Create a page in CorelDraw that is 6.0 by 3.0. You will notice that I have places some descriptive text at the top of the page (2).

Here is the file my dealer got from their customer. There are 20 columns of names. each Column needs to have a descriptive name. In this case it is NAM01 and so forth.
NOTE: remember that CorelDraw will not condense names. Thus you need to figure out how many letters you can get on a line without the line flowing past the page margins (you could do an envelope so maybe I will address that in another tutorial). So pick your font size and figure out how many characters can go on a line and tell the customer to work within these parameters.

Here is the excel file in close up view. Notice that the first cell has the identifier text NAM01 (1). The text is in the fields below. The next column has the next identifier NAM002 (3). It does not have be NAM01 it can be any descriptive name that you want.
Note: Once the file has been checked close it down.

Got to File (1) | Print Merge (2) | Create/Load Merge Fields (3).

Select "Import text from a file or an ODBC data source" (1). Click next (2)

Select "ODBC Data Source" and then select "Select ODBC Data Source"

First click on the "Machine Data Source" tab (1). Next double click on the "Excel Files" name (2).

Select the directory where the file is (1). In this case My Documents. Next double click on the file name (2) in this case PLTALL.xls. Or click once and click "Ok". Click next.

The PTALL file is selected (1). The Column window shows the 20 columns that where in excel that are being imported into Corel (2). Select Ok (3).

Select Next (1)

You can see that the columns are imported (1). The field type is text (2). Click Next (1).

Here is the text displayed in the Merge Wizard. You can see the merge fields listed on the top (1). The names are all listed in the body (2). Note: you can spell check or change any of the names here if you want. You can also choose not to bring in a name by unchecking the name name (3). Click Next (4).

Select Finish (1). This will end the wizard.

The print merge toolbar becomes active. We now need to start inserting our merge fields. Our Name field is NAM01 and we are going to insert it onto the CorelDraw document that we created using the insert command (1).

When you insert a merge field the field takes the name of the field that was created originally in Excel. This is why it is always advisable to make sure that you chose a name that is descriptive of the data that is coming in. For example if you where bringing in data that related to a position in a company such as sales use the field identifier name "Company Position". This way you know what is in the field.

Select all the 10 lines of text and make text left justified. Because there are two columns here I am going to make the lines left justified. If I was doing only one column I would probably just leave it at center justified.

I have placed a .25 inch margin on the plate using guidelines. Place the 10 lines somewhat like I have them. Now place the top line – Name 01 at the edge of the top guideline (1) and the bottom line – Name 10 at the edge of the bottom guideline (2). Also make sure that each line is touching the left guideline (turn on "snap to guideline").

Select all your text. We are going to left justify the text. After that we will be aligning it and than distribute it

Select Arrange (1) | Align and Distribute (2) | Align and Distribute (3).

Select "Align (1) and than "left (2). Click "Apply (3). This will left justify all the text.

Select the Distribute Tab (1). Next select Center (2). We are now going to evenly distribute the 10 select lines evenly. I am using the top and the bottom lines as the extent of where this distribution is going to be. Click Apply (3). You changes will take place and the box stays open. Click Close (4)

Here is our finished layout. I have 10 names in the first column and 10 names in the second column. I am now ready to do my merge.

Select Merge to New Document (1) if you are a user of X4 or X5. If you are a user of X3 or less select Print in the print merge toolbar (2) and proceed to the imposition layout in the print menu located later in this tutorial.

CorelDraw will than proceed to create a new document called printmerge1 that is comprised of a number of pages. each page has a new set of names on it. In this case each new page has 20 new names on each page. If we only had one merge field than we would only have one new name per page.

You can see from the number of pages that I have created 268 pages (1). Each page created has 20 names. Thus I have a total of 286 x 20 names which means I have a total of 5720 names.

Some of the lines are to long so they need to be condensed. You can select each line individually and condense each one but the problem is you will get lines that will look different from each other.

Select VIEW (1) | SNAP TO GUIDELINES (2)

Some of the lines are to long so they need to be condensed. You can select each line individually and condense each one but the problem is you will get lines that will look different from each other.

If we condense the lines that are going past the guidelines than we end up with lines that look different than the non condensed lines. It is thus better to condense them together

Now we need to select all the text in the left column. Next click on the right middle selection handle (1) – green arrow and while holding down the mouse button drag left (red line). With the snap to guidelines on the text will snap to the guideline.

