Chapter 4: Creating basic objects. SMART Technologies Notebook 14

Chapter 4:

Chapter 4

Creating basic objects

Writing, drawing and erasing digital ink

Writing or drawing digital ink

Erasing digital ink

Creating shapes and lines

Creating shapes with the Shapes tool

Creating shapes with the Regular Polygons tool

Creating shapes with the Shape Recognition Pen tool

Creating straight lines and arcs

Creating text

Typing text

Converting handwriting to typed text

Formatting text

Resizing text objects

Inserting mathematical symbols

Checking the spelling of text objects

Cutting and pasting text

Creating tables

Creating tables

Pasting tables from other programs

Adding objects to tables

Selecting tables, columns, rows or cells

Moving tables

Changing a table’s properties

Resizing tables, columns or rows

Adding or removing columns, rows or cells

Splitting or merging table cells

Deleting tables and the contents of tables

Objects are the building blocks of content in your .notebook files. An object is simply an item on a page that you create or import and then work with. Basic types of objects include the following: l

Digital ink (freehand writing and drawing) l

Shapes l

Straight lines l

Arcs

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Text l

Tables

Writing, drawing and erasing digital ink

Digital ink is freehand text or objects that you create using your interactive display’s pen or pens, or the SMART Notebook software Pens tool. Writing or drawing digital ink enables you to quickly add content to your SMART Notebook software files, either when creating the files or when presenting the files to students.

Once you have created digital ink, you can erase it.

Writing or drawing digital ink

The easiest way to write or draw digital ink is to use your interactive display’s pen or pens.

You can also create freehand objects using the Pens tool. The Pens tool enables you to write or draw digital ink using the following pen types:

Pen type

Standard

Calligraphic

Purpose and example

Write or draw digital ink in a variety of colours and line styles.

Write or draw digital ink, like you do with the Standard pen type, but with lines of varying thickness.

Notes

Using the Standard pen type, you can write or draw digital ink that fades after a few seconds (see

 Using the

Standard pen type to create fading objects

on page 128).

The Calligraphic pen type is useful for teaching students handwriting.

Crayon

Write or draw crayon-like digital ink.

The Crayon pen type is intended for artistic work, such as painting and colouring pictures, rather than writing.

Highlighter

Highlight text and other objects.

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Pen type

Text

Purpose and example

Write notes that automatically convert to editable text.

Notes

You can edit your text as you work without touching a keyboard (see

Using the Text

Pen

on page 124).

Creative

Add colourful elements to your presentations.

You can create custom

Creative pen styles (see

 Creating custom Creative pen styles

on page 90).

Paint Brush Write or draw paint-like digital ink.

Magic

Shape

Recognition

Write or draw digital ink that fades after a few seconds.

Draw a variety of shapes with digital ink.

The Paint Brush pen type is intended for artistic work, such as painting and colouring pictures, rather than writing.

You can also use the Magic

Pen to open a magnification window or a spotlight window

(see

 Using the Magic Pen

page 121).

on

You can draw circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, triangles and arcs (see

 Creating shapes with the Shape

Recognition Pen tool

on page 33).

To write or draw digital ink

1. Press Pens .

The Pens tool buttons appear.

2. Press Pen Types and then select a pen type.

3. Select a line type.

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4. Optionally, customise the line type using the property selectors.

NOTE

You can also customise the line type using the Properties tab (see

 Changing objects’ properties

on page 53).

5. Write or draw digital ink on the page.

o

TIPS

Don’t rest your elbow or the palm of your hand on your interactive product’s surface whilst you write or draw.

o

If you write or draw multiple lines, SMART Notebook software automatically combines the lines into a single object. For example, if you write the letters of a word, SMART Notebook software combines the individual letters, enabling you to interact with the whole word. If you want to write words on the same line but don’t want them combined, leave a large gap between them, use different pens, or briefly put the pen in the pen tray before writing another word (interactive whiteboards only).

o

If you want to write diagonally, write in a straight line, and then rotate it (see

 Rotating objects

on page 65).

o

If you want to write in small letters, write large letters, and then reduce their size

(see

 Resizing objects

on page 63).

o

You can fill areas that you’ve enclosed with digital ink (see

Filling digital ink drawings

on page 55).

