| Working With Templates in CorelDRAW | |
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The file is saved with a CDT extension rather than the standard CDR extension for a CorelDRAW document. The CDT extension defines it as a CorelDRAW Template. When you open a template file, CorelDRAW asks you whether you want to create a new document based on the template, or open the template for editing. If you choose New from template, your template will be preserved and you can give the new document a unique file name. If you choose Open for Editing, the template is opened and any changes you make will affect the template file.
The first time you open the template you should open it for editing, so you can make sure the template will work with your printer margins and modify it if it won't. The template includes some notes and instructions to help you do this.
I suggest you open the Object Manager (Window > Dockers) and look at some of the elements included in this template. A screen shot of the Object Manager for this template is included here.
The Object Manager shows you a tree-style view of every element in your document. Normally you won't want your object docker this large, but as you can see, it also tells you a lot about each object. If you can't see all the text in the docker, hold your mouse over an item to see a tool tip with the information.
From
this screen shot you can see this document has 2 pages, with
a text and a graphics layer on each page. There is also a master
page with guides and instructions. These are displayed in a
light gray font because they are unavailable for editing. Each
layer has three small icons next to it: 
These enable you to toggle the layer's visibility, printability,
and editability, respectively.
Notice the Guides layer is printable, but not editable. This prevents anyone from accidentally moving the fold marks. The Instructions layer is not editable or printable, and you can click on the eye to hide it when you no longer need the instructions. The name of the active layer is the one in red.
You'll also notice I included a graphics layer, but it is empty. If you wish to add a background to your CD insert, you can place it on this layer. Because it is below the text in the Object Manager, the graphics will not obscure the text. If you always want to use the same background graphic, you should save it as part of your template. If you want to use a different background with each new document, you should leave this empty and add your graphics when you create a new document based on the template.
Lastly, you can see that there are three text boxes on each page. The template was created this way so that the text could flow freely across both pages, but no text would print in the fold area. If you've never worked with text that flows from one frame to another, it's very easy to do. When the text frame is selected you will see a small tab at the middle of the bottom edge. Simply click on the tab and the cursor will change to a text box with an arrow. Click with this cursor in the text box that you want to flow into. You can repeat this for as many text boxes as you need--even from one page to the next! If you always want your text to use a different font than the one I have defined in the template, you can select each text box, change the font, and save this as part of the template.
That about covers the anatomy of this template!
After you have modified and saved the template, it's ready to use. Choose File > New from Template, paste your text in, add some graphics, and you're ready to print.
The template is two pages so that you can print on both sides of your paper to fit more text. After printing side one, simply flip the paper over and feed it back through using the same leading edge as the first pass.
I hope this exploration has given you some ideas for using templates to simplify your own projects!
Sue
Chastain
Your Guide to Graphics Software
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