4.1 Layout dialog

The layout dialog window is the heart of Hollywood Designer. This is where you will create each single page. The layout dialog consists of a big designer part, two toolbars and a status line display at the bottom of the window.

Using the designer part is really easy: Select an object by clicking onto it. Now the object will be highlighted and it will also be shown in the object manager as the active object.

You can then use the little boxes around the object to change the size of the object. Just click them and then drag them to the desired size. If you click on a selected object, the boxes around the object will change to little circles. By dragging the object along these little circles you can rotate the object. After you have rotated the object, click on it again and you are back in scaling mode with boxes at the object's corners.

Text objects can currently not be rotated but you can set the wordwrapping width of the text object by dragging it to the desired size. Hollywood Designer is in word-wrapping mode when the small boxes at the corners of the object are connected with lines.

If you double click an object, the properties of it will be popped up. If an object is selected, you can grab it with the mouse and move it to a new position. You can also move the object using the cursor keys. This allows you to position the object very exactly. If you hold down the shift key while pressing a cursor key, the object will be moved faster.

If you click the right mouse button on an object in the layout dialog, a context menu will appear which allows easy access to all object configuration functions. The same applies to right clicks onto the page: This will pop up a context menu with quick access to all page functions.

The status line displays the following information (from left to right):

‘Page <current page>/<total pages>’

This text shows the number of the active page as well as the total number of pages in your project. If you opened page 5 and your project has 10 pages for example, this status text will be set to "Page 5/10".

‘X/Y’

These fields show the position of the currently selected object. If you have not selected an object, nothing will be shown here.

‘Width/Height’

These fields show the dimensions of the currently selected object. If there is no active object, nothing will be shown.

‘Angle’

This field shows the rotation angle of the currently selected object.

‘Mouse’

This field shows the position of the mouse points. The x-coordinate is shown first, followed by the y-coordinate.

‘Object name’

If the mouse pointer is over an object, its name will be shown here. Additionally you can move the mouse pointer over the icons in the toolbar and their functions will also be displayed here.

The left side toolbar offers the following functions (from top to bottom):

‘New page’

Click on this tool, to add a new page to your project.

‘Page properties’

Click here, to pop up the properties of the current page.

‘New brush’

This tool adds a new brush to your page. You will be prompted to select a graphics file.

‘Line tool’

You can use this tool to create a new line object on your page. Use the crosshairs to set the start vertex of your line. Now hold down the left mouse button and release it over the vertex that shall be the end of your line.

‘Rectangle tool’

You can use this tool to create a new rectangle object on your page. Use the crosshairs to define a start point and then hold down the left mouse button and release it when the rectangles fits your desired dimensions.

‘Ellipse tool’

You can use this tool to create a new ellipse object on your page. Use the crosshairs to define the center point of the ellipse and then hold down the left mouse button and release it when the ellipse fits your desired dimensions.

‘Arc tool’

You can use this tool to create a new elliptic arc object on your page. Use the crosshairs to define the center point of the arc and then hold down the left mouse button and release it when the ellipse fits your desired dimensions.

‘Autoform tool’

You can use this tool to create a new autoform object on your page. Use the crosshairs to define the start point of the form and then hold down the left mouse button and release it when the ellipse fits your desired dimensions.

‘Polygon tool’

You can use this tool to create a new polygon object on your page. Add as many points as you wish to your polygon and then click on the start point to close it.

‘New text’

Use this button to add a new text object to your page. If you click here, a new dialog will be opened that allows you to enter text and configure the font settings.

‘New animation’

This tool adds a new animation to your page. You will be prompted to select an animation file.

‘New video’

This tool adds a new video to your page. You will be prompted to select a video file.

‘New action’

This button adds a new action object to your page. The action object will be empty and you can add action events to it.

‘Object properties’

Click here, to pop up the properties of the active object. This button is only enabled, if an object is active.

‘Object to front’

This button moves the object one to the front, this means that it will be moved one step down in the object manager. This button can only be used if an object is selected and if this object is not the front most object.

‘Object to back’

This button moves the object one to the back, this means that it will be moved one step up in the object manager. This button can only be used if an object is selected and if this object is not the top most object in the object manager.

‘Edit transition FX’

If the display mode of the active object is effect mode, then you can click on this tool and it will open the transition FX dialog, which you can use to choose an effect for the object.

‘Delete’

If you click this tool, the active object will be deleted.

‘Color’

This widget displays the currently selected color. All objects which you add to your page will be of this color. If you change this color and an object is selected, the color of the object will be changed, too.

The upper toolbar offers the following functions (from left to right):

‘New project’

Click here to create a new project. If there is already a project opened, it must be closed first. This button will open the New project dialog window.

‘Open project’

This button opens a file requester that allows you to load a new project from disk.

‘Save project’

Saves the current project.

‘Close project’

Closes the current project.

‘Undo’

Undoes the last operation.

‘Redo’

Redoes the last undone operation.

‘Cut’

Cuts the active object and puts it in the clipboard.

‘Copy’

Copies the active object and puts it in the clipboard.

‘Paste’

If there is an object in the clipboard, you can insert it into your page by clicking this button.

‘Windowed mode’

Clicking this button will change the project's display mode to windowed mode.

‘Full screen mode (physical resolution change)’

Clicking this button will change the project's display mode to full screen mode through changing the monitor's resolution.

‘Full screen mode (layer scaling)’

Clicking this button will change the project's display mode to full screen mode through layer scaling your project. Layer scaling will lead to a better quality when using vector graphics like TrueType text but it is slower than auto scaling (see below).

‘Full screen mode (auto scaling)’

Clicking this button will change the project's display mode to full screen mode through auto scaling your project. Auto scaling is faster than layer scaling but the quality of vector graphics won't be as good as with layer scaling (see above).

‘Show project’

Click this button to make Hollywood show your project. It will be shown from the first page on.

‘Show active page’

Click this button, to start the project at the active page. This is useful if you just want to do a quick check, if your page looks like you want it and you do not want to view the whole other pages first.

‘Previous page’

Click this button and Hollywood Designer will skip to the previous page. If there is no previous page, it will skip to the last page in your project.

‘Next page’

Click this button and Hollywood Designer will skip to the next page. If there is no next page, it will skip to the first page in your project.