Line Widgets

Creating Lines

Drag from the Libraries Pane

Axure RP comes with a few ready-to-use lines that you can access in the Default widget library in the Libraries pane. These include the horizontal and vertical lines in the Common section and the arrows in the Markup section. To add one to your design, drag it from the pane and drop it onto the canvas.

The Line Tool

You can draw straight lines on the canvas using the Line tool, available in the Insert menu at the top-left of the interface or via the L shortcut. Activate the tool and then click-and-drag on the canvas to draw your line. Hold SHIFT as you drag to snap the line along 45° increments.

The Pen Tool

You can draw straight, curved, jagged, wavy, spiral, or any other kind of line you can think of with the Pen tool, available in the Insert menu at the top-left of the interface or via the P shortcut.

The pen tool works similarly to its equivalent in other vector drawing applications:

• Click the canvas to add a new vector point
• Click-and-drag to add a curved point

• Hold SHIFT while dragging to auto align the curve handles to the X or Y axis
• Hold ALT while dragging to move the drag handles independently of one another
• Double-click the canvas or press ESC to create an open-path shape (a line)

Note

If you draw an open shape with two straight vector points, it will be labeled as a Line in the Outline pane. If you curve your points, however, or if you use more than two points, it will be labeled as a Shape, but you can still style it like any other line widget.

Curved Lines

In addition to drawing curved lines with the Pen tool, as explained above, you can also curve straight lines you've already created. To do this, select the line and double-click its border to edit its vector points.

Click along the line to add any number of new points, and then drag the points to reposition them. Double-click a point to curve it, or right-click it and select Curve in the context menu. You can then drag the point's curve handles to adjust the width and direction of the curve.

Line Styles and Arrowheads

Lines can be styled with the following Border properties in the Style pane:

• Color
• Thickness
• Pattern
• Arrows (each end of the line can have a different arrowhead)

Adding and Editing Text

You can add text to a line widget or edit its current text via any of the options below:

• Select the line and press ENTER to enter text-editing mode
• Right-click the line and select Edit Text in the context menu
• Select the line and begin typing. (This option is only available if you have disabled the single-key shortcuts)

Selection Groups

You can create a relationship between a group of shape, line, image, and/or dynamic panel widgets in which only one widget at a time can be set to its selected state with the Set Selected/Checked action. (This is similar to the relationship between radio buttons in a radio group.)

To learn more, check out the Selection Groups article.