Formatting lines and outlines

Quick links to procedures on this page:

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To set the line and outline properties for new objects

Formatting lines and outlines

Lines are treated the same way as outlines of closed shapes, such as ellipses and polygons. You can change the appearance of both lines and outlines by using the controls of the Outline pen dialog box, the Outline page of the Object properties docker, and the property bar. For example, you can specify the color, width, and style of lines and outlines.

You can choose a corner style to control the corner shape in lines and choose a line cap style to change the appearance of a line’s endpoints. By default, an outline is applied on top of an object’s fill, but you can apply it behind the fill, with the fill overlapping the outline. You can also link the outline thickness to an object’s size so that the outline increases when you increase the object’s size and decreases when you decrease the object’s size.

Different corner styles were applied to the upper and lower row of triangles. Different line caps were applied to the lines in the upper-right corner. Arrowheads were applied to the lines in the lower-right corner.

When an object contains lines that meet at sharp angles, you can set the miter limit to determine their corner shape. Corners with angles above the miter limit are pointed (mitered); corners with angles below the miter limit are beveled (squared off).

You can create calligraphic outlines. A calligraphic outline varies in thickness, creating the effect of a hand-made drawing. In addition, you can add arrowheads to lines and curves. You can create new arrowheads and edit existing arrowheads.

The default line and outline properties for each new object that you draw are as follows:

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hairline width

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CMYK black color

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solid line

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square corner and line cap styles

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no arrowheads applied

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outline applied on top of an object’s fill

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outline not linked to an object’s size. However, you can change any of these default line and outline properties at any time.

In some programs, outlines are known as strokes or thick lines.

Creating cuttable outlines

To create a cuttable outline for devices such as plotters and vinyl cutters, which cannot interpret outline width; you need first to convert the outline to an object. For more information, see To add an arrowhead.

Another way to create a cuttable outline is by using a contour effect. For more information, see To contour an object.

To specify line and outline settings

Select an object.

In the toolbox, click the Outline tool

, and click Outline pen.

Open the color picker, and click a color.

Type a value in the Width box.

Choose a line style from the Style box.


You can also
Set the shape of corners	In the Corners area, choose a corner style.
Set the appearance of endpoints in open paths	Choose a cap style in the Line caps area.
Apply an outline behind an object’s fill	Enable the Behind fill check box.
Link the outline thickness to an object’s size	Enable the Scale stroke with object check box.
Create a line style	Click Edit style, and move the slider in the Edit line style dialog box. By clicking the boxes to the left of the slider, you can specify the placement and frequency of the dots in the new line style you create. Click Add.
Edit a line style	Choose a line style from the Style list box, and click Edit style. Create a line style in the Edit line style dialog box, and click Replace.
Set the miter limit	Type a value in the Miter limit box.

You can quickly access the Outline pen dialog box by double-clicking the Outline icon on the status bar.

You can also change the outline width of a selected object by typing a value in the Outline width box on the property bar.

To create a calligraphic outline

Select an object.

In the toolbox, click the Outline tool

, and click Outline pen.

In the Corners area, enable a corner style.

In the Calligraphy area, type a value in the Stretch box to change the width of the pen’s nib.

The value range is from 1 to 100, with 100 as the default setting. Reducing the value makes square nibs rectangular and round nibs oval, creating a more pronounced calligraphic effect.

Type a value in the Angle box to change the orientation of the pen in relation to the drawing surface.

To reset Stretch and Angle values to their original values, click Default.

You can also adjust the Stretch and Angle values by dragging in the Nib shape preview box.

To set the line and outline properties for new objects

Using the Pick tool, click on an empty space in the drawing window to deselect all objects.

In the toolbox, click the Outline tool

, and click Outline pen.

In the Outline pen dialog box, click OK to change the default outline properties for new graphic objects only.

If you want to change the outline properties for text objects as well, enable the Artistic text and Paragraph text check boxes.

Specify the settings you want.

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