Working with groups

When editing in Comic Strip Factory, it can be convenient to stick several objects together so that they aren’t accidentally separated and can be moved, scaled, rotated, or skewed as a group. For this we have the Group command in the Objects menu. It takes all of the selected objects and combines them as a group object. A group object, when selected, has larger dashes in its selection frame so you can tell them apart from other types of object.

A group and a part selected, showing different selection frames

To disassemble a group, so that you can work with its component parts, use the Ungroup command in the Objects menu. These are standard commands in object-oriented graphics applications.

Editing Groups

In Comic Strip Factory, though, there is another provision for editing the contents of groups. It can be inconvenient to ungroup a group just to be able to work with its parts, because, if you want to regroup it afterward, it may not be easy to select the objects that used to be in the group and nothing else. So what you can do instead is edit the group. This is done by selecting it and using the Edit Group command in the Objects menu, or the Edit command on the toolbar, or just double-clicking it. This brings you into a group editor where you can select and manipulate the items in the group individually, without ever ungrouping them. Use the editing level control above the editing view to get back to the main view.

There are actually two different kinds of group in Comic Strip Factory, depending on what is contained in them. If the group contains parts, or balloons, or images, the editor allows you to create new objects of those types as well as edit the existing ones. If you are in a comic document, the catalog and the comic’s library are also available for you to drag more parts into the group.

If the group contains paths, then it can’t have those other types of objects inside it, but the editor will show a tool palette allowing you to create more paths, or reshape your paths, and a properties panel allowing you to control the appearance of the paths in the group.

Groups can be nested, so a group can also contain another group of the same type.

Merging: like grouping, but different

Merge , in the Objects menu, is a command that is similar to Group , but has a different result. What it does is different depending on what is selected.

Making Compound Paths

If you select two paths in a part editor, the Merge command is called Merge Into Compound Path . A compound path is useful if you need to make a shape with a hole in it, or two disconnected shapes that share clipping contents or a gradient fill. Compound paths can be split apart with the Ungroup command.

Merging groups

If you select two or more groups, or one or more groups and one or more other objects, the Merge command is Merge Into Single Group . This command produces a group, but instead of being a group of groups, the groups that were selected are ungrouped into it. For example, if you have two groups of two parts each, and you merge them, you get one group of four parts. Using the Group command with the same selection would get you one group containing two groups, each of which would contain two parts.

Merging parts

If you select two or more parts, the Merge command is Merge Into Single Part . This turns the two parts into one part. This can be useful, for example, if you have assembled an arm and a hand, but they don’t quite fit together. If you merge them into a single part, then you can edit that part and make small corrections to get a good fit easily. A part that has been merged together into a single part cannot be ungrouped, but you can split it into separate parts by editing it in the part editor and using the Split to Separate Part… command in the Objects menu.

Merging balloons

If you have two or more balloons selected, the Merge command is Merge Into Balloon Group . This command makes a balloon group, which is a group containing only balloons that is drawn with any overlapping balloons connected. This is useful for a long speech that you want to break up into separate thoughts while keeping them in the same panel. Balloon groups can be broken apart with the Ungroup command.