Arrows

Arrows work just like points but have additional properties.  An arrow has a direction which can be set by the user or controlled by an object it is attached to.  The term arrow is used broadly for any point-like shape that needs to be directional.  There are many arrow styles that don’t look like arrows including Perpendicular line slashes which can be attached to lines to indicate parallelism.

 

Insert an Arrow

• Click on Arrow button on the Toolbar.

Note: You can also insert an arrow by:

From Grid menu, point to Insert and select Arrow, or

Right-click somewhere in the figure editor, point to Insert and select Arrow.

 

Select an Arrow

• Click on the arrow that you wish to select (arrow turns red when selected)

Note: To deselect an arrow click elsewhere on the figure editor screen.

 

Change Arrow Direction (when unattached)

• Select arrow

• Place pointer over arrow and right-click. Select Rotate.

• Rotate dialog box appears. Move slider to change arrow direction or type rotation angle (degrees) into textbox. Close Rotate dialog box.

 

 Change Arrow Direction (when attached)

• Select arrow

• Place pointer over arrow and right-click. Select Reverse Direction.

  

Change Arrow Style

• Select arrow

• Place pointer over arrow and right-click. Select Style.

• Select the desired style.
  
  

Change Arrow Size

• Select arrow

• Place pointer over arrow and right-click. Select Size.

• Size dialog box appears. Move slider to change arrow size or type size number into textbox. Close Size dialog box.

  

Change Arrow Color

• Select arrow.

• Place pointer over arrow and right-click. Select Color.

• Color dialog box appears. Click on the color you desire. Click on Ok.

 

Make Arrow Invisible

• Select arrow.

• Place pointer over arrow and right-click. Select Visible.

• To make arrow visible again, repeat previous two steps

Note: When an item is visible, there is a check next to visible in the right-click menu.

 

Align Arrow

Note: When an item is aligned, there is a check next to aligned in the right-click menu.

 

Delete Arrow

• Select arrow.

• Place pointer over arrow and right-click. Select Delete.

Note: If an arrow defines another object, then the arrow can not be deleted until the object it defines is deleted.  This occurs if the arrow is one of the following:

• end-point of a line or arc.

• center of a circle or arc.

• defines an angle or polygon.

Attach Arrow

Note: Once you attach an arrow to an object, if you wish to detach it from that object, place pointer over arrow and right-click. Select Detach.