Combine and Weld Objects With CorelDRAW 2020 Graphics Suite

When exporting characters for a typeface in CorelDRAW, each letter or symbol must be a single object. Here's how to combine multiple shapes in CorelDRAW so that you can treat them as one object.

Grouping vs. Combining vs. Welding Objects

While you can group objects together with the keyboard shortcut Control+G, you must use the shortcut Control+L to combine objects. Grouping allows you to temporarily treat multiple objects as one; combing makes the effect permanent.

Unfortunately, when you combine two overlapping objects, you'll get a “hole” where the objects overlap. This may be what you want, and it's useful for some types of graphics. However, if it's not what you intended, you'll need to weld the overlapping objects.

How to Combine Objects in CorelDRAW

While the combine command can leave holes in overlapping objects, you can combine adjacent (non-overlapping) objects:

1. Select the Pick tool.

2. Click and drag to draw a box around the objects you want to combine, then press Control+L on your keyboard.

   You can also combine selected objects by choosing Object > Combine from the top taskbar.

3. The two objects will become one. You may need to expand the view to see the entire new object.

Now, you can edit similar combined objects as a whole. For example, if you combined multiple text boxes, the text tool will treat them as a single block of text.

How to Weld Overlapping Objects

The weld command works with both overlapping and adjacent (non-overlapping) objects:

1. Select the Pick tool and select the first object.

2. Hold down the Shift key and select the second object.

3. Select Object > Shaping > Weld in the top taskbar.

When you weld objects of different colors, they take on the color of the last object you selected. For example, if you have overlapping green and blue circles, selecting the green one and then the blue one will result in the whole object turning blue. If you wanted the new object to be green, you would select the blue circle first and then the green one.