Making a new shape from existing objects
 

I'm having trouble with making shapes from existing objects. Two things come to mind:

* Suppose I have a regular hexagon. If I rotate it 30 degrees, the selection handles also rotate 30 degrees. This would make alignment of hexagons (for example, in creating a hex map) difficult. How do I make a new regular hexagon with this new orientation, but still have the selection handles normal?

* Suppose I have two shapes: an equilateral triangle and a rectangle. The rectangle is in 2:1 proportions and the triangle's side length is equal to its height. I'd like to create a new shape out of butting the two shapes together, but I'd also like to avoid an unsightly horizontal line where the two shapes meet. How do I create a new shape that effectively combines the areas of the existing shapes together?

Note that I'm using OmniGraffle 4 right now (no present incentive to upgrade to 5 just yet)

With respect to your first question, I find the same problem. The handles are rotated, the text is rotated, even the operation of the arrow buttons get weird. I would like to see a solution to this.

With respect to your second question....you can achieve this with EDIT>SHAPES>UNION .....

(this might be a Pro feature, I'm not sure).

Shape combinations are indeed a Pro feature, however uniting a rotated shape with a smaller shape within its bounds will reset the bounding box handles, as an FYI.

Oooo. Yes!

Thank you!