You can see that now each line in each column is justified the same. The text looks a lot better now.

Select File (1) Print (2).

Select Your Laser (1)

Select Your Page Size which in this case is 24 by 12.

Select the Layout tab (1). In Versions older the layout table is right beside the General Tab. Than select Edit (2).

The imposition command allows us to take our 286 pages and group them into bigger pages. Thus we can do more than one plate at a time. In this case my big plate is 24 by 12 which I setup in my print setup for my laser or sublimation printer. Now I am going to put a bunch of 6 by 3′s on a 24 by 12 inch plate. If I divide this number I will get 4 across (4 x 6 = 24) and 4 down (4 x 3 = 12). Thus I can get 16 plates per multiple. You can see from my screen shot I have 16 plates. Note: Make sure that the numbers are exact if you use to many plates they will fit on the big plate but make them smaller.

To preview the job click on the "Document Preview" (1)

You can see that I have 16 plats per page. Note: for this example I did not condense all the names on the pages. I will let my dealer do that. Select the check mark (1).

Select Print to send the job to your laser or you sublimation printer. Note: Sure is nice I did not have to type in 5700 names. Sure speeds up this job.

First we need to draw an Ellipse or a circle. We will use the circle as a guide for this lesson. Typically I would not use the circle but visually it helps people see what I am doing.

Hold down the ctrl key as you draw the ellipse as this will create a concentric circle

With the ctrl key held down we can draw a concentric circle

With the circle selected make sure that the lock button is unchecked (1). Enter in 2 inches for both the width (2) and height (3)

For this lesson I am going to be locating my circle at the 6 by 9 inch location. I have place the circle at x = 6 (1) and y = 9 (2)

We need to create our first gradation. We do this by selecting our Freehand tool (1) from the tool box.

With my freehand tool selected click at the top of the circle (1)

Now hold down the ctrl key (1)

With the ctrl key held down drag down

With the line that I have created make sure that it is selected. In the line height make it .5 inches tall (1).

I want my line to be at the top of the circle so I have activated my transformation docker (Alt F7). With the positioning tab open Uncheck Relative Position (1). Make your origin point the top center handle. My H position needs to be 6 (3) and my Vertical position needs to be 10 (4).

After I click on Ok in the Transform Docker my line will be at the 6 inch mark on the Horizontal and 10 on the Vertical.

If I drag out my guidelines I am at 6 inches on the Horizontal (1) and 10 inches on the Vertical (2)

Select the rotation tab from the Docker (1)

First we need to establish the center of our rotation. In this can it is 6 and 9 (1).

This screen shot is for X5. With the Line select (1) Make your center position 6 (2) and 9 (3). Our angle is going to be 30 degrees (4) as I want to make the next line at 30 degrees from the previous. Click the Apply button (5). Now for X5 I can actually place in the number of copies that I want to create. I will leave it at 1 so that we can do one at a time. In previous versions we would have clicked on "Apply to Duplicate".

You can see that i have created a second line that is 30 degrees away from the original.

I have continued to click the "Apply" button or "Apply to Duplicate" to fill up my circle.

For this example I want to create smaller lines or gradations at 15 degree increments. To do this means that I first have to create my first line. I am going to start at the same o mark as I did previously. So select the original line that we created. Next press the + key that is located on your keyboard in the num pad (1). This creates a duplicate on top of the original

I am going to make my gradation .25 inches for the 15 degree lines. In the Transform Docker select the Size tab (1). In my Vertical input window place in .25 inches as this is half of the .5 original.

It is hard to see the line but it is .25 inches long. Select the Rotation Tab from the Transformation Docker (1)

With the .25 inch line still selected make its center 6 (1) and 9 (2). The rotation angle is to be 15 degrees. Click Apply or Apply to Duplicate.Note: One of the problems is that if you un select the .25 inch line you can not select it. If you press the TAB button on the keyboard it will tab through all your objects on your desktop. Once you have the line selected you can stop tabbing. In this example I made my line green so you can see it.

Now we want to go in between the 30 degree marks so make you angle 30 (1) and click Apply until you fill up the circle.

With the circle filled up the dial is now ready.

Here is the file that I got from the dealer. The overall plate is 6.25 inches in length and 3 inches tall. The spacing between the small graduations is .5 inches. The spacing between the longer graduations is 2 inches. The height of the tall graduation is 2 inches. The height of the small graduation is 1 inch. The distance from the first to the last graduation is 6 inches. Thus we need a border of .250 divided by 2 which is .125 or an 1/8 inch.

