Home > Designing and creating databases > Creating and managing layouts and reports > Drawing and inserting objects on a layout > Drawing lines and other shapes

Drawing lines and other shapes

Use the layout tools in the status toolbar to draw lines, rectangles, rounded rectangles, and ovals. You can create squares, circles, or horizontal/vertical lines by holding down the a modifier key on the keyboard as you create objects.

To create a line, rectangle, rounded rectangle, or oval:

1.	In Layout mode, click the Line tool , Rectangle tool , Rounded Rectangle tool , or Oval tool .

See Working with the layout tools.

2.	Position the crosshair pointer on the layout where you want the line or object to begin.

3.	Click and drag the crosshair pointer until the object is the size that you want.

To create an object that is constrained to a certain angle or shape, do one of the following:

 

To create a	Use this tool	And press
Horizontal or vertical line	Line tool	Shift as you draw the line
Diagonal line (at 45 degrees)	Line tool	Ctrl (Windows) or Option (OS X) as you draw the line
Square	Rectangle tool	Ctrl (Windows) or Option (OS X) as you draw the square
Rounded square	Rounded Rectangle tool	Ctrl (Windows) or Option (OS X) as you draw the rounded square
Circle	Oval tool	Ctrl (Windows) or Option (OS X) as you draw the circle

FileMaker Pro draws the object with the theme’s default line style and fill. You can change these attributes after you draw the object. See Selecting and working with objects on a layout.

To create a dotted or dashed line or border, see Setting the fill, line style, and borders for objects, layout parts, and the layout background.

Notes

•	To create a line, rectangle, rounded rectangle, or oval, you can also choose Insert menu > Graphic Object, and then choose the appropriate option from the submenu that appears.

•	When you add a line or shape to a layout, its format is based on the theme applied to the layout. You can apply a custom style to change the display attributes of the field. See Creating new layout object, part, or background styles.

•	Use the following techniques to work with the tools:

 

To	Do this
Use a tool once	Click a tool to select it (the tool becomes gray).
Keep a tool selected, or locked	Double-click a tool (the tool changes color to indicate it remains selected until you select a different tool). Note  You also set a preference to always lock a tool when you select it. See Setting layout preferences.)
Switch between the tool last used and the Selection tool .	Press Ctrl+Enter or Enter on the numeric keypad (Windows) or press Enter (OS X).