Drawing Freehand Curves with the Pen Tool

One of the functions of the Pen tool is to draw Freehand curves.

To draw a Freehand curve object:

  1. From the Tools toolbar, choose the Pen tool .

  2. In the Materials palette, set the desired Foreground/Stroke property. This determines the color/material used for the object's stroke. If you want the curve to have a fill, you'll also need to set the Background/Fill property. If you do not want the curve to have a fill, set the Background/Fill property to Transparent.

  3. In the Tool Options palette's Mode section, click the Draw Freehand button .

  4. Set other tool options:

  5. Tracking: (This setting is only available for Freehand mode.) Tracking sets the distance in pixels between the nodes of a Freehand curve object. A higher value will create smoother, less precise lines with fewer nodes. A lower value will create more segmented, precise lines with more nodes. Click here to see an example.

  6. Connect Segments: Mark this check box to automatically connect each Freehand curve object. If you do not mark this check box, Freehand objects will not be connected.

  7. Show Nodes: Mark this check box to display the objects nodes during creation.

  8. Create on Vector: Mark this check box to place the object on the current vector layer. If no vector layer exists, this option will create a new one for the object. If this option is not checked, the line will be placed on a raster layer (making it more difficult to subsequently edit).

  9. Line Style: From the drop-list, choose the style to use for the line. For a plain, standard line, choose +Solid.

  10. Width: Set the desired line width in pixels.

  11. Anti-alias: Mark this check box to apply anti-aliasing to the object, giving the edges a smoother appearance.

  12. Join: Choose from one of three Join types. Miter Join (this setting makes the Miter limit setting available) produces more pointed joins; Round Join rounds off the joins; and Beveled Join produces a sloped join.

  13. Miter limit: (This is only available when Miter Join is chosen.) This sets the degree of pointedness for Miter joins. Lower values create less pointed joins; higher values created more pointed joins.

  1. Place the cursor where you want to begin the curve, hold down the left mouse button and then drag the mouse. As you drag you'll see the curve following the cursor path. Release the mouse button when you've completed the freehand curve.

  2. In the Tool Options palette, click Apply to complete the creation of the shape and deselect it.

  3. To edit the shape, click the Edit button in the Tool Options palette's Mode section, and then click the shape. Edit mode allows for a variety of ways to modify the shape. Note that you can also choose the Object Selection tool and modify the shape in other ways (such as move, rotate, stretch, etc.).

Saving a Preset

Save an often-used set of Tool Options palette settings for subsequent use as follows:

  1. Set the Tool Options to the desired settings.

  2. Click the Presets drop-list, and then click the Save preset button . The Save Preset dialog appears.

  3. In the Preset Name field, enter a name for the preset.

  4. Optionally, you can click the Options button to enter more information about the preset, such as the Author, Copyright, and Description. You can also choose to exclude particular preset properties by clicking the associated button (a red "x" will appear over excluded properties).

  5. Click OK to save the preset and close the Save Preset dialog.

Loading a Preset

To load a preset, click the Presets drop-list and then click the desired preset from the list.

 

Resetting Tool Options to Default Values

To reset the Tool Options palette to the default values, click the Presets drop-list and then click the Reset to default button .

 

Related Topics

Editing Nodes

Editing Vector Object Properties

Adding and Closing Contours

Editing Paths and Contours

Creating Custom Line Styles

Drawing Lines with the Pen Tool

Drawing Bezier Curves with the Pen Tool

Using the Rectangle Tool

Using the Ellipse Tool

Using the Symmetric Shape Tool

Using the Preset Shape Tool