I have dropped in some guidelines to aid in the visual setup of the ruler. I have a vertical guideline at 1 inch (1) and 7 inches (2). I also have two horizontal guidelines at 10 (3) and 7 (4). Thus I have a box that is 3 by 6

Select the freehand tool or press the F5 key (1)

Your cursor becomes a cross hair with a small line below (1)

Click once and while holding down the ctrl key on your keyboard drag down . This creates an ortho line.

We need to create our big line. It has to be 2 inches in height so select it and in the property bar make it 2 inches (2).

Got to ARRANGE (1) | TRANSFORMATION (2) | POSITION (3).

In the position tab enter in the following values. The height position is 1 inch (1). The Vertical Position is 7 (2). The Relative Position is unchecked (3). The origin position is the check mark at the bottom of the selection handles (4). Click Apply to move the line.

You can see that my line is at 1 inch and 7 inches which is the edge of my 3 by 6 inch box.

Select Relative Position (1). We want to have a 2 inch spacing so our horizontal duplicate spacing is 2 inches (2). Click apply 3 times to create 3 copies. Note in X4 or less click on the Apply to Duplicate 3 times. In the above example you could have typed in 3 copies and than pressed Apply once.

I now have four lines at the 1 inch mark the (1) the 3 inch mark (2) the 5 inch mark (3) and the 7 inch mark (4).

Using the Freehand tool create a line that is 1 inch in height (1). I have typed in 1 in the height to make it exact.

Now we are going to position the 1 inch line. With the position docker open make sure that the Relative Position is unchecked (1). Your origin is the bottom (2). The Horizontal position is 1.5 (.5 of an inch away from the large line) (3). The Vertical position is 7 inches (4). Click the Apply button.

Our line is now positioned (1). It is at the 1.5 inch mark

Check the Relative Position (1). Set your horizontal to .5 of and inch (2). Set the Vertical to 0 (3). Make our copies as 1 or 2 (4) and than click Apply (5).

We have created 3 small lines. Now the next problem is our 4th line will be on top of the big red line. You have two choices here. 1 is to click apply and keep going and create a line on top of the red line and than go back and delete that line or you can change the Horizontal Value to 1 inch and click apply once change the value back to .5 create the next two and than repeat. In this case I just went back and deleted the two lines that where on top of the red 2 inch lines.

Here are the complete lines. Now all I have to do is to add in the box.

Select the Rectangle Tool or press F6 (1).

Your cursor will turn into a plus symbol and a box (1).

Draw the Box. Do not worry about the size we can resize after

Resize the Rectangle to 6.25 (1) by 3 (2).

First uncheck the Relative Position (1). Next make your origin the bottom left hand corner (2). Next make your Horizontal Value .875 (1 inch minus the .125 of an inch) (3) and the Vertical 7 (4). Your copies are 0 (5). Than click apply.

Here is our finished ruler. Note: If you want to have thin lines than make the lines hairline so you can vector them on the laser. If you want thicker lines set the width so that they raster.

Here is our original image. You can see that all the corners are sharp. I have two 45 degree corners (1, 2) and I have 1 90 degree corner (3).

If I place a wider line on the original line my two 45 degree corners get cut off or mitered by Corel. This is no good for me so I need to change this.

Let us change the miter level so that Corel will not cut the corners. Select the Outline Pen tool (1).

To change the miter level we need to go into our outline pen dialog box. Select the Outline Pen dialog command from the menu.

Change the Width to 0.125 width (1). Change the Miter level to 44 degrees. Note: by default Corel will miter anything that is 45 degrees or less. By changing the miter level to 44 means that it will not adjust my 45 degree corners on my image.

You can see that my corners have not changed they are still the same. This is because I told CorelDraw not to miter any corners more than 44 degrees. I did this in the previous step. Thus if you find that you are creating thicker lines make sure that you also change the miter level so that the corners do not change.

If you want to set this as a default go to TOOLS (1) | OPTIONS (2)

Select Styles (1) and than Default Graphic (2)

Select Edit (1)

Change the miter level to say 1 (1) and click Ok (2).

Select Document (1). Than Save Options as Defaults (2). Than Styles (3). Than Click on OK (4).

Right click on the "Start" button (1) located in the bottom left hand corner.

Select the file that you want to extract in Windows Explorer (1). Right Click on it (2) and select Extract All (2).

