Calc, like the other components of OOo, has a range of tools to create custom drawings. This chapter covers the default options in Calc. For a more detailed explanation of the drawing tools and their uses, see the Draw Guide.

In general, if you need to create complex drawings, it is recommended to use OpenOffice.org Draw or another drawing program.

To begin using the drawing tools, select View > Toolbars > Drawing. The drawing toolbar appears at the bottom of the screen. You can tear off this toolbar and move it to a convenient place on the window.

The Drawing toolbar showing default icons

Table 4: Drawing toolbar functions (from left to right)

Icon	Name	Behavior
	Select	Selects objects.
	Line	Draws a line.
	Rectangle	Draws a rectangle. To draw a square, hold down Shift while you drag.
	Ellipse	Draws an ellipse. To draw a circle, hold down Shift while you drag.
	Freeform Line	Draws a freeform line.
	Text	Draws a text box with no border.
	Callouts	Draws a line that ends in a rectangular callout.
	Basic Shapes	Opens the Basic Shapes toolbar.
	Symbol Shapes	Opens the Symbol Shapes toolbar.
	Block Arrows	Opens the Block Arrows toolbar of shapes.
	Flowcharts	Opens the Flowchart toolbar of shapes.
	Callouts	Opens the Callouts toolbar of shapes.
	Stars	Opens the Stars toolbar of shapes.
	Points	Allows editing of the points of a selected polygon.
	Fontwork Gallery	Opens the Fontwork Gallery.
	From File	Inserts a picture using the Insert Picture dialog.
	Extrusion On/Off	Opens the 3-D Setting toolbar and converts the selected shape (if any) to 3-D.

In addition to the default icons, you can display others by clicking the down-arrow at the right-hand end of the toolbar, selecting Visible Buttons, and then choosing the tools you want to appear on the toolbar.

Icon	Name	Behavior
	Polygon	Draws a line composed of a series of straight line segments. Hold down the Shift key to position new points at 45 degree angles.
	Curve	Draws a smooth Bézier curve.
	Arc	Draws an arc.
	Ellipse Pie	Draws a filled shape that is defined by the arc of an oval and two radius lines in the current document. To draw a circle pie, hold down Shift while you drag.
	Circle Segment	Draws a filled shape that is defined by the arc of a circle and a diameter line in the current document. To draw an ellipse segment, hold down Shift while you drag.
	Text Animation	Inserts animated text.

If support for Asian languages has been enabled (in Tools > Options > Language Settings > Languages), two more tools can be added to the Drawing toolbar: Vertical Text and Vertical Callouts.

To use a drawing tool:

1. Click in the document where you want the drawing to be anchored. You can change the anchor later, if necessary.
2. Select the tool from the Drawing toolbar (Figure 10). The mouse pointer changes to a cross-hair pointer.
3. Move the cross-hair pointer to the place in the document where you want the graphic to appear and then click-and-drag to create the drawing object. Release the mouse button. (Some tools have other requirements; see the Help or the Draw Guide for details.) The selected drawing function remains active, so you can draw another object of the same type.
4. To cancel the selected drawing function, press the Esc key or click on the Select icon (the arrow) on the Drawing toolbar.
5. You can now change the properties (fill color, line type and weight, anchoring, and others) of the drawing object using either the Drawing Object Properties toolbar or the choices and dialog boxes reached by right-clicking on the drawing object.