choose Shape ▸ Subtract.

    The new object (the ring) can now be formatted like any other object.

    If you need the new object more often, you can drag it to its own theme in the Gallery and paste it from there as often as you like.

    See also:

    The Gallery in LibreOffice

    Document as library

    If you need certain shapes again and again, it makes sense to create a library of shapes.

    To do this, use a normal Draw document in which you store the shapes.

    Consider beforehand which scale you need for your shapes and how many shapes you want to store in the library.

    Depending on this, set up the page size of the library document.

    Here is an example of a furniture library:

    Gallery

    You can also drag and drop shapes into the Gallery.

    This way you can use your shapes LibreOffice-wide.

    See also:

    Further Informations

    Work files

    In German [DE]: "Draw Objekte verschmelzen subtrahieren schneiden.odg"

    "73_Draw Fill drawn shape with color.odg" (Example: Punched ring)

    Documentation / Manuals

    Here you will find the Documentation / Manuals:

    Documentation / Manuals

    Any questions?

    For questions on this topic go to:

    Ask.LibreOffice

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