Locking a graphic ratio

[MistyMisty webforumsuser@macromedia.com]

Hello,

I am wondering if there is a way to "lock" the aspect ratio of a graphic. As I move them around on my doucument the get squashed vertically and horizontally. Circles become ovals and squares turn into rectangles. I know I can watch and edit the numbers in the Dimension box but is there a way to keep these locked so I don't have to use a caluclator whenever I resize somethign?

Thanks!

[david gangwisch]

The way your question is worded, I can't tell what your real problem is. You
state that you are trying to move the objects when they get
disproportionately scaled. This sounds like you are not moving the objects
correctly.

In FH, you move objects by mousing-down on the object itself and not on the
control handles at the four corners of its "bounding box" (aka "BBox" in
common typing shorthand). If you move objects this way they won't get
accidentially scaled.

Dragging a corner handle will scale the object, not move it. While FH does
lack an object level "aspect ratio lock", it does have a universal temporary
on-the-fly lock. If you press and hold SHIFT while dragging one of the
control handles, the object will scale proportionally, maintaining its
aspect ratio.

There are several ways to "package" an object or collection of objects to
make them somewhat easier to select, scale and move as a unit. The most
commonly used method is to Group the object(s). Another is to make a Graphic
Symbol from them by placing them in the Library and then placing Instances
of the Symbol in the document. Grouping is easier to do quickly but the
Symbol method has significant advantages when there are multiple identical
copies of an object throught the document.

David W Gangwisch
Software Design Engineer - FreeHand
Macromedia, Inc.

"MistyMisty" <webforumsuser@macromedia.com> wrote in message
news:bl7ek1$e8b$1@forums.macromedia.com...

> Hello,
>
> I am wondering if there is a way to "lock" the aspect ratio of a graphic.

As I move them around on my doucument the get squashed vertically and
horizontally. Circles become ovals and squares turn into rectangles. I
know I can watch and edit the numbers in the Dimension box but is there a
way to keep these locked so I don't have to use a caluclator whenever I
resize somethign?

>
> Thanks!
>
>
>

[MistyMistyMisty webforumsuser@macromedia.com]

David,

The SHIFT BUTTON answer was what I was looking for. I knew how to drag stuff around and group it, etc but I could not figure out how to resize it without guessing at the aspect ratio.

THANKS for the great tip!

-Dean