Hi there,
I'm not quite sure to understand whether I'm missing something about Coreldraw's snapping features, or if it's just the way it works.
In the screencap below, I recorded three attempts at snapping two shapes by matching their respective corner position.
01
The first attempt fails miserably. I was picking an inside area of the second shape, so I guess it's hard for Coreldraw to guess what I'm trying to snap and the result is that the two corners are not perfectly adjacent.
02
In the second attempt, I de-selected the second shape by clicking outside of the shape, then clicked on the nearest point next to the node I want to snap, and it finally snapped where I wanted. Is not exactly a straightforward process, if this is the way it works it means every time I have to de-select and click carefully near to the node.
03
Then I tried by clicking directly on the node and it ended up behaving as if I had the Shape Tool active, which is kind of unexpected.
It seems this would prove that I need to de-select first, which is an extra step.
04
Lastly, I tried to click on the area next to the node again, but this time it didn't work: not only the nodes are not matching but now even the two shapes are not adjacent.
It seems the experience with the snapping so far is not exactly as smooth as I hoped it would be.
Perhaps I'm missing some part of the workflow?
So far my impression is that the only way for this to work is a hit & miss type of approach: I have to keep trying clicking near to the node hoping that it will perfectly snap, but without any guarantee it will.
Here's how I would do what i think you wish to do. Perhaps you already did this in one of the attempts you described, but I'm not sure, so...
VIDEO: Snapping
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One thing important to consider here is that, while dragging, CorelDRAW is not looking for opportunities to match any possible snap point on Shape A to any possible snap point on Shape B. It is looking for opportunities to match the single "where you clicked on Shape A" point to any possible snap point on Shape B.
If I had clicked on some random part of Shape A, then snap indicators would light up when that specific random part of Shape A got close enough to a possible snap point on Shape B.
In my example, that's why I started by selecting Shape A. That way, the click that started the move operation was being done under "looking for possible snap points on Shape A" mode.
Be aware that, in Options>Workspace>Snap To Objects, the "Snapping Radius" has some range over which it can be adjusted.
That can make a big difference in ease of use for Snap To Objects.
Thank you, Eskimo.
Your video is exactly what I'm trying to achieve.
Now, strangely, it seems it's working as expected although, as I keep trying, I can get some odd behavior (like for instance I can't move the shape at all or it seems I'm moving only the node selected...)
I'll keep trying, it could be a matter of getting used to it.
Pay close attention to which tool is active.
Double-clicking an object with the Pick tool can change to the Shape tool - and then you are ready to move nodes, not the shape.
I don't think I double clicked but I'll keep that in mind, perhaps I did it without noticing it.
Thanks for the heads up.
Snapping in Draw is easy to master once you learn how it works and how to use it, and I think Eskimo has given you most of the information you need.Looking at your examples there are two things I would you:First of all, turn Snap to Grid off.Grid snapping can cause very unpredictable behavior (as can be seen in your last example) and I suggest adding a shortcut to it to easily turn it off when you don't need it.It looks like you have both "Show Snap location marks" and "Screen tip" enabled which I think is wise, but even if they are, it can sometimes be a bit tricky to drag an object by a node without moving the node instead.There are two ways around it if you find this difficult.Either deselect the object first (you already know this one) which can be done with the Escape key, or disable "Enable node tracking" in Options > Nodes and Handles which will stop Draw from automatically change to the Shape tool.
Great tips, Ronny!
You're right, Snap to grid was on, I realized that just a couple of min ago and agreed, with the snap off it's much better.
I didn't know about the node tracking option, that's really helpful!
Thanks.
Edit: I'm realizing there are many options in Coreldraw that can really change the experience. It might take some time to know them all, but it's great to have them.