Erasing digital ink

You can erase digital ink from your interactive display using the eraser or the erasing gesture. If you’re erasing digital ink from a .notebook file page, you can also erase objects using the

Eraser tool.

NOTE

Although you can erase digital ink, you’re unable to erase other types of objects, including shapes, lines, text and pictures. To remove these types of objects, you must delete them

(see

 Deleting objects

on page 68).

To erase digital ink

1. Press Eraser and then select an eraser type.

2. Erase the digital ink.

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Creating shapes and lines

In addition to creating freehand shapes and lines by drawing digital ink, you can create shapes and lines using the tools in SMART Notebook software.

NOTE

To remove a shape or line from a page, you must delete it (see

 Deleting objects

on page 68). The Eraser tool doesn’t remove shapes.

Creating shapes with the Shapes tool

You can use the Shapes tool to create a variety of shapes, including perfect circles, perfect squares, perfect triangles, other geometric shapes, hearts, ticks and Xs .

You can add a shape to your page and then edit its properties. Alternatively, you can customise a shape’s outline colour, fill colour and line thickness and then add it to your page.

To create a shape

1. Press Shapes .

The Shapes tool buttons appear.

2. Select a shape on the toolbar.

OR

Press and then select a shape.

3. Optionally, customise the shape using the property selectors.

NOTE

You can also customise the shape using the Properties tab (see

 Changing objects’ properties

on page 53).

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4. Create a shape by pressing where you want to place the shape and dragging until the shape is the size that you want.

o

TIPS

You can create perfect circles, squares, triangles and other shapes by holding down SHIFT as you draw the shape.

o

You can select a shape while the Shapes tool to the Select tool around the shape.

is active without having to switch

. Press the shape once and a selection rectangle appears

Creating shapes with the Regular Polygons tool

In addition to creating shapes using the Shapes tool, you can create regular polygons with 3 to

15 sides using the Regular Polygons tool.

To create a shape with the Regular Polygons tool

1. Press Regular Polygons .

The Regular Polygons tool buttons appear.

2. Select a shape on the toolbar.

OR

Press and then select a shape.

NOTE

The number in the shape indicates its number of sides.

3. Optionally, customise the shape using the property selectors.

NOTE

You can also customise the shape using the Properties tab (see

 Changing objects’ properties

on page 53).

4. Create a shape by pressing where you want to place the shape and dragging until the shape is the size that you want.

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Creating shapes with the Shape Recognition Pen tool

You can use the Shape Recognition Pen tool to draw circles, ovals, squares, rectangles, triangles and arcs.

NOTE

You can also create shapes using the Shapes tool (see

 Creating shapes with the Shapes tool

on page 31) or the Regular Polygons tool (see

   Creating shapes with the Regular

Polygons tool

on the previous page).

To draw a shape

1. Press Pens .

The Pens tool buttons appear.

2. Press Pen Types and then select Shape Recognition Pen.

3. Draw a shape on the page.

If SMART Notebook software recognises your drawing as a circle, oval, square, rectangle, triangle or arc, it adds this shape to the page.

Creating straight lines and arcs

You can use the Lines tool to draw straight lines and arcs.

You can add a line to your page and then edit its properties. Alternatively, you can customise the line, and then add it to your page.

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To create a straight line or arc

1. Press Lines .

The Lines tool buttons appear.

2. Select a line or arc type.

3. Optionally, customise the line or arc type using the property selectors.

NOTE

You can also customise the line or arc type using the Properties tab (see

 Changing objects’ properties

on page 53).

