Rectangle

You draw a rectangle by activating the rectangle button in the tool panel, push the right
mouse button where a corner of the rectangle should be, drag with the mouse button pressed
to the opposite corner and release the mouse button. With the default settings, a rectangle
with black border is now created.

Fig Rectangle

We shall now have a look at how the appearance of the rectangle can be changed. In the tool
panel there are buttons for border, fill and 3D. They work in the way that if an object is
selected, the property of the selected object is changed. At the same time the current
setting is the default value for new objects that are created.

Object editor

By doubleclicking on the rectangle, a window is opened where you can set various attributes
of the rectangle. An attribute is changed by selecting the attributes, pressing key arrow
right (or Ctrl+Q) and inserting the new value.

Fig Object editor

Fill color

We can fill the rectangle with color by clicking on the Fill button in the tool panel.

The color is changed by first selecting the rectangle by clicking on it, and the click on
the desired color in the color palette.

Fig Rectangle with fill color

Border

The border of the rectangle can be removed with the Border button in the tool panel. To
remove the border the rectangle has to be either filled or have a 3D frame. If the border
is removed, it can be added with the border button.

Fig Rectangle without border

Border width

The width of the border can be changed with the LineWidth menu in the tool panel. Select
the rectangle and set desired line width. The line width in pixels, and a width between 1
and 8 pixel can be selected.

Fig Rectangle with broader border

Border color

Also the color of the border can be modified. Select the rectangle, activate 'Border' in the
color palette and click on the wanted color.

Fig Modified border color

3D

With the 3D button in the tool panel, a frame with relief effect is draw on the rectangle.

Fig Rectangle with 3D

The width of the relief can be changed with the attribute shadow_width. Open the object
editor by doubleclicking on the rectangle, and insert a new value in shadow_width. The unit
of shadow_width is in percentage of the width or height (the smallest).

Fig Width 3 % to the left and 15 % to the right

You can also change the contrast of the relief frame with shadow_contrast. By increasing the
value to 3 the shade will be darker and the light border will be lighter. Valid values are
1 - 3.

Whether the relief is outwards or inwards depends on the attribute relief. With Up the
relief is outwards, ie the upper border is light and the lower dark. With Down the upper is
dark and the lower is light, which gives the effect of an inward relief. You will get the
greatest relief effect if the relief is drawn with the same color as the background.

Fig Relief Up to the left and Down to the right

Gradient

With the three gradient buttons you can set a color gradient on the rectangle from lighter
to darker color tone.

Fig Rectangles with various gradients

In the gradient menu there are 17 additional variations of gradients to select. Below
Horizontal Tube2 is shown that is suitable for cylindric items.

Fig Rectangle with gradient Horizontal Tube2

The contrast of the gradient can be affected by the gradient_contrast attribute in the
object editor. The contrast can have a value between 0 and 10.

Draw a square

To draw a square you press Ctrl+E (Scale equal) before you draw the rectangle. Reset Equal
scale by right clicking in the work area.

Draw several rectangles

If you are going to draw several rectangles you can press the Shift key when clicking on the
rectangle button in the tool panel. Now you can draw several rectangles without clicking on
the rectangle button for each new rectangle. The function is reset by right clicking in the
work area.