InDesign The Tools Palette - Part 8

The Scissors, Hand and Zoom Tools The Scissors Tool The Scissors tool can be used to split paths, shapes and frames and to reshape them. Look at the picture below. (…)

The Scissors, Hand and Zoom Tools

The Scissors Tool

The Scissors tool can be used to split paths, shapes and frames and to reshape them. Look at the picture below.

A square cut with the scissors tool

That used to be one square which I then cut with the Scissors tool. This is how I did it: First I selected the Scissors tool. Then I clicked on one side of the square, right on the stroke, than I clicked on the other side of the square. That gave me the result you see in this picture (I moved the upper part of the square away from the lower part so that you could see the cut better.)

In this picture below, I have cut the square in a different way. I have circled the points where I clicked on with the Scissors tool, to show you how I have done it.

Now watch this one.

Here I have reshaped the square. With the Scissors tool I have clicked on the stroke of the square and holding down the mouse button, I have dragged towards right. You can see a bezier curve appear in the first part of the illustration and then you see the end result in the lower part of the illustration.

You can use all I have explained so far on the Scissors tool to cut or modify open paths as well.

You may ask: What if the frame I want to cut has an image already placed inside it? The image contained in the frame won’t split, but you will have a copy of the image in the frames you will get after having applied the Scissors tool.

Note: You cannot split text frames with the Scissors tool but you can use it to reshape a text frame. The various ways of using the Scissors tool follow.

The Hand Tool

The use of the Hand tool is very simple. Basically it allows you to navigate through your document. Select the Hand tool and click somewhere on your document. Hold down your mouse button while you drag upwards or downwards or in any direction you want and you will be able to see other parts of the document which were out of your view before.