Axure RP Pro Version 5.5 (available in beta
here) adds the ability to create custom widget libraries for the Widgets pane, new interaction capabilities for high fidelity prototyping, easier Dynamic Panel management, and enhancements to widgets and diagram editing.
This 3 part series presents these new features:
Part 3: Dynamic Panel Manager, Image & Button Shape Enhancements, and Diagram Editing shows the new Dynamic Panel manager, the Preserve Corners feature for images, editing MouseDown and Selected styles for images and button shapes, deep selection in groups, and the "Visio style" selection mode.
[These articles assume a working knowledge of the basic features in Axure RP. If you are new to Axure, the video demos in our
Online Training are a good place to start.]
Part 3: Dynamic Panel Manager, Image & Button Shape Enhancements, and Diagram Editing
Dynamic Panel Manager
The Dynamic Panel Manager (View->Dynamic Panel Manager) provides tools for managing the dynamic panels on a page.
Dynamic panel states can be added, removed, and opened for editing in the manager. To add or remove states, right-click on the dynamic panel name or a dynamic panel state and use the context menu. To open a state for editing, double-click the state.
In addition, dynamic panels on the page can be hidden from view in the wireframe editor for easier access to widgets beneath them. To hide a dynamic panel, click on the blue square to the right of the dynamic panel name, or to hide all the panels on a page, right-click on the page name and select Hide All.
Image & Button Shape Enhancements
Several enhancements were made to images and button shapes including:
- Preserve Corners for Images (more below)
- Mouse Down, Selected, and Disabled styles for Images, Button Shapes, and Menu Items (more below)
- Text on Images (right-click Edit Image->Edit Text or select the image and begin typing)
- Corner Radius for Button Shapes with rounded corners
Preserve Corners
Preserve Corners allows you to scale images without stretching the corners of the image. This can be useful for images such as button graphics and dialog boxes. To preserve the corners of an image, right-click on the image and select Edit Image->Preserve Corners.
There are now 2 arrows above and 2 arrows to the left of the image that determine the corners that will be preserved. Dragging the arrows will adjust the corners.
Now, the image can be sized without changing the corners.
Mouse Down, Selected, and Disabled Styles
In addition to rollover styles, you can now add Mouse Down, Selected, and Disabled styles to images and button shapes. These styles can be used to create custom, interactive buttons. Button shapes and images can be set to the Selected style using the "Set Widget(s) to Selected State" action and set to their Disabled style using the "Disable Widget(s)" action.
The Selected style is also available for menu items making highlighting a menu item on a page much simpler.
Diagram Editing Enhancements
Select Contained Mode (Visio-style)
By default, clicking and dragging to create a selection area selects all of the widgets that intersect with the selection area. Now, there is an option to change modes so that only widgets entirely contained in the selection area are selected. This is similar to the way selection works in Visio. To change to the "Select Contained Mode", click the Select Contained Mode button in the toolbar or press Ctrl+F9.
Deep Selection in Groups
You can now select individual widgets within a group for editing and adding annotations and interactions. To do this, select the group. Then, click the widget within the group that you would like to select. You are also able to move and size widgets within the group.
Location and Size Pane
The Location and Size pane (View->Location and Size) replaces the Location and Size dialog. The pane can now stay visible while designing wireframes. It gives the ability to set the location and size for a single widget or a group of selected widgets. You can also set the location and size for each individual widget within a selection. This is helpful for aligning widgets or setting a group of widgets to the same width or height.
Check out Parts 1 and 2 of this series:
We hope you get a chance to try these new features and the others included in this release.
Please send any feedback or issues to support@axure.com or post to the forums.
