CorelDRAW Tips and Tricks: Fit Objects to a Path

Recently, I wanted to replace the 50 stars on the U.S. flag with the original 13 stars in a circle. Given it is 13 stars and not 12, I could not easily lay them out in a circle, as it would not be symmetrical around the circle. I have a tool to make a perfect circle: hold the Ctrl key while pulling out a circle and use the star-making tool on the toolbar marked Polygons. Again, while holding down the Ctrl key and pulling out a star, I make sure the settings indicate the star will have five points. Now the hard part – distributing 13 stars around the circle.

1. Place the one star at the top of the circle so the center of the star is on the line. Make sure it is centered to the width of the circle.
2. Now you want to use the Fit to Objects Path docker by selecting it from the menu Objects>Fit to Objects Path. The docker appears. (Editor’s note: the video starts at the beginning of this step.)
3. Select the star first, then while holding the Shift key, select the circle. The last object you select is the path.

Set all the settings how you want them. Here’s what I used to rotate the stars themselves and rotate 13 of them around the circle:

Objects>Duplicate: 12

Object positioning>Order>Selection: Selection order; Distribution>Uniform object spacing; Origin>Object origin – select the center box

Rotation>Reset – check the Ignore Initial Rotation box

Direction– I checked clockwise, but it really doesn’t matter on this one

Press the Apply button and you should have the 13 stars perfectly rotated and distributed around the circle. Now, select the circle and right click on the No Color box on one of your color palettes.

Play with this tool by creating other paths such as an angled straight line, a half oval, etc., and distribute a vector object(s) along the path.

Information courtesy Bob Hagel, Eagle’s Mark