Coreldraw Question

[Laser Rat]

Greetings;

Not sure if this is the right forum for this question. I am usingCoreldraw 12 for running my laser cutter/engraver. The laser will etch raster files and cut and/or etch vector files. During the set up of a job I set up a series of "virtual" boxes in Corel and place the text or image that I am cutting into those individual "boxes" I do this because we are often running 3 up and 6 up jobs and the placement of the graphic on the workpiece can be critical. What I am having difficulty finding is an easy way of placing my graphic smack in the middle of my placement box. Once I get one done I use the Duplicate command to create as many copies as I need but for the life of me I haven't come across any use to the Snap or Dynamic Guide set up that will allow me to do this easily. Can anyone point me in the right direction. I'm sure I'm overlooking something stunningly obvious.

Thanks, Rat

[Jacorre]

Select the box and then the text/shape and hit B and C on the keyboard (these are PC options). That will center the text/shape vertically and horizontally. Can't remember which one is which but I'm pretty sure those are the keystrokes!

Once you have one done, group them together by selecting them and hitting Control + G. With it still selected you'll see handle bars around the grouped shape. While holding down control, grab the left handle bar and drag right. You'll see a duplicate appear. To duplicate, right click with the mouse.

Hope that helped. I have some tutorials on Corel Draw and they do go through some of these steps if you want to read them. They can be found at Jacorre Design Studio - Corel Draw Tutorials.

[Laser Rat]

Jacorre

Thanks for the tips. Often the answer is right in front of you. After I posted this and read your response, I discovered that Corel allows you to print a list of all shortcuts (5 pages) and sure enough there were the alignment ones. Thanks again for taking the time to post.

Cheers, Rat