Secret to Centering Text in Corel X3?

I have completed several plaques now in my brief time with my laser. I suppose I have screwed up at least as much material as average for starting out, but I'm getting the hang of it I guess.

I have found the best way to center text, like on a plaque, is the put your graphic(s) and text on the screen, draw a vertical line that runs through everything, select all graphic(s), text and the vertical line, then do a SHIFT+E to center it. Change the view to snap to a grid and move the entire material to be engraved to the center in both the horizontal and vertical.

However, this does not place things exactly centered. Close, but not quite there. I then nudge things till I get them where I'm happy and am good to go.

Without "nudges" it seems like about 1/16" is the area of probability for the centering.

Is there a better way than I'm doing it?

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Originally Posted by Gregg Vaughn

I have completed several plaques now in my brief time with my laser. I suppose I have screwed up at least as much material as average for starting out, but I'm getting the hang of it I guess.

I have found the best way to center text, like on a plaque, is the put your graphic(s) and text on the screen, draw a vertical line that runs through everything, select all graphic(s), text and the vertical line, then do a SHIFT+E to center it. Change the view to snap to a grid and move the entire material to be engraved to the center in both the horizontal and vertical.

However, this does not place things exactly centered. Close, but not quite there. I then nudge things till I get them where I'm happy and am good to go.

Without "nudges" it seems like about 1/16" is the area of probability for the centering.

Is there a better way than I'm doing it?

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Greg:
Under the ARRANGE menu is a sub menu called Align and Distribute. Their are several options there for centering etc. Their is yet another Align & Distribute under that. If you use these tools, that, to me is the best way to center to pages and active objects. Their are always more ways than one to do things and everyone has their preference but these tools were created for that purpose.
Guidelines are another great tool in Corel and can be placed precisely by double clicking on a guide, then enter the exact place you want them and choose MOVE. If you place a guideline in the center of your plaque, you can set Snap to Guides and center that way. Guides can even be rotated to specific angles similar to the rotation handles that are available on other objects. Try Dynamic Guides also. I use them on occasion but not at all times.

How do you start with arranging your design?
For example, 8x10 plaque
Do you use rect. tool and draw 8x10 box then put text inside that?

Gregg,

I use what Larry does, but I took it a step further. If you go into customize, you can add the icons to your tool bar to give you instant spacing or centering.

Further... If starting out, I do draw the 8X10 rectangle on my full deck sized 24X12 quarter sheet... Double click the PICK tool (selects everything) and then press the "C" key for Center. If you have your text spaced evenly and grouped, you can also use the "E" key next to center everything Horizontally. If you don't group the text first, it will slam it all to the middle.

One other quick key is the "P" which centers everything on the whole page. If you are making your image the same size as the plaque, this works nice, but if you leave your image the same size as your deck, you'll have to move the square back to the upper left.

Leaving the full deck as you image size, you can lay two or three plaques in there as you see it and only change the name between. It allows mulitples...:cool: Warning - if you change even one letter - don't forget to recenter after updating...

Thanks for the tips! I played with guides and arrange/distribute for an hour or so and found them to be quicker than the way I was doing it.

However, I still find that the text is not exactly centered. A nudge here or there is still necessary to get text lines cenetred. Its amazing what
the eye can discern.

I've added all these tips to my CorelDraw list, some day I'll start to get a good grasp on the software.

Thanks again!

Regarding centering text or any asymmetrical object. There is a difference between mathematically centered and visually centered. I always tweak text or any other object that is not symmetrical. Even then, try centering a triangle in a circle. The eye sees weights of areas, the math just puts the centers of area (always a rectangle) together.

I don't know if its the same in X3, but in Corel 12 all you have to do is click on an object then hit (Ctrl-p) and that will center the object to the page. You can move it up and down then as you like.

If you want perfection, and I do, here is an easy way to acheive it.

1. Measure your plaque, plate, whatever you are lasering.
2. Draw that outline in Corel and draw your engraving within that outline
3. Cut the outline out of a piece of foam core, or something similar
4. Place the object in the cutout and laser

You can't be off this way unless you draw it off. I use this method all the time and it really pays off. I spend a bit on foam core but I save a bunch in not having to buy more material for oops'.

I have quite a few templates that I have created and I use them quite often. I have a folder with subdirectories to hold the template files, makes it easier to find them. I also create a settings file for my laser and save it in the same folder so I can use the same settings again.

Good luck!
Gary

More good advice Gary, thanks!

Gregg,
Another option, if you don't want to use templates, is to put two layers of masking tape on the item to be engraved and then draw, and laser, your vertical line. On my laser I run tape at 100% speed and 20% power. Once you are happy with the results, remove the tape and laser away.

Gary

Here is what I do. Draw two objects say a box and some text. Then Select the text with the box while holding down the shift key. Now they are both selected. Press the letter C key and it will center if you then press the letter E key it will center on the other axis. The trick is to select the object you what to move first. This centers on the imaginary box that the object takes up so it might not work for all things.

Alan