Making shapes editable

Choose "Arrange -> Convert to editable shapes" ("Ctrl + Shift + S") to convert predefined objects like rectangles, ellipses, QuickShapes, SmartShapes and text into shapes. This lets you edit their outline like a normal shape.

This has several applications:

You can manipulate just a part of predefined objects after making them editable.
You can manipulate text in almost unlimited ways, adding new curves and ornamentation almost at will. Note that you cannot edit text converted to shapes as it ceases to be text.

You may want to send a .xar file to someone who does not have that particular font. As converted text is just a collection of lines and curves, it does not need to use the original font.

However, the disadvantage is that you can no longer edit the objects with their original tools.

When you edit a predefined shape with the Shape Painter or Shape Eraser tools, it is automatically converted to an editable shape for you, so you don't need to convert it manually first.

For more information on text refer to "Text handling".

You can also convert lines (open shapes) to the equivalent closed shape, by selecting the line and then "Arrange -> Convert line to shape". If you have a straight line with a 10 pixel line width, converting it to a shape will change it into a filled rectangular shape with no outline width.