4. Create a line by pressing where you want the line to start and dragging to where you want the line to end.

Creating text

You can create text in SMART Notebook software by doing any of the following: l

Typing the text using a keyboard connected to your computer l

Typing the text using SMART Keyboard l

Writing the text (see

 Writing, drawing and erasing digital ink

on page 28) and then

converting it to typed text using the software’s handwriting recognition feature

After creating text, you can edit it, check its spelling and change its properties, including font style, size and colour.

Typing text

You can type new text or edit existing text.

To type new text

1. If a keyboard isn’t accessible, press and hold SMART Board Tools in the Dock and then select Keyboard.

2. Press Text and then select an available font style.

3. Optionally, customise the font style (see

 Formatting text

on page 36).

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4. Press where you want the text to start.

5. Type your text.

6. When you’ve finished, press outside the text object.

To edit existing text

1. Double-click the text object.

2. Edit the text.

3. When you’ve finished, press outside the text object.

Converting handwriting to typed text

You can write on your interactive product’s screen using the Standard or Calligraphic pen types and convert your writing to typed text. SMART Notebook software can convert handwriting in multiple languages.

To convert handwriting to typed text

1. Press Pens .

The Pens tool buttons appear.

2. Press Pen Types and then select Pen or Calligraphic Pen.

3. Write your text.

TIP

Write neat, printed characters on a horizontal line. Although SMART Notebook software can convert slanted or cursive writing, it doesn’t always do so consistently.

4. Select the text object.

The SMART Notebook software handwriting recognition feature compares your written word with its dictionary and identifies words that most resemble what you’ve written.

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5. Press the text object’s menu arrow.

A menu appears and displays the list of matching words, each preceded by

Recognise

.

o

NOTES

If you want SMART Notebook software to identify words in a different language, select Recognise Languages and then select another language in the list.

SMART Notebook software updates the list of matching words to include words in the selected language.

o

If you change the handwriting recognition language, you don’t change the default language of the SMART Notebook software user interface or your operating system.

6. Select a word in the list of matching words.

The selected word appears on the page.

Formatting text

If you want to format all text in a text object, select the text object.

OR

If you want to format specific text in a text object, double-click the text object and then select the text.

You can format text using the buttons in the toolbar or the options in the Properties tab or the

Format menu.

NOTE

If the Properties tab isn’t visible, press Properties and then press Text Style.

The following table presents the formatting changes that you can make using the above tools:

Change Toolbar Properties tab

Format menu

Character, paragraph or object level

Change the font face

Change the font size

TIP

To select a font size that doesn’t appear in the drop-down list (including font sizes with decimal values such as 20.5), type the font size in the

Font Size

box on the toolbar.

Change the colour

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Change

Bold, italicise or underline text

Strike out text

Superscript or subscript text

Paragraph or object level

Change justification (left, right or centre)

Change indentation

Create a bulleted or numbered list

Insert a drop cap

TIP

To insert a drop cap at the beginning of a paragraph, press Drop Cap in the

Properties

tab under

Text Style

.

OR

Select Format > Paragraph > Drop Cap.

Change line spacing

TIP

To add spacing between paragraphs, select the

Add space after paragraphs tickbox in the

Properties tab or select Format > Paragraph >

Line Spacing > Add space after paragraphs.

Toolbar Properties tab

Format menu

3

4

1

2

1

Under More Text Options

2

Under More Text Options

3

Under More Text Options

4

Under More Text Options

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Change

Change language direction (left-to-right or rightto-left)

NOTE

Select Format > Paragraph > Direction > Left to Right for languages that read left to right (for example, English and French).

OR

Select Format > Paragraph > Direction > Right to Left for languages that read right to left (for example, Arabic and Hebrew).

Object level

Change text direction (horizontal or vertical)

Change transparency

Toolbar Properties tab

Format menu

5

Resizing text objects

When you resize a text object following the procedure in

 Resizing objects

on page 63, the

text in the object changes size.

