Creating, editing, and deleting symbols

Symbols are objects that are defined once and can be referenced many times in a drawing. You can have multiple instances of a symbol in a drawing with little impact on file size. Symbols make editing a drawing quicker and easier, as changes made to a symbol are automatically inherited by all instances.

Using symbols for objects that appear many times helps to reduce file size.

Symbols are created from objects. When you convert an object to a symbol, the new symbol is added to the Symbol manager docker, and the selected object becomes an instance. You can also create a symbol from multiple objects. Most objects in CorelDRAW can be converted to symbols, with some exceptions. For more information, see Unsupported object types.

The symbols that you create in a drawing are saved with the CorelDRAW (CDR) file. In addition, you can create symbol libraries, which contain symbols that can be shared between drawings. For more information, see Managing collections and libraries.

You can edit a symbol; any changes you make affect all instances in the drawing. The selection handles for symbols differ from those for objects. Selection handles for symbols are blue; selection handles for objects are black. When you insert a symbol from an external library, a copy of the symbol is added to the active drawing, but it remains linked to the source symbol. You can edit a linked symbol or you can decide to break the link to the external library and make the symbol internal. When the link is broken, the local copy of the symbol remains in the drawing as an internal symbol, and it can be edited independently from the symbol in the external library.

You can delete a symbol. When you delete a symbol that is used in a document, all instances of the symbol are removed from the document. You can also delete all symbols that are stored in the document library but are not used in the document.

To create a symbol

2 .	Click Object Symbol New symbol.

Symbols cannot span layers. If you convert objects on different layers to a symbol, the objects are combined on the topmost object’s layer. For more information about layers, see Working with layers.

Not all objects can be converted to symbols. For more information, see Unsupported object types.

You can also convert an existing object or objects to a symbol by dragging the object or objects to the Symbol manager docker. To open the docker, click Object Symbol Symbol manager.

To edit a symbol

To open the Symbol manager docker, click Object Symbol Symbol manager.

2 .	Click the Edit symbol button .

Changes made to a symbol are automatically made to all instances in the active drawing.

While working in symbol edit mode, you cannot add layers or save a drawing.

You can also edit a symbol by selecting an instance in the drawing window and clicking the Edit symbol button on the property bar, or holding down Ctrl and clicking a symbol instance.

To edit a linked symbol, click File Open. Choose the drive and folder of the library that contains the symbol that you want to modify. Click a library (.csl) filename, and click Open. The symbol appears in the Symbol manager docker, and it can be selected and edited like any other symbol. You may need permission to change files on the network.

To rename a symbol, double-click the symbol’s name in the Symbol manager docker, and type a new name.

While editing a symbol, you can insert an instance of another symbol, which creates a nested symbol. You cannot, however, insert an instance of the same symbol.

To make a linked symbol internal

2 .	Click Object Symbol Break link.

You can also make a linked symbol internal by right-clicking a symbol and choosing Break link.

To delete a symbol

2 .	Click the Delete symbol button .

When you delete a symbol, all instances of the symbol are removed from the drawing.

To delete unused symbols

2 .	Click the Purge unused definitions button .

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