The Page Editor - Image, text & shape frame tools (overview)

Image, Text and Shape frames may be added to your page. 

An image frame holds any jpg or png type photos, textures or clipart. Add an empty image frame to your page by clicking on the Image frame icon over the canvas. Empty frames are marked with a "drop photo here" notification. Drag a photo, a clipart or a texture from the photo collection pane into an empty frame, or simply drag them to the canvas where they will automatically be placed inside a frame.

Add a text frame to the canvas by clicking on the Text icon over the page. Click into the text frame to add your own words and to customize it. Learn more about text frames in detail.

Shapes are color blocks that may be resized and restyled. Click on the Shape icon over the page to add shape to your page - it will appear in the default format as set by your Style. Learn more about Shapes in detail.

Adjusting Frame Size & Position

To resize any type of frame, select it on the canvas, then pull on the handles around its edge. 

• The top and bottom handles resize the height of the frame. 
• The side handles resize the width of the frame. 
• The corner handles resize the frame respecting its aspect ratio (length-to-height ratio). 

Hold the F key while dragging on the corner handle to free-resize your frame.

Frame controls

When you select a single frame, a set of controls will appear. The controls vary depending on the type of frame selected.

Image frame controls

If an image frame contains a photo, the Pick Up control is available. Click on it to remove the image from the frame, to place it in the dropper. You can then do any of the following:

• drop the photo onto the page in another location
• target another frame on the page (adding the image to an empty frame or swapping it with another photo)
• hit Escape on your keyboard to simply close the dropper
• hit delete on your keyboard to remove the image from the dropper.

If an image frame contains a photo, use the crop/zoom tool to reset the size of the image. Double-click this icon to reset the zoom to default.

If an image frame contains a photo, use the Feature frame tool to change the border and effects properties according to your selected Style. Feature frames will have border and image effects applied to them to distinguish them from regular images. Click on the Feature frame tool again to switch back to regular frame styling.

Reposition the image within the frame by dragging on the position handle. Double-click this icon to reset the image position to default center.

Rotate the entire frame by dragging the rotate handle side to side. Hold the Alt-key to rotate in small snapped increments. Note that Shape and Text frames will display this feature as well.

To delete a frame, simply select it and hit delete on your keyboard.

Image Menu Options

If an image frame contains a photo, it will display an image menu icon when selected. The menu offers additional positioning tools.  

Make the selected image cover the entire background - the image will move to the back of the image frame stack and enlarge.

Flip images vertically or horizontally within their frame.

Images may be reset to default values, removing any attributes added to them. They can also be reset to expose the entire image with the frame.

Frames may be locked in placed. A locked image will not move when layouts are shuffled. Click on the lock option under the menu to freeze the position of the selected frame. Click on the lock icon to unfreeze the image frame.

Grouping frames

Multi-selected items on your canvas by default work as a group. When you drag your cursor over several elements at once, you will notice that handles appear around the entire group.  Resizing the group will be proportional, with all selected elements keeping their position relative to each other. Click off the group to break it back into individual selections.

Editing Tools

When one or more frames are selected, the appropriate set of editing options are activated on the right side of the screen. Highlighted tools are bright, indicating that their options may be applied to the selected type of frame.

Each of these tools is covered in depth in other articles in this knowledge base. Below is a quick review and links to the articles where you can learn more about the feature set.

The General Menu offers image flipping, property reset and resize frame to fit image (same options as the frame's general icon).

Inter-image spacing may be changed - increase or decrease the spread between adjacent frames.

Create an image collage to fill all or part of your page.

Jumble your images casually without rotating each frame separately.

Split a photo into a mosaic, or built a grid with an empty frame.

Arrange frames under or on top of each other, or align them in relation to each other.

Add border edge effects to image and shape frames.

Add shadow effects to image, shape and text frames.

Play with filter, color and light effects to transform or correct your images in the Image Effects options. Easy filter presets are included.

Apply a gradient fade or decorative mask effect to your images and shapes.

Get creative with text frames - add colors, contouring, spacing, justification, and other effects.

Color fill is available on shape frames and the canvas itself.

General image properties control image transparency, rotation options, and canvas image blending.

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