Impact Effects

The Impact tool extension for CorelDRAW lets you create graphic effects in a style inspired by comic books and contemporary illustrations. Such effects are perfect for adding impact, movement, or focus to designs or illustrations.

Two effect styles are available: Radial and Parallel. Radial effects can be used to add perspective or bring focus to a design element. Parallel effects can be used to add energy or signify motion.

Impact effects: Parallel (left) and Radial (right)

You can shape the impact effect by adding inner and outer boundaries. To customize the effect, you can rotate the effect lines and change the line width and spacing as well as the shape of each stroke. You can also randomize line settings for a more natural look. For example, lines can start and end randomly within the boundaries of an effect.

The effects are vector objects and can be edited with other tools in CorelDRAW. For example, you can distort or reshape the effect lines, and you can change the effect color.

These effects were customized by changing the line color and randomizing the end points of the lines.

After you download the Impact tool extension, it automatically appears as the Impact tool in the CorelDRAW toolbox.

To use the Impact tool, you must first authenticate CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. Click Help Product Details, and then on the Product Details page of the Welcome screen, click Sign in to Authenticate.

The Impact Tool Video

To add an impact effect

2 On the property bar, choose Radial or Parallel from the Effect style list box.

3 Drag in the drawing window.

To resize the effect, drag the blue node along its edge.

4 Adjust any settings on the property bar.

For information about adding boundaries, see To add and remove effect boundaries.

For information about line and line spacing settings, see To adjust additional settings.

To add and remove effect boundaries

You can constrain the effect within inner and outer boundaries by using other objects as reference shapes. The reference objects are not connected to the effect and can be moved, hidden, or deleted without changing the effect appearance.

1 Select the effect.

2 Position the effect behind the reference objects, exactly where you want the effect to appear.

To place the effect behind the objects, you can use an appropriate command from the Object Order menu (for example, To Back of Layer).

3 Perform a task from the following table.

To	Do the following
Add an inner boundary	Click the Inner boundary button on the property bar, and click the reference object in the drawing window. This action shapes the inner edge of the effect, creating a gap with the shape of the selected object. If you no longer need the reference object, you can delete it.
Remove the inner boundary	Click the Remove inner boundary button . The gap is removed from the effect, but the reference object used as an inner boundary is not deleted.
Add an outer boundary	Click the Outer boundary button , and click the reference object in the drawing window. This action constrains the effect inside the bounding box of the reference object. If you no longer need the reference object, you can delete it.
Remove the outer boundary	Click the Remove outer boundary button to restore the effect to its original shape. This action restores the effect to its original shape but does not delete the reference object that was used to define the outer boundary.

The following objects cannot be used to define boundaries: symbols, objects in text frames, grouped objects, the impact effect itself, and other impact effects.

Reshaping the reference objects after you use them as effect boundaries does not reshape the boundaries. If you need to reshape the boundaries, you must remove them and then add them again.

In this example, a gray ellipse is used to define the inner boundary of the effect (left). The ellipse is then deleted (right).

In this example, the red rectangle is used to define the outer boundary of the effect (left). The outer boundary is then removed, and the effect is restored to its original shape (right).

To adjust additional settings

The controls on the property bar let you customize the lines and line spacing in the effect.

Angle of rotation: Type a value to specify the angle of the lines in the effect (parallel style) or rotate the lines around the inner edge (radial style). Note that rotation can be applied to radial effects only if there is an inner boundary to rotate the lines against.

From left to right: Parallel and radial effects without rotation, with 15º rotation, and 45º rotation

From left to right: Before and after randomizing the start and end points of an effect

Line width: Type values in the Min and the Max box to set the minimum and maximum width for the lines in the effect. The minimum value cannot exceed the maximum value.

Width steps: Set the number of steps between the minimum and maximum width. When the value is 0, there are only two types of lines in the effect: of maximum width and of minimum width. Higher numbers add lines of increasing width between the thinnest and the thickest lines. For example, a value of 2 adds two lines between each line of minimum and maximum width.

Left: Width step value of 0. Right: Width step value of 2. Two lines are added between the thickest and the thinnest lines in the effect.

Randomize: Click this button to randomize the order of lines in the effect. Lines will no longer appear in a repeating pattern from thinnest to thickest.

From left to right: Before and after randomizing the order of lines.

Line spacing: Type values in the Min and Max box to set the minimum and maximum amount of space between the lines in the effect. The minimum value cannot exceed the maximum value.

Spacing steps: Set the number of steps between the minimum and maximum line spacing. With a value of 0, there are only two types of spacing between lines: maximum and minimum. Values of 1 and higher create additional types of line spacing.

Randomize spacing order: Enable this check box to randomize the order of the additional spacing between the minimum and maximum line spacing.

Left: The effect includes two alternating types of line spacing: maximum and minimum. Middle: More line spacing variations (spacing steps) are added. Right: Line spacing variations appear in random order.

Line style: This list box lets you choose a line shape.

The same impact effect with four different line styles applied

Widest point: Available for line styles that have varying width, this box lets you set the position of the widest line point. The higher the value, the closer the widest points are to the end points of the lines.

From left to right: A high and a low value of the Widest point setting

To edit an impact effect as a vector object

You can resize, transform, and move an effect the way you would resize, transform, and move any other object in CorelDRAW. You can also use the Shape tool to edit individual lines in the effect. In addition, you can change the line and outline color of the effects.

2 Perform a task from the following table.

To	Do the following
Transform an effect	Drag the selection handles on the bounding box to size, stretch, and mirror the effect. Click the effect again to display a new set of handles, and drag a handle to rotate or skew the effect.
Edit lines by using the Shape tool	Click Object Break Impact Effect Shape Apart. Next, ungroup the lines by pressing Ctrl + U. Click the Shape tool , and edit the lines by adding, removing, and manipulating nodes.
Change the effect color	To change the line color, click a color on the onscreen color palette. To add an outline color to the effect lines, right-click a color on the onscreen color palette.

Each time you adjust a setting on the property bar of the Impact tool, the effect is redrawn, and some of the changes you made with the vector-editing tools may be lost. That is why we recommend that you make additional changes only after you finish adjusting the settings of the impact effect.