CorelDRAW Help | Drawing lines

The Freehand and Polyline tools let you draw freehand lines as if you were sketching on a sketchpad. If you make a mistake while drawing freehand curves, you can erase the unwanted part immediately and continue drawing. When drawing straight lines or segments, you can constrain them to straight vertical or horizontal lines.

The Freehand tool lets you control the smoothness of the curved line you are drawing as well as add segments to an existing line. However, the Polyline tool is easier to use for quickly drawing a complex line that consists of alternating curved and straight segments.

In addition to drawing freehand lines and straight segments, you can use the Polyline tool to draw circular arcs.

You can choose settings to control how the Freehand and Polyline tools behave. For example, you can change the default smoothness of a curved line that you’ve created with these tools.

2-point line tool

You can draw straight lines by using the 2-point line tool. This tool also allows you to create straight lines that are perpendicular or tangent to objects.

Bézier and Pen tools

The Bézier and Pen tools let you draw lines one segment at a time by placing each node with precision and controlling the shape of each curved segment. When using the Pen tool, you can preview the line segments you are drawing.

You can draw lines with multiple segments by using the Bézier tool and clicking each time you want the line to change direction.

You can draw curves by using the Bézier tool and dragging the control handles at the ends of the Bézier curve.

B-spline tool

By using control points, you can easily shape a curved line and draw B-splines, which are typically smooth, continuous curved lines. B-splines touch the first and last control points and are pulled by the points in between. However, unlike the nodes on Bézier curves, control points don’t let you specify the points through which a curve passes when you want to align a curve with other drawing elements.

The control points that touch the line are referred to as "clamped." Clamped control points function as anchors. The control points that pull the line but do not touch it are referred to as "floating." The first and last control points are always clamped on open-ended B-splines. The points in between float by default, but you can clamp points if you want to create cusps or straight lines within the B-spline. You can edit completed B-splines by using the control points.

The path of a B-spline curve is determined by the control points you set.

3-point curve tool

The 3-point curve tool lets you draw simple curved lines by specifying their width and height. Use this tool to create arc shapes quickly without manipulating nodes.

You can draw a curved line by specifying its width (left), and then specifying its height and clicking the page (right).

Smart drawing tool

The Smart drawing tool lets you use shape recognition to draw straight and curved lines. For more information, see Drawing by using shape recognition.

Using nodes and control handles

Some lines have nodes and control handles that you can manipulate to shape lines as you draw. For information about node types, see Using curve objects.

Hiding the bounding box

When drawing lines by using the curve tools, you can hide the bounding box that is displayed around the lines once they are drawn. The curve tools include the Freehand tool, the 2-point line tool, the Bezier tool, the Artistic media tool, the Pen tool, the B-Spline tool, the Polyline tool, and the 3-point curve tool.

You can hide the bounding box to make drawing artistic media strokes in quick succession more fluid.

To draw a line by using the Freehand tool

1 .

In the toolbox, click the Freehand tool

2 .

Perform a task from the following table.


To	Do the following
Draw a curved line	Click where you want to start the curved line, and drag.
Draw a straight line	Click where you want to start the line, and then click where you want the line to end.
Control the smoothness of a curved line	Type a value in the Freehand smoothing box on the property bar. Higher values produce smoother curves.
Reposition a line	Hold down both the left and right mouse buttons, and drag the line to a new position.
Place a copy of a line in the drawing	Hold down the right mouse button, and drag the line to a new position. Click Copy here.
Add line segments to an existing line	Click the end node of a selected line, and click where you want the new segment to end.
Create a closed shape from two or more connected lines	In a line that contains two segments, click the end node, and then click the start node.

You can constrain a line created with the Freehand tool to a predefined angle, called a constrain angle, by holding down Ctrl while you drag. This feature is useful for drawing straight vertical and horizontal lines. For information about changing the constrain angle, see To change the constrain angle.

You can erase a portion of a curved freehand line by holding down Shift and dragging backward over the line before releasing the mouse button.

To draw a line by using the Polyline tool

1 .

In the toolbox, click the Polyline tool

2 .

Do one of the following:

•

To draw a straight segment, click where you want to start the line segment, and then click where you want to end it.

•

To draw a curved segment, click where you want to start the segment, and drag across the drawing page.

You can add as many segments as you want and alternate between curved and straight segments.

3 .

Double-click to end the line.


You can also
Reposition a line while drawing	Hold down both the left and right mouse buttons, and drag the line to a new position.
Place a copy of a line in the drawing	Hold the right mouse button, and drag the line to a new position. Click Copy here.

You can close an open object by clicking the Close curve button on the property bar.

To draw an arc by using the Polyline tool

1 .

In the toolbox, click the Polyline tool

2 .

Click in the drawing window, and then release the mouse button.

3 .

Hold down Alt, and move the pointer to create an arc.

4 .

Do one of the following:

•

Click to finish the arc, and release Alt to return to freehand drawing.

•

Click to finish the arc, and, without releasing Alt, move the pointer to draw another arc.

5 .

Double-click to end the line.

You can hold down Ctrl in conjunction with Alt to constrain the arc to 15-degree increments or another predefined angle, called a constrain angle. For information about changing the constrain angle, see Constraining objects.

To draw a straight line by using the 2-point line tool

1 .

In the toolbox, click the 2-point line tool

2 .

Point to where you want to start the line, and drag to draw the line.

