The Object Editing panel is a dynamic toolbox located on the right side of the canvas. It automatically adapts to the type of object you select—bitmap, text, or vector—and presents the relevant editing options, including Group/Ungroup, Image Editing, Vector Editing, and Text Editing.
¶ 1. General Editing
Grouping allows you to combine multiple objects on the canvas into a single unit. This makes it easier to move, scale, and manage object layers as a whole.
¶ 1.1 Group Objects
You can group multiple selected shapes, text, or image objects into one group. Once grouped, all items act as a single unit for movement and scaling, and appear as a single Group in the object list.
¶ 1.1.1 How to Group?
- Method 1: Select one or more objects on the canvas, then click the Group button
at the top-right of the canvas. The selected objects will be merged into one group and displayed as Group in the object list.
- Method 2: Select one or more objects on the canvas or in the object list, right-click the selection, and choose Group from the context menu.
¶ 1.1.2 Grouping Notes
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You can group even a single selected object. This allows adding more items into the same group later, making naming and locating objects easier.
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Nested groups: You can group existing groups together, or group individual objects with an existing group. The same layer-ordering rules apply.
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Independent attributes: After grouping, all objects keep their own engraving/cutting parameters—such as power, speed, and visual properties (color, fill, etc.).
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Group attribute behavior: If you select the whole group and it contains different object types (bitmap, vector), you will need to select each type individually to edit their specific parameters.
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Both objects and groups can be dragged into other groups.
¶ 1.2 Ungroup
Ungrouping breaks a grouped object back into individual items or smaller groups.
¶ 1.2.1 How to Ungroup?
- Method 1: Select one or more groups on the canvas, then click the Ungroup button
at the top-right of the canvas. All items in the group will be separated as independent objects. - Method 2: Select one or more grouped objects on the canvas or in the object list, right-click the selection, and choose Ungroup from the context menu.
¶ 1.2.2 Ungroup Notes
- If the selected group contains nested sub-groups, ungrouping the outer group will not break apart the internal sub-groups.
- The Ungroup button only appears when a group is selected.
¶ 2. Bitmap Editing
The bitmap editing tools allow you to perform basic image preprocessing after importing an image—such as cropping, adjusting brightness and contrast, inverting colors, sharpening, and more. These adjustments help enhance image detail before engraving, resulting in clearer and more defined output.
Pre-processing your bitmap before engraving reduces rework and improves engraving quality and efficiency.
When you select a bitmap on the canvas, the right panel displays the Image Adjustment panel. This panel helps you optimize the visual appearance of the imported picture, improving clarity and tonal range during engraving.
The bitmap editing panel includes the following two modules:
¶ 2.1 Image Adjustment
¶ 2.2 Image Editing
¶ 3. Vector Editing
Vector editing refers to modifying and combining shapes made of paths, segments, and nodes. By adjusting shapes, performing Boolean operations, or creating compound paths, you can build more complex and precise vector designs.
¶ 3.1 Draw Vector Shapes
Click any tool in the Bottom Toolbar to draw various vector shapes, including rectangles, lines, ellipses, polygons, stars, and triangles. These shapes support both style and parameter adjustments.
- Style Settings: For shapes with special attributes, you can adjust parameters such as number of polygon sides or star point count in the Vector panel.
| Modify Polygon Sides | Modify Star Points |
- Vector Parameters: You can modify basic appearance properties such as Fill, Stroke, and Corner Radius.
¶ 3.2 Compound Path
- Combine two or more individual vector shapes (paths) into one continuous, more complex shape.
¶ 3.3 Boolean Operations
Boolean operations allow you to combine, intersect, or subtract multiple vector shapes. This is useful for quickly creating complex shapes—for example, merging two shapes into one, or cutting one shape out of another.
Aliencell Space provides four Boolean operation types: Union, Intersection, Subtract Front, and Exclude Overlap.
¶ 4. Text Editing
¶ 4.1 Drawing Text
¶ 4.1.1 Add Text
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Click the
icon in the bottom toolbar to add and edit text on the canvas. -
When a text object is selected, the text editing tools appear in the upper-right corner of the canvas. Here, you can adjust font style, size, and other formatting properties.
¶ 4.1.2 Set Text Attributes
¶ 4.2 Convert to Vector
- Convert one or more text objects into editable vector shapes.
After conversion, the text will lose all text properties (for example: you can no longer edit the text content, change the font, text height, or letter spacing).
¶ 4.3 Compound Path
- Combine two or more separate text objects into a single, continuous complex shape.
Difference between Convert to Vector and Compound Path:
- Multiple text objects can be converted to vectors simultaneously, and each text becomes its own independent vector shape.
- When multiple text objects are merged using Compound Path, they become one unified vector path.
¶ 4.3 Boolean Operations
Perform Boolean operations on one or more text objects. During the operation, text objects will automatically be converted into vector shapes. Boolean rules follow the same principles as standard vector Boolean operations.
