Tips Trick Corel Draw , Hidden Gems, Keyboard Tricks in CorelDRAW Graphics Suite

This Wiki page is a place for users to list those "Hidden Gems," modifier key combinations, etc. for CorelDRAW Graphics Suite that are not listed among the default assigned shortcut key list under Commands.

These are not categorized, but if the list becomes unwieldy, we can do that. If a tip is for Photo-Paint only please add a PP in front of it.

If you learned of the hidden gem here on coreldraw.com, please provide a link to the thread/post, or give the contributor credit.

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1. Drawing shape modifiers: Hold down CTRL while drawing with shape tools to keep them symmetrical and/or proportional. Hold down SHIFT to draw from center. Hold down CTRL+SHIFT to draw from center and to keep shape proportional.

1.b : While drawing, press shift key and drag backwards to erase the drawn shape. You can start drawing back from the point till you erased the curve.

2. Double-clicking the Rectangle tool adds a rectangle around the document. Shift+double clicking the Rectangle tool adds a rectangle around selected objects.

3. 3-Pt Curve tool: When placing your third point, hold down CTRL to create a 3-pt circular arc, hold down SHIFT to create a symmetric parabola.

4. Page frame options: Double-clicking on the document "shadow" opens the Page options.

5. Color palette:  When coloring shapes, left-click to choose fill color, right-click to choose outline color. You can also drag and drop colors from the palette, you will see the cursor change accordingly. Drag the color over the shape to fill with the color, drag color over the outline to change its color.

Ctrl + click on any color will add 10% of the color to the selected object

6. Color palette:  Click & hold down on a color swatch to display a small pop-up color picker with shades of that particular color.

7. Unit of measurement (UOM) : What ever UOM you are working in (Inches, MMs or CMs) you can use the X & Y co-ordinates on the property bar to enter Units in any other measurements. e.g. If the selected object is 1" wide and you need to increase it by 10 MMs. Just add "+ 10 mm" in the box after 1". CorelDRAW will calculate it and apply the desired size to the object. BTW Addition, subtaction, division and multiplication can be done with this method.

Note : This applies only on the boxes on the property bar and not in the docker.

8.  Object converted to curves > When Shape Tool (F10) is actived, holding down CTRL+SHIFT+ left clicking on any node DELETE object.

9. Use keyboard shortcut Ctrl + Shift + E to activate eye dropper to copy fill to the currently selected shape.

10. Deleting a segment (Not a Virtual segment) : Mark a segment by clicking with the shape tool and press delete button to delete the segment.

11. Selecting Object(s) in groups:  Hold down CTRL key to select one object in a group. Use CTRL+SHIFT to select multiple objects in a group. The multi-select trick works in X6 only.

Source : https://community.coreldraw.com/collaborate/w/howto/142/hidden-gems-keyboard-tricks-in-coreldraw-graphics-suite