If you want to resize the text object without changing the size of the text in the object, complete the following procedure.

To resize a text object

1. Double-click the text object.

2. Press one of the two white circles on either side of text object, and then drag the circle to increase or reduce the text object’s size.

Inserting mathematical symbols

You can insert a variety of mathematical and scientific symbols into a page.

NOTE

The mathematical symbols are characters only. They don’t perform mathematical operations.

5

Under More Text Options

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To insert a mathematical symbol

1. Type text on a page.

2. Press More Text Options and then select Insert Symbol .

The

Characters

dialogue box appears.

3. Press a category.

A list of symbols appears.

4. Press the symbol you want to add to the text.

5. Press Insert.

The symbol appears in the text object.

Checking the spelling of text objects

As you type text, SMART Notebook software checks the spelling. If you spell a word incorrectly, SMART Notebook software underlines the word in red. You can then right-click the word and select the correct spelling from a list of options.

If you prefer, you can disable this feature and check the spelling using the

Spelling Check

dialogue box.

To disable automatic spell checking

1. Press Text .

2. Press More Text Options and then select Check Spelling .

To manually check spelling of a text object

1. Select the text object.

2. Press the object’s menu arrow and then select Check Spelling.

If SMART Notebook software finds a misspelled word, the

Spelling Check

dialogue box appears. This dialogue box displays the misspelt word and suggests alternatives.

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3. For each misspelled word, do one of the following: o

To keep the word’s current spelling for this instance, press Ignore Once.

o

To keep the word’s current spelling for all instances in the file, press Ignore All.

o

To keep the word’s current spelling for all instances in the file and add the spelling to the dictionary, press Add to Dictionary.

o

To change the word’s spelling for this instance, select the correct word in the

Suggestions

list and then press Change.

o

To change the word’s spelling for all instances in the file, select the correct word in the

Suggestions

list and then press Change All.

NOTE

If you pressed a button by mistake, press Undo to undo the resulting change.

Once you have completed this step for each misspelled word, a dialogue box appears asking whether you want to check the spelling in the rest of the file.

4. Press Yes to check the remainder of the file.

OR

Press No to close the

Spelling Check

dialogue box without checking the rest of the file.

Cutting and pasting text

You can cut, copy and paste text objects like any other objects (see

 Cutting, copying and pasting objects

on page 60). You can also cut and paste text in a text object.

To cut and paste text to another location on the same page

1. Double-click the text object.

2. Select the text that you want to cut.

3. Drag the selected text to another location on the same page.

To cut and paste text to another page

1. If the Page Sorter tab isn’t visible, press Page Sorter .

2. Double-click the text object.

3. Select the text that you want to copy.

4. Drag the selected text to the other page’s icon in the Page Sorter tab.

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Creating tables

You can create tables in SMART Notebook software or paste them from other programs. Once you have created a table, you can insert objects into the table’s cells.

If you want to customise a table, you can select a table, column, row, cell or selection of cells and then do any of the following: l

Move the table l

Change line type, fill and text properties l

Resize the table, a column or a row l

Insert or remove columns, rows or cells l

Split or merge cells l

Delete the table

Creating tables

To insert a table using the Table button

1. Press Table .

A grid appears.

2. Move the pointer over the grid to select the number of columns and rows that you want in the table.

NOTE

The cells of the grid correspond to the cells of your table.

TIP

The grid displays eight rows and eight columns by default. You can add rows by moving the pointer past the bottom row. Similarly, you can add columns by moving the pointer past the right row.

If you’re using a mouse, click and hold the mouse button whilst moving the pointer.

3. Press the screen or click your mouse.

The table appears on the page.

To insert a table using the Insert Table dialogue box

1. Select Insert > Table.

The

Insert Table

dialogue box appears.

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2. Type the number of rows and columns in the boxes.

3. Optionally, select Make cells square to make the table cells square.

4. Optionally, select Remember dimensions for new tables to use the current table dimensions for all future tables that you create in SMART Notebook software.

