The rectangle tool is used to draw both squares and rectangles. You can also draw squares or rectangles with rounded corners.

Draw a rectangle or square.

Draw a rectangle or square with rounded corners.

To draw a rectangle:

• Choose Rectangle from the Insert menu or click the Rectangle tool button on the toolbar. The cursor changes to a cross-hair pointer.
• Click and drag the mouse diagonally to define the size of the rectangle.
• Release the mouse button.
• To resize the rectangle, click on one of the black handles and drag in or out to make the rectangle bigger or smaller.

To draw a square:

• Choose Rectangle from the Insert menu or click the Rectangle tool button on the toolbar. The cursor changes to a cross-hair pointer.
• Click and drag the mouse diagonally across while holding the CTRL key down.
• Release the mouse button
• To resize the square, click on one of the black handles and drag in or out while holding the CTRL key, to make the square bigger or smaller.

To draw a rectangle from its centre point:

• Choose Rectangle from the Insert menu or click the Rectangle tool button on the toolbar. The cursor changes to a cross-hair pointer.
• Click and drag the mouse diagonally across while holding the SHIFT key down.
• Release the mouse button
• To resize the rectangle, click on one of the black handles and drag in or out while holding the SHIFT key, to make the rectangle bigger or smaller.

To change the properties of a selected rectangle:

• Double click on the rectangle or select the rectangle and then click on the Object properties button on the toolbar.
• On the Format tab, edit:
  • Line attributes - transparency, pattern, color and width.
  • Fill attributes - transparency, pattern and color.

  
   

• On the Position tab, edit the rectangles position and size.
• Lock aspect ratio allows any changes in width or height to automatically change the other to keep the existing aspect ratio.