Text in a column

If you are entering larger amounts of text, over multiple lines, using a column is more useful. Changing the width of the column will automatically re-flow the text.

To type a column of text:

Select the Text Tool.
Move the mouse pointer where you want the column to start.
Drag right to create a horizontal line the width of the column. This green/red dashed line just shows you the width of the column. It is never exported or printed.
As you type in the text the green/red dash line is replaced with solid red line. You don't need to press "Enter" at the end of a line. When the text reaches the edge of the column, it automatically flows onto a new line.

Note: If you click away or change tools before you start typing, the green/red dashed column line will be replaced with a green line to indicate that you have an inactive text column. To reactivate the column just click on it again with the Text Tool, the line will return to its active state and you can start typing again.

Instead of typing in the text you can create the text in a separate text editor or word processor, copy it to the clipboard and paste it into Xara Designer. Copy and paste supports RTF-formatted text.

Changing the width of the column

Drag either of the two red handles at the ends of the line. If you switch to the Selector Tool and drag one of the corner control handles the font size will scale together with the size of the column.

Changing the angle of the column

"Shift+ drag" either of the red handles at the end of the line to change the angle of the column. Alternatively, "Ctrl + drag" to restrain the line to the constrain angles. Or alternatively you can use the Selector Tool to rotate the object in the usual way.

For more on constrain angles, see Introduction to Xara Designer.