5. Press OK.

The table appears on the page.

To draw a table

1. Press Pens .

The Pens tool buttons appear.

2. Press Pen Types and then select Pen or Calligraphic Pen.

3. Select a line type.

4. Draw a table on the screen.

TIP

Make the lines of the table as straight as possible and connect the corners.

5. Press Select .

6. Select your drawing.

7. Press the menu arrow and then select Recognise Table.

If SMART Notebook software recognises your drawing as a table, it removes your drawing and adds a table to the page.

Pasting tables from other programs

You can cut or copy a table from Word or PowerPoint® and then paste it into a .notebook file.

The table’s formatting and layout can vary when the table appears in the .notebook file.

If you want to cut or copy more than one table, you must cut or copy each table individually.

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NOTE

You can also cut or copy a table from a .notebook file and then paste it into Word or

PowerPoint. However, the table’s formatting and layout can vary when the table appears in

Word or PowerPoint.

If you’re pasting a table into PowerPoint which has cells that contain non-text objects, the non-text objects appear outside of the table in PowerPoint.

Adding objects to tables

Once you have inserted a table on a page, you can insert objects into the table’s cells.

NOTE

You can add only one object to each cell. If you want to add multiple objects to a cell, do one of the following: l

Group the objects before adding them to the table (see

 Grouping objects

on page 66).

l

Select all of the objects at once and then add them to the table as described in the following procedure. SMART Notebook software automatically groups the objects in the table cell.

To add an object to a table

1. Select the object.

2. Drag the object to the table cell.

NOTE

You’re unable to move an object if it’s locked in place (see

Locking objects

on page 95).

The object appears in the table cell.

NOTE

If you add a text object to a table, the cell resizes to fit to the text object. If you add other object types to the table, the object resizes to fit the cell.

To remove an object from a table

1. Select the object.

2. Drag the object out of the table.

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Selecting tables, columns, rows or cells

You can select a table, column, row, cell or selection of cells. Once you have selected a table or part of a table, you can do the following: l

Move the table l

Change the table’s or cells’ properties l

Resize the table, columns or rows l

Add or remove columns, rows or cells l

Split or merge cells l

Delete the table

To select a table

1. Press Select .

2. Press outside, but near to, a corner of the table and then drag to the opposite corner.

NOTE

Don’t start dragging from inside the table. If you do, you select a table cell instead of the table.

To select a column

1. Press Select .

2. Press inside the column’s top cell and then drag to the bottom cell.

To select a row

1. Press Select .

2. Press inside the row’s leftmost cell and then drag to the rightmost cell.

To select a cell

1. Press Select .

2. Press inside the cell.

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To select multiple cells

1. Press Select .

2. Press inside the top and leftmost cell, and then drag to the bottom and rightmost cell.

NOTE

If you select multiple cells and drag them to a different position on the page, you create a new table consisting of the selected cells and their contents.

Moving tables

Once you have created a table, you can move it on the page.

To move a table

Select the table and then drag it to a different position on the page.

OR

Select all of the table’s cells and then drag the cells to a different position on the page.

Changing a table’s properties

You can use the Properties tab to change the table’s properties, including its transparency, cell colour and line colour.

To change a table’s fill

1. Select a table, column, row, cell or selection of cells.

2. Press the table’s, column’s, row’s or cell’s menu arrow and then select Properties.

3. Press Fill Effects.

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4. Select a fill style:

Fill style

None (transparent)

Solid colour

Gradient of two colours

Pattern

Picture

Procedure

Select No fill.

a. Select Solid fill.

b. Do one of the following: o

Select one of the 40 colours in the palette.

o o

Press More and then select a colour in the dialogue box.

