The Anatomy of a Vector Object

Object An object is anything you create with the Pen or Preset Shape tool. Each object is represented by its own bounding box. An object has properties you can control such as line style and fill color. Each object contains one path made up of contours and nodes, see Drawing Objects.

Path An object contains one path. The path is all the contours in an object. The properties of the path are controlled by the object’s prop­erties. A path’s direction flows from its start to end point. Some paths are closed (their start and end points are the same),  See Editing Paths and Contours.

Contour A path contains at least one contour. A contour contains at least one line segment. A contour’s direction flows from its start to end point. A contour can also be open or closed. The contours in a path do not need to be connected. Some of a contour’s properties are controlled by its object’s properties (e.g. line style, fill color, anti-aliasing). The shape of a contour is controlled by the type and loca­tion of its nodes.

Node A contour contains at least two nodes. A node is a point on a contour that define the contour’s shape at that point. For instructions on editing nodes, see Editing Nodes.

Line Segment The straight or curved line between two nodes is a line segment, see Changing Curves and Lines.

Related Topics

Moving a Vector Object

Grouping and Ungrouping Vector Objects

Aligning Vector Objects

Distributing Vector Objects

Positioning Vector Objects on the Canvas

Arranging Vector Object on the Canvas