There are two ways to put an object into Rotate/Slant mode:

1. The Rotate/Slant tool on the Insert toolbar, or
2. The Rotate/Slant command on the Edit menu

In Rotate/Slant mode, objects you select show a rotation handle connected to a center pivot point and are surrounded by eight handles. (If the object is a line, only two surrounding handles appear, one at either end of the line.) If several objects are selected at once, the surrounding handles enclose all the selected objects.

Dragging the rotation handle is the quickest and easiest way to rotate an object. The rotation handle is available when the object is selected in Rotate/Slant mode.

If you drag the rotation handle in a circular motion, you rotate the object around its pivot point. To change the location of the pivot point, drag the point to the new location.

If you drag a side handle, you slant the object.

If you drag a corner handle, you enlarge or shrink the object while maintaining its original proportions.

Rotate/Slant mode, like Select mode, lets you select objects for actions such as copying, cutting, moving, and editing. For example, to move an object, select the object, place the pointer anywhere inside the handles, and then drag the object to the new position.

To return to Select Mode, choose it's icon on the insert toolbar, or choose Select Mode from the Edit menu.

To rotate an object numerically, use the Rotate command on the Draw menu. You have four options when you use the Rotate command on the Draw menu:

1. Rotate left (couterclockwise) 90 degrees
2. Rotate right (clockwise) 90 degrees
3. Angle - lets you specify an angle to rotate the object.  You can leave this dialog box open and consecutively rotate several objects without choosing the command from the menu each time.
4. Options - lets you to change the Constraint Angle.

You can also use Rotate Left or Rotate Right on the Drawing toolbar to rotate an object 90 degrees.

Tips:

Press and hold SHIFT while dragging the rotation handle to constrain the rotation angles.  You can change the default rotation angle by going to Tools -> Options -> Drawing or by going to Draw -> Rotate -> Options.

The pivot point defaults to the center of the object. To change the location of the pivot point, click and drag the point to the new location. The pivot point returns to the center of the object the next time you select the object.

To create a rotated copy of an object, press and hold CTRL while rotating the object.

You can cancel a rotation by pressing ESC before releasing the left mouse button. The object returns to its original position.

You cannot rotate an OLE object. When an object cannot be rotated or slanted, the rotate and slant handles are gray.

You can rotate an object using the arrow keys. Select the object and use the arrow keys to move the pointer over the rotate handle. Press and hold the spacebar and use the arrow keys to rotate the object.

Label text attached to an object does not rotate when you rotate an object unless the text has been aligned to the curve.