Press the eyedropper and then select a colour on the screen.

a. Select Gradient fill.

b. For each colour, do one of the following: o

Select one of the 40 colours in the palette.

o

Press More and then select a colour in the dialogue box.

o

Press the eyedropper and then select a colour on the screen.

c. Select an option in the

Style

drop-down list.

a. Select Pattern fill.

b. Select a pattern.

a. Select Image fill.

b. Press Browse.

c. Browse to and select the picture that you want to use as a background and then press Open.

NOTE

If you insert a large picture, a dialogue box may appear and prompt you to either reduce the picture’s file size or retain the picture’s file size. For more information, see

 Setting image optimisation preferences

on page 164.

d. Select Keep image size to keep the picture’s size, regardless of whether the picture is larger or smaller than the object.

OR

Select Scale image to fit to resize the picture to fit the object.

5. Optionally, drag the Object transparency slider to the right to make the table transparent.

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To change a table’s line style

1. Select a table.

NOTE

You can only change the line style of an entire table, not individual cells, columns or rows.

2. Press the table’s, column’s, row’s or cell’s menu arrow and then select Properties.

3. Press Line Style.

4. Change the table’s line style.

To change a table’s text style

1. Select a table, column, row, cell or selection of cells.

2. Press the table’s, column’s, row’s or cell’s menu arrow and then select Properties.

3. Press Text Style.

4. Change the table’s text style (see

 Formatting text

on page 36).

Resizing tables, columns or rows

If you want to customise a table, you can resize the table, a column or a row.

To resize a table

1. Select the table.

2. Press the table’s resize handle (the grey circle) and then drag it to increase or reduce the size of the table.

To resize a column

1. Press Select .

2. Press the vertical border to the right of the column.

A resize pointer appears.

3. Drag the vertical border to resize the column.

To resize a row

1. Press Select .

2. Press the horizontal border below the row.

A resize pointer appears.

3. Drag the horizontal border to resize the row.

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To resize all cells in a table

1. Select the table.

2. Press the table’s menu arrow and then select Adjust size.

3. Select one of the following options: o

Make same height to make all cells in the table the same height.

o

Make same width to make all cells in the table the same width.

o

Make same size to make all cells in the table the same height and width.

o

Make cells square to make all cells in the table square.

Adding or removing columns, rows or cells

If you want to customise a table, you can add columns or rows.

To add a column

1. Select a column.

2. Press the column’s menu arrow and then select Insert Column.

A new column appears to the right of the current column.

To remove a column

1. Select the column.

2. Press the column’s menu arrow and then select Delete Column.

To add a row

1. Select a row.

2. Press the row’s menu arrow and then select Insert Row.

A new row appears below the current row.

To remove a row

1. Select the row.

2. Press the row’s menu arrow and then select Delete Row.

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To remove a cell

1. Select the cell.

2. Press the cell’s menu arrow and then select Delete Cells.

o

NOTE

Removing a cell deletes the contents of the cell.

o

You’re unable to remove a cell if it provides the only connection between two halves of a table.

Splitting or merging table cells

You can add tables to your page and insert objects into the table’s cells. If you want to customise a table, you can split or merge cells.

To split a cell

1. Select the cell.

2. Press the cell’s menu arrow and then select Split.

3. Select an option to split the cell into multiple rows and/or columns.

NOTE

If you split a cell that contains content, the content appears in the upper-left-hand cell after the split.

To merge cells

1. Select the cells.

2. Press the cells’ menu arrow and then select Merge Cells.

NOTE

If you merge cells that contain content, the merged cell contains the contents of the top-left cell. If the top-left cell is empty, the merged cell contains the contents of the next available non-empty cell, moving from left to right, top to bottom.

Deleting tables and the contents of tables

You can delete the contents of a table or the table itself.

NOTE

You can delete all objects on a page, including tables, by clearing the page (see

 Clearing pages

on page 148).

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To delete the contents of a table

1. Select the cells containing the content that you want to delete.

2. Press Delete .

To delete a table

1. Select the table.

2. Press the table’s menu arrow and then select Delete.

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