Often you will want to include some type of figures or diagrams in your documents. You will want to get comfortable adding figures, moving them about the page, and editing them. This page will outline some of the things that might help you as you first start. The links in this page bring you to more detailed descriptions of certain objects or procedures that are mentioned.

Every time you want to add a new figure to your project you will use the Figure Editor. Figure editor toolbars and features are outlined in the Figure Editor Help Pages. To see some of the figures it is possible to create in the Figure Editor, look at our figures page.

Here are some helpful hints and tips for when you first start to work with figures.

For each figure you want to add to your document, you need to open up a new Figure Editor box.

To do this, select Figure from the Insert Object drop down menu located on the main Composer toolbar.

A Figure editor box like the one to the right will open up.

Now you can start adding items to your figure.

Everything you need to create figures is in the Figure toolbar or can be found in Right Click menus.

Click on the item in the toolbar you want to add. That item will appear in the figure editor.

You can click and drag items to move them within the figure editor.

Choose the size, color style, etc� of your figures.
Select any item so it is highlighted. Either go to the Format menu (check out all the explanations for formatting options) or Right Click on your selected item in the figure editor to see what options you have for that item. For example you can choose to change the size, color, style, etc��for your selected item. Play around a little bit at the beginning to get familiar with all your options.





What happens if I want to make a figure that is larger than the small area given to me when I first open the figure box?
This is not a problem. The figure editor opens up to a default canvas size (which is the default grid size of 10x10 � even though you can�t see the grid unless you choose Grid Visible from the Grid Menu ). However, you can make the canvas any size you want.
To quickly get a bigger canvas to create your diagram on, simply choose Grid Size from the Grid Menu and select a size from the given choices.











 

Add the Figure you just created to your document.
Once you are done drawing your figure or diagram, simply close the figure editor by clicking on the in the top right hand corner of the Figure Editor box and your figure will now appear on the Composer screen.

You can always go back and edit any figure.
All you have to do to change any figure that is already in your document is Double Click on it. When you do, the Figure Editor with your figure in it will re-open and you can make your desired changes. After you finish your editing, click on the in the top right hand corner of the Figure Editor. The Figure Editor will close and then your newly edited figure will replace the old one on the Composer screen.

Want to make it easier to line all of your figures up neatly on the page? You can choose to Align figures.

You can merge or attach lines, points, arrows, circles, etc. to each other. Click here to find out more.