Select Next to continue (1).

Most of the time you will want to extract the files in the same location as the existing zip file (1). If not than select the Browse button and select the location where you want the files to be located. MAKE SURE THAT YOU LOOK WHERE THE FILES ARE GOING. To many times in the past I have not and i have to go back and extract the files again to find out where they are. Select Next (3).

Click on the Finish Button to start the extraction (1)

Click on the New Page icon to create a new job (1).

Go to FILE (1) | IMPORT (2).

In the explorer window click on the job name (1).

Click "Import" to bring the logo in

To finish the importing in just press the "Enter" key, or draw a box with your mouse or click on the page with your mouse

It is important to note that CorelDraw compresses the files it saves. As you can see from the above example the non compressed file is 4,873 KB (1). The zipped file is exactly the same size 4,837 KB (2). For this reason I do not zip cdr files unless I am sending more than one file or I am afraid someones email filter is going to stop the file from coming in.

You can turn compression off if you go to the Options Setup and go to save. If you want this to be permanent make sure you save the Document as a default.

Here we have an image of some horses with the rockie mountains as a back drop

The resolution of our image is 228 by 228. For a laser it should not fall below 100 dpi. For sublimation I would keep this number at about 200dpi

The size of our image is 8.771 by 6.578. Let us assume we are using 3 by 3 inch tiles. For this excursive I want to use an image that is 15 inches by 12 inches. Thus we need 5 tiles long (5 x 3) and 4 tiles high (4 X 3). Before we can go on we need to make our image 15 by 12 with a resolution of 100 if we are doing it on a laser machine.

The problem is if we just drag our image and make it bigger than our resolution will be to small. To reduce the effect of enlarging the image we will use the resample command (1) that is found in CorelDraw.

First of all make sure that the image size will retain the original aspect ratio (1). Type in a width of 15 (2). You will notice that the height goes to 11.25 (3) automatically which is to small for the 12 that we need. As I only need 150 DPI i have entered this in for the Horizontal (4) and the vertical (5) resolution. Notice that the file size has increased in as per the red box. Make sure that you have unchecked "anti-alias (6). What I need to do is to enter in 12 for the height.

First enter in 12 for the height. (1) This will change width to 16 (2). Click on "OK"

We need to crop the image down to 15 by 12. We do this by selecting the crop tool (1)

While holding down your left mouse button drag and create a selection or crop box. Do not worry about the size we will correct this in the next step

First we need to type in 15 for the width (1) and 12 for the height (2). Press enter.

Place the selection box on top of the original image. Remember that anything outside the box will be gone once we accept the crop.

Double click on the selection or crop box to accept the crop.

Go to the toolbox and select the Graph Paper (1). The hot key is "D"

As per the beginning of this article we know that we are creating 3 by 3 tiles. Thus we need 4 tiles tall and 5 tiles wide. Type in 4 for the height (1) and 5 for the width (2).

While holding down your left mouse button drag and create the stock graph paper

We should have a setup as per the above.

Select the graph paper and type in 15 wide (1) and 12 (2) tall.

First we need to select the graph and the picture together. Drag a selection box around the two. Press the letters "C" and than "E". This will center the two.

Press the Tab button until the picture is selected. You will know the picture is selected as the pictures name is at the bottom in the status bar

Select EFFECTS (1) | POWERCLIP (2) | PLACE INSIDE CONTAINER (3).

When you select "Place Inside Container" your cursor will change into a black arrow. Click inside the Gird, This means that we want the grid to powerclip our photo

If you get this error message than you did not have the photo selected. Click "No" go back and make sure the photo is selected and repeat.

Make sure that you have the powerclipped image and grid selected. Now go to ARRANGE (1) | UNGROUP(2).

You can now separate the image from each of the other grids. Notice that the grid that I selected is a 3 by 3 grid (1), Now all I have to do is to remove the pen outline.

Make sure that the 3 by 3 image is still selected. Than select the Pen tool (1). Than None (2).

You can see that my picture is 3 by 3 and it has now outline. Now we can laser the image onto tiles or sublimate the image onto tiles

If you do not want to worry about over spray and are working in a small area than laser tape may be for you. It typically requires a little more power than the spray but the labour saving can quickly offset that.

