{"id":974,"date":"2026-08-20T08:19:29","date_gmt":"2026-08-20T08:19:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/?post_type=knowledgebase&p=974"},"modified":"2026-08-20T08:48:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-20T08:48:42","slug":"resizing-rotating-3d-effects","status":"publish","type":"knowledgebase","link":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/db\/shapes-drawing\/resizing-rotating-3d-effects\/","title":{"rendered":"Resizing, Rotating & 3D Effects"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Resizing, Rotating & 3D Effects<\/span><\/h2>\n

Open Publisher gives you precise control over how shapes and text boxes are sized and oriented on the canvas, from simple resize modifiers and flip controls through to a full 3D rotation engine with non-destructive smart object editing.<\/p>\n

Resizing Shapes<\/span><\/h3>\n

\"Resizing<\/h3>\n

Open Publisher provides several resize modifiers when dragging a shape’s handles:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • \n

    Drag a resize handle –<\/strong> Scales the shape from the opposite edge (standard behaviour).<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n

    Shift + drag corner handle –<\/strong> Scales proportionally, locking the aspect ratio.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n

    Ctrl \/ Cmd + drag any handle –<\/strong> Scales outward from the exact centre point of the shape.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

  • \n

    Ctrl \/ Cmd + Shift + drag corner –<\/strong> Proportionally scales from the centre – the most precise resize modifier available.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Shapes dynamically stretch to fill their bounding boxes in both width and height, giving you complete freedom over proportions for horizontal bars, tall columns, wide banners, and any non-square layout. Borders intelligently recalculate their thickness when stretching to extreme proportions, maintaining a uniform and even border on all sides.<\/p>\n

    Precise Size Controls\"Precise<\/span><\/h3>\n

    The Drawing Tools<\/strong> contextual ribbon includes a Size group with Width<\/strong> and Height<\/strong> spinners and a Lock Aspect Ratio<\/strong> checkbox – identical to the Picture Tools size controls. Enter exact pixel values for perfectly precise element dimensions.<\/p>\n

    Rotation & Flipping Controls<\/span><\/h3>\n

    The Rotate<\/strong> dropdown in the Arrange group is available on all contextual ribbons (Drawing Tools, Text Box Tools, Picture Tools, and WordArt Tools) and includes the following options:\"Rotation<\/p>\n

      \n
    • \n

      Rotate Right 90\u00b0 –<\/strong> Snaps the element clockwise by 90\u00b0.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      Rotate Left 90\u00b0 –<\/strong> Snaps the element counter-clockwise by 90\u00b0.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      Flip Horizontal –<\/strong> Mirrors the element left-to-right.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      Flip Vertical –<\/strong> Mirrors the element top-to-bottom.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

    • \n

      More Rotation Options\u2026 –<\/strong> Opens a numeric dialog where you can type any specific degree value (e.g. 45, -15, 270). Values above 360\u00b0 are handled correctly.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      For freehand rotation, drag the green circular rotation handle that appears above a selected element.<\/p>\n

      3D Rotation Engine\"3D<\/span><\/h3>\n

      Open Publisher features a full 3D rotation engine for shapes and text boxes. Using the Format Properties dialog, you can rotate elements along the X, Y, and Z axes and adjust the depth perspective to create modern 3D aesthetic effects.<\/p>\n

      To apply 3D rotation:<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. \n

        Double-click a shape, or select it and click Format Properties<\/strong> in the ribbon.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      2. \n

        Navigate to the 3D Rotation<\/strong> section.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      3. \n

        Adjust the X<\/strong>, Y<\/strong>, and Z<\/strong> axis sliders and the Perspective<\/strong> depth value.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      4. \n

        Click OK<\/strong>.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

        Because browsers cannot reliably print live CSS 3D transforms, the engine automatically flattens the 3D object into a high-quality PNG the moment you click OK. A custom pixel-scanning algorithm tightly crops the baked image around the actual 3D footprint and recalculates the bounding box, so your resize handles perfectly wrap the visual edges of the rotated shape.<\/p>\n

        Non-Destructive Smart Object Editing<\/span><\/h3>\n

        \"Non-DestructiveThe flattened PNG stores the original live HTML, CSS, and 3D parameters in a hidden data attribute. Double-clicking the PNG instantly restores the live 3D element and reopens the Format Properties dialog, allowing you to adjust any setting and re-render.<\/p>\n

        If you click Cancel<\/strong>, the previous PNG is restored from memory – no re-rasterization required. A teal loading spinner appears while the 3D projection and smart-trimming calculations run.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        Resizing, Rotating & 3D Effects Open Publisher gives you precise control over how shapes and text boxes are sized and oriented on the canvas, from simple resize modifiers and flip controls through to a full 3D rotation engine with non-destructive smart object editing. Resizing Shapes Open Publisher provides several resize modifiers when dragging a shape’s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1001,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","template":"","knowledgebase_cat":[14],"class_list":["post-974","knowledgebase","type-knowledgebase","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","knowledgebase_cat-shapes-drawing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledgebase\/974","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledgebase"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/knowledgebase"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=974"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledgebase\/974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":999,"href":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledgebase\/974\/revisions\/999"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1001"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"knowledgebase_cat","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/acr.floydcraft.co.uk\/openpublisher\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/knowledgebase_cat?post=974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}