 graphics there are two axes, so the object may be scaled in two directions.
It is possible to scale it separately (horizontally or vertically) - in this case the shape and proportions of object will be changed. Proportional scaling will constrain the object's shape, transforming simultaneously in two directions. Scaling is measured in percents, starting from 100% as the initial object size.
Rotating is changing the object's angle. Varying from 0 to 360 degrees, we can rotate the object from the initial position on a virtual imaginary circle. Depending on the point of transformation we assign, the diameter of this virtual circle may be altered. If we leave the transformation point on the default center of the object's bounding box, then the object will rotate around itself. There are many ways of rotating an object, entering a needed angle. Rotation is measured in degrees from -360 to 360.
Mirroring, or reflecting, is a more complex way of transformation. It flips the object in any direction, reflecting it from the axis we need. We can simply flip an object vertically or horizontally, or insert any other angle. It also rotates it depending on the axis and transformation point.
This transformation (shown below) results in a mirror reflection of the original object, when we assign the point where mirror stands. Keep in mind, that symmetric object won't change after reflecting. Reflection is measured in degrees.
Another complex transformation type is shearing. It means skewing an object (or, more precisely, it's bounding box) according to one axis, around an assigned point. The slant is varied from horizontal or vertical axis to any angle. Shear may be preformed with many tools and commands. It is measured in extent of slant in degrees and shear angle in degrees.
The last transformation type is free transform - as it follows from its name, this method allows to freely transform the object by several parameters at once. This means that position, size, angle, and slant may be changed simultaneously, combining several types of transformation in one.
Section 2. Transforming with Tools
Using Appropriate Transform Tools
The most popular way of transformation is using appropriate tools from the Tools panel. There are several transformation tools that change different parameters of a selected object. Let's analyze all of them.
The Move Tool (V) is combined with the Selection Tool and presents a familiar black arrow. The easiest way of moving is, actually, moving a selected object manually by dragging it to the desired position. However, oftentimes we need precise positioning when simple dragging doesn't work. In this case we can move the object from the dialog of the chosen tool - in this case, the Move Tool.
Click the tool in the Tools panel twice, and you'll get a dialog where all options can be entered. For the Move tool, it includes either horizontal and vertical move in any units (according to rectangular coordinates), or if you like polar coordinates more, you can enter distance and angle to move the object precisely. You may insert both positive and negative numbers. Also you may want to press the Copy button in the dialog to create a moved object duplicate. The transformation point is not changed here.
The Scale Tool (S) looks like a small rectangle being scaled up. To scale a selected object, simply drag the handles of its bounding box (eight white squares). For horizontal scale, drag horizontally, and for vertical scale, drag vertically. For both, drag the corner handles, and to constrain the proportions press Shift. By default, the central point is the point of transformation, but you can fix it in a different position by simply clicking a place you need before transforming an object.
However, if you need to scale the object precisely, double-click Scale in the Tools panel and enter the needed numbers in the dialog. You can choose wether to insert percent for uniform (proportional) scaling, or enter separate numbers for horizontal and vertical scaling. Again, it is possible to press Copy to duplicate an object while scal