For optimum mark quality, good adhesion and contact between the tape and the substrate is necessary. The tape must stick well to the substrate. If gaps or air bubbles are trapped between the tape and the substrate, poor mark quality will result. Use moderate pressure to insure good contact. Use of a squeegee will help insure good contact. Rough or uneven substrates such as porous non-glazed ceramics or bricks will also produce marks of lower resolution due to the roughness of the material

Some burning of the paper backing will occur during marking and is normal. We recommend that the marking be done in a well ventilated area. When making large marks or a large quantity of marks, we recommend a ventilation system to exhaust the smoke created from the paper burning to the outside. Marking may require some trial and error to optimize your laser with a particular substrate. Keep in mind that all lasers react differently depending on the substrate. Best results are obtained when marking at lower powers and slower speeds. High powers tend to damage glass substrates and should be avoided whenever possible. Experimentation should be done to find settings that produce an acceptable mark without glass damage.

No preparation is necessary, use LMM-6018 tape as supplied.

Product must be stored in cool and dry conditions. Storage temperatures should be between 40ºF (5ºC) and 95ºF (35ºC). If stored as recommended, a minimum shelf life of six months after the production date is guaranteed.

Here is the coverage chart for the LM material. Contact your local distributor for pricing so you can figure out the price. For example based on the price of a can of thermark the cost per sq inch is approx $0.15.

Here is an image that I used for a previous lesson. It is a JPEG image of a legend plate. Again this was probably a photograph so this is why it is a JPEG. Most cameras are going to produce a JPEG for the output photos and because they are JPEGs they may be aliased. Also remember that if you export an image for the web because it is going to be seen on a monitor it will be anti aliased. This tends to be the default setup so turn it off if you are going to send a jpeg to someone that is not going to be seen on the web.

Here is a zoom of the edge of a part of the legend plate. As you can see because the we are going from red to white the edges will go dark gray to light gray. Remember you laser will engrave the light grays. You may not see this on wood but you might see it on black brass coated steel.

Here is our image converted to gray. This makes it a little bit easier to see

Here is a zoomed out view. You can see the "shading" that is going on.

One way to create crisper text is to convert the text to black and white. Go to BITMAPS (1) | MODE (2) | BLACK AND WHITE (3).

From the Pull Down Menu select "Line Art" (1). The left window is you original window (2) and the right window is the preview window (3). The Threshold allows us to darken or light the image.

The default setting is 128. If I increase the number the image becomes bigger as some of the darker shades of gray become black. If I make the number less the lighter shades of gray become white.

You can see the stair steeping is very pronounced at the edges of the image.

To see further how bad the stair stepping is I have zoomed in to see it. You can see the jaggiesness of the edges. The quality of our engraving is not going to be good.

Now you may not think that the previous image was that bad. Well here is a vector image of the legend plate. As you can see the quality is perfect. Now this is not fair as the laser converts this to a bitmap. So let us convert it to a bitmap.

To do what the laser does in terms of converting the vector image to a raster or bitmap image select the vector image. Go to BITMAP (1) | CONVERT TO BITMAP (2).

From within the dialog box make sure that Dithered (1), Apply ICC Profile (2) and Anti- Aliasing (3) are unchecked. The Colour is Black and White (4), the resolution can stay at 300 as the file size is minimal (6). CLick OK (7).

As you can see the quality of the edge is better than the original file we where working on. The edges are very clean. It shows you that vector graphics are always the best to use when it comes to engraving.

Seeing the legend plate needs to be cleaned up converting it to vectors amy help. One of the great features in CorelDraw is the ability to convert a bitmap image into a vector object. When it comes to editing a line drawing such as the legend plate with issues working in vectors is easier. We can use this technique with the legend plate.

Select the image. Now go to TRACE BITMAP (1) OUTLINE TRACE (2) LINE ART (3).

I like to work in wireframe overlay when I am comparing the trace to the original image. Set the transparency to 80.

The default settings for the Line Art setting are all the way on the Detail (1). Smoothing is set to 25 (2). The Corner Smoothness is set to 0 (3).

You can see that the trace is actually pretty good. The red line indicates the trace.

Here is the legend plate traced. YOu can see that a little work needs to be done on the notch and the text needs to be deleted out.

I did a 2 minute cleanup and we have a pretty good replica of the original legend plate in Vector format.

I just got a request from a customer to help them with this logo. Another Web image JPEG. Notice the aliasing that is being done around the edges.

Here is the original legend plate that needs to be recreated. This is quite easy to do using the weld command. My original image is a jpeg of the image but it could be a picture or a scan.