As you drag, the length and angle of the segment appears in the status bar. If you’re adding to a line, the total length for all segments also appears.

To draw a perpendicular line

1 .

In the toolbox, click the 2-point line tool

2 .

On the property bar, click the Perpendicular 2-point line

button.

3 .

Click the edge of an object, and drag to where you want the line to end.

If you want to draw a line that is perpendicular to two objects, drag to the edge of the second object, and release the mouse button when the perpendicular snap point appears.

To extend the line beyond the second object, hold down Ctrl when the perpendicular snap point appears, and drag to where you want the line to end.

This procedure cannot be used for drawing a line that is perpendicular to the baseline of a text object.

You can also drag from an existing curve to draw a perpendicular line.

Drawing perpendicular lines

To draw a tangent line

1 .

In the toolbox, click the 2-point line tool

2 .

On the property bar, click the Tangential 2-point line button

3 .

Click the edge of a curved segment in an object, and drag to where you want the tangent line to end.

If you want to draw a line that is tangent to two objects, drag to the edge of the second object, and release the mouse button when the tangent snap point appears. When the quadrant snap point coincides with tangent snap point, the quadrant snap point appears.

To extend the line beyond the second object, hold down Ctrl when the tangent snap point appears, and drag to where you want the line to end.

The Tangential 2-point line mode can be used for drawing the sides of the cylinder.

Drawing tangent lines

To draw a line by using the Bézier tool

1 .

In the toolbox, click the Bézier tool

2 .

Do one of the following:

•

To draw a curved segment, click where you want to place the first node, and drag the control handle to where you want to place the next node. Release the mouse button, and drag the control handle to create the curve.

•

To draw a straight segment, click where you want to start the line segment, and click where you want to end it.

You can add as many segments as you want.

3 .

Press the Spacebar to finish the line.


You can also
Draw a curved segment followed by a straight segment	Draw a curved segment, double-click the end node, and click where you want the straight segment to end.
Draw a straight segment followed by a curved segment	Draw a straight segment. Click the endpoint of the segment, drag to where you want, and release the mouse button. Drag to draw a curve.
Change curve angle to preset increments as you draw	While holding down Ctrl, drag a control handle.

To draw a line by using the Pen tool

1 .

In the toolbox, click the Pen tool

2 .

Do one of the following:

•

To draw a straight segment, click where you want to start the line segment, and click where you want to end it.

You can add as many segments as you want and alternate between curved and straight segments. For more information about alternating curved and straight segments, see To draw a line by using the Bézier tool.

3 .

Double-click to finish the line.


You can also
Preview a line while drawing	Enable the Preview mode button in the property bar. Click on the drawing page, and release the mouse button. Move the mouse, and click to finish the line.
Add a node to a line	Enable the Automatically add or delete nodes button on the property bar. Point to where in the line you want to add a node, and click when the pointer changes to the Add nodes state .
Delete a node from a line	Point to a node, and click when the pointer changes to the Delete nodes state .

To draw a B-spline

1 .

In the toolbox, click the B-spline tool

2 .

Click where you want to start the line.

3 .

Click to set as many control points as you need to shape your line.

Control points float by default, but you can clamp control points to the line by pressing V while clicking.

4 .

Double-click to finish the line.

Pressing Esc cancels the line instead of finishing it.


You can also
Reshape the line by using control points	Select the line by using the Shape tool , and reposition the control points to reshape the line.
Float a control point	Select the line by using the Shape tool , click a clamped control point, and click the Make control point floating button on the property bar.
Clamp a control point	Select the line by using the Shape tool , click a floating control point, and click the Make control point clamped button on the property bar.
Add a control point	Select the line by using the Shape tool , and double-click along a control line.
Delete a control point	Select the line by using the Shape tool , and double-click the control point that you want to delete.
Select multiple control points	Select the line by using the Shape tool , and hold down Shift while you click on the control points that you want to select.

If you add to a B-spline by selecting the first or last control point, the clamped control point automatically changes to a floating control point as you draw the new portion of the line.

You can also add control points while you draw a B-spline by pressing Spacebar instead of clicking.

To draw a curve by using the 3-point curve tool

1 .

In the toolbox, click the 3-point curve tool

2 .

Click where you want to start the curve, and drag to where you want the curve to end.

3 .

Release the mouse button, and click where you want the center of the curve to be.


You can also
Draw a circular curve	Hold down Ctrl while dragging.
Draw a symmetrical curve	Hold down Shift while dragging.

To set options for the Freehand and Bézier tools

1 .

Click Tools

Options.

2 .

In the Workspace list of categories, click Toolbox, and then click Freehand/Bézier tool.

3 .

Move the Freehand smoothing slider to set the default smoothness for curved lines.

Higher values produce smoother curves.

Double-click the Freehand or Bézier tool to display the Freehand/Bézier page in the Options dialog box.

To hide the bounding box when using curve tools

1 .

In the toolbox, click one of the following curve tools:

•

Freehand

•

2-point line

•

Bézier

•

Artistic Media

•

Pen

•

B-Spline

•

Polyline

•

3-point curve

2 .

Click the Bounding box button

on the property bar.

When you hide the bounding box while working with one curve tool, the bounding box remains hidden for all curve tools. For example, if you hide the bounding box when using the Freehand tool, it remains hidden when you switch to the Bézier tool.

You can also hide the bounding box by clicking Tools Options, clicking Display in the Workspace list of categories, and then enabling the Hide bounding box for curve tools check box.

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