Working with curve objects

Objects can be shaped by manipulating their nodes and segments. An object’s nodes are the tiny squares that appear along the object’s outline. The line between two nodes is called a segment. Moving an object’s segments lets you make coarse adjustments to the object’s shape, while changing the position of its nodes lets you fine-tune the shape of the object.

Most objects that are added to a drawing are not curve objects, with the exception of freehand and Bézier curves. Therefore, if you want to customize the shape of an object, it is recommended that you convert that object to a curve object. By converting objects to curves, you can shape them by adding, removing, positioning, aligning, or transforming their nodes. You can join two or more open curves or arcs to make a single curve object, and you can convert curve objects to ellipses, if they have a basic ellipse shape to begin with. You can also copy and cut curve segments, and then paste them as objects, making it easy to extract subpaths or create adjacent shapes with similar contours.

Joining multiple line segments can be the starting point for a more complex drawing.

Before you can manipulate an object’s nodes, you must select them. When working with curve objects, you can select individual, multiple, or all of the object’s nodes. Selecting multiple nodes lets you shape different parts of an object simultaneously.

When you add nodes, you increase the number of segments, and therefore the amount of control you have over the shape of the object. You can also remove nodes to simplify an object’s shape.

When you create an object, it is made up of one or multiple paths. If you are working on an open object, such as a freehand curve, you can join its start and end nodes. When you join the start and end nodes, the two nodes are pulled together to create a closed object. You can add color to the inside of closed paths that you create. For information on applying fills, see Filling objects. If the paths consist of multiple subpaths, you can break the paths apart to extract a subpath. For information on breaking paths apart, see Cropping, splitting, and erasing objects.

After you create a curve object, you can align its nodes horizontally or vertically.

You can change the nodes on a curve object to one of four types: cusp, smooth, symmetrical, or line. Cusp nodes make the node’s intersecting line take on the shape of a corner or point when you adjust the position of the node’s control points. Smooth nodes make the node’s intersecting line take on the shape of a curve. Each control point can be shortened or lengthened independently, giving you smaller or larger angles to work with. Symmetrical nodes make the node’s intersecting line take on the shape of a curve as well as intersect the node at exactly the same angle. Line nodes let you shape objects by changing the shape of their segments. You can make a curve segment straight or a straight segment curved.

You can also change the direction of a segment by reversing the position of its start and end nodes. The effect is visible only when the ends of a segment are different from each other.

You can also shape objects by stretching, scaling, rotating, and skewing their nodes. For example, you can scale the corner nodes of a curve object to enlarge the curve object proportionally. Stretching, on the other hand, elongates a curve object so that its shape is distorted. All or parts of a curve object can be rotated in a counterclockwise or clockwise direction. You can reposition a node by specifying its coordinates. You can also skew nodes to shape a curve object.

To convert objects to curve objects

2 .	Click Object Convert to curves.

You can convert artistic text to curves so that you can shape individual characters.

To join curves

1 .	Using the Pick tool , hold down Shift, and select each object.

2 .	Click Object Join curves.

You cannot join interior points, only endpoints.

Endpoints must be within the specified tolerance to be joined.

If endpoints to be joined do not share coordinates, the endpoints are extended to their intersection.

You can also connect the subpaths in a group of objects.

You can also select curves by marquee selecting. If the curves are marquee selected, the properties from the top object on a layer are used. You can verify which object is the top one in the Object manager docker. If the Object manager docker is not open, click Window Object manager.

To convert a curve to an ellipse

2 .	Click Object Convert to ellipse.

To copy or cut a curve segment

2 .	Using the Shape tool , select the nodes on a curve segment, and then press one of the following:

To select a node

1 .	Click the Shape tool .

You can also
Marquee select multiple nodes	On the property bar, choose Rectangular from the Selection mode list box, and drag around the nodes that you want to select.
Freehand marquee select multiple nodes	On the property bar, choose Freehand from the Selection mode list box, and drag around the nodes that you want to select.
Select multiple nodes	Press Shift, and click each node.
Select adjacent nodes	Press Shift, click the first node, and then the last node that you want to select. To change the direction in which the nodes are selected, click while holding down Shift.
Select all nodes on a selected curve	Click Edit Select all Nodes.
Deselect a node	Press Shift, and click a selected node.
Deselect multiple nodes	Press Shift, and click each selected node.
Deselect all nodes	Click a blank space in the drawing window.

When a curve is selected with the Shape tool, you can select the first node in a curve object by pressing Home, or the last node by pressing End.

To add or remove a node

To	Do the following
Add a node	Click the Shape tool , select a curve object, and double-click where you want to add a node.
Delete a node	Click the Shape tool, select a curve object, and double-click a node.

To reduce the number of nodes in a curve object

1 .	In the toolbox, click the Shape tool .

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To reduce the number of nodes in the entire object, click the Select all nodes button on the property bar.

To join the end nodes of a single subpath

1 .	Click the Shape tool .

3 .	Click the Close curve button on the property bar.

You can close multiple subpaths by clicking Object Join curves.

To join the nodes of multiple subpaths

1 .	Click the Shape tool .

3 .	Click the Extend curve to close button on the property bar.

If you want to join nodes from separate curve objects, you must first combine them into a single curve object, and then join the end nodes of the new subpaths. For information about combining objects, see Combining objects.

To align nodes

1 .	Click the Shape tool .

4 .	Click the Align nodes button on the property bar.

To make a node cusp, smooth, or symmetrical

1 .	Click the Shape tool .

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Cusp node

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Smooth node

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Symmetrical node

You can also change an existing node from one type to another by using shortcut keys. To change a smooth node to a cusp node or a cusp node to a smooth node, click the node using the Shape tool, and press C. To change a symmetrical node to a smooth node or a smooth node to a symmetrical node, click the node using the Shape tool, and press S.

To manipulate a curve object’s segments

1 .	Click the Shape tool .

You can also
Straighten a curve segment	Click a curve segment, and click the Convert to line button on the property bar.
Curve a straight segment	Click a straight segment, and click the Convert to curve button on the property bar.
Change the direction of the curve	Click a segment, and click the Reverse direction button on the property bar.

To specify a node’s coordinate values

1 .	Click the Shape tool .

3 .	Click Window Object coordinates.

4 .	Click the Multi-point curve button .

To stretch, scale, rotate, or skew nodes

1 .	Click the Shape tool .

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Stretch or scale nodes

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Rotate or skew nodes

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