The trick to creating any logo or object is to use guidelines. These guidelines are needed as they help you position your object and they can be used in helping you draw. You can see that I have created a number of guidelines. Each one indicating a certain area of the legend plate.For example there is a rectangle that will be used for the slot of the switch I have marked it with 4 numbers.

To allow me to easily see what I am drawing I will switch to wireframe mode. This mode takes all the colour out of any pictures and removes any fill from my view. Select EDIT (1) | WIREFRAME (2)

When I am drawing I like to use the Object Manager. To Open it go to TOOLS (1) | OBJECT MANAGER (2).

I have renamed the layer that has the original legend plate on it to "Original Legend Plate" (1). I now need to create a new layer that I will place my new legend plate that I am creating on.

Select "New Layer" (1)

I have renamed the layer to "New" (1). Note: because our objects that we are going to draw are going to reside in the "New" layer we need to make sure that it is selected. We know that it is selected as the name "New" is red. Thus anything that is drawn will go in this layer.

When I am using the guidelines as the borders for my drawing I like to turn on "Snap to Guidelines". Select EDIT (1) | SNAP TO GUIDELINES (2)

To aid in my snapping to the edge of my guidelines I will turn on Dynamic Guidelines. As I get to the edge or the corner or the intersect Corel will tell me this. Go to EDIT (1) | DYNAMIC GUIDES (2).

If we look at our legend plate you will notice that it consists of 2 rectangles and 2 ellipses. So there are the 4 shapes we will draw. Let us start with the Rectangles so select the rectangle tool (1).

Move your cursor over the top left intersection of the two guidelines. Your cursor will display the word "Intersection". As this is the top left had corner than click down on the corner with your mouse and drag downwards to the right while holding onto the left mouse button.

Drag down to the bottom right hand corner until you see the word "Intersection" (1). Let go of the mouse your rectangle is drawn.

Now that we have drawn our first rectangle let us draw the first ellipse. Select the ellipse tool (1).

As we did with the rectangle start at the intersecting guidelines at the top left hand corner of the two intersecting guidelines. See the word "intersecting" (1). Click your left mouse button and hold and drag down towards the right. Note: remember all ellipses are created with a rectangle shape even though they are ellipse. Thus my guidelines reflect where the rectangle starts.

Drag down to the bottom right corner of the intersecting guidelines (1). You can see the word "intersection" listed. Let go of the mouse.

You can see that my ellipse follows the shape of the original legend plate.

It is easier with this step to create the second ellipse by mirroring the first one that I have drawn. To do this click on your top right hand selection handle and start dragging upwards to the right (1).

As you drag up Corel will show you the new size of the ellipse with a blue line. Once you get to the right area as per the figure while still holding down the left mouse button right click with your mouse. This will create a copy of the ellipse. Realease the mouse.

The second Ellipse is now created (2). It is an exact copy of the first (1).

I will create the tab in a little while. I now have the three objects that I need. I have 1 rectangle and 2 ellipses. They are in one layer. I have named the ellipses inside and outside

I am going to weld the Outside ellipse and the rectangle. So we need to select these two. This is easy from the Object Manager. Click with your left mouse button on the ellipse (1)to select it. Now while holding down the crtl key click on the Rectangle (2) to select it. Both Objects are now selected as they are highlighted in blue.

Weld can be done either from the Weld command from the Shaping Docker or from the property bar. This is a simple weld so you can use the property bar (1). Click on the weld icon.

You can also use the Weld command that is located in the shaping docker. Go to ARRANGE (1) | Shaping (2) | Shaping (3).

With only one object selected let us use the rectangle, Select "Weld" (1). Uncheck Source and Target Objects (2, 3). Than click weld to. Which in this case is the outside ellipse.

I now have a new object called Outside Ellipse which is an object.

Here is our welded shape. You can see that I now have the legend plate almost done I just need the notch to be placed in the inside circle.

Select the Rectangle tool. Now go to the top left hand corner and click on the intersecting guidelines (it says intersecting (1)). Drag to the bottom right.

Drag down till the intersecting text comes up (1). Now before you let go of the left mouse drag down.

Move below the inside ellipse and make sure you see "Edge" (1). Let go of the mouse.

Now we can select the inside circle (2) and the notch (1). Again I do this from the Object Manager.

Select the Weld icon from the Property bar. This will weld the two objects together.

My weld is done and so is the legend plate

My legend plate is now finished. The blue lines indicate the two objects that I created.