Editing Shapes
 About
arcs
About shape segments and vertices
Add
a new segment to a shape
Reshape
a line
Reshape an arc
Reshape
a curve
Reshape a freeform curve
Reshape a shape by dragging a vertex
 About arcs
Every arc that you
draw using the Arc
tool follows the perimeter of an invisible ellipse.
You can perform these actions:
-
Change the bow of
an arc so that the arc becomes a larger or
smaller portion of the circle or ellipse. You
can even flatten an arc to make it a line.
-
Edit an arc by
dragging its eccentricity handles
to reshape the ellipse on which the arc is
based. You can change the way the arc leans (the
angle of eccentricity) and its flatness (the
magnitude of eccentricity).
About shape segments and vertices
A segment is a straight line or a curve that is
part of a more complex shape. Between each pair of
segments is a vertex (vertex,
vertices: One of the diamond-shaped handles that
appears between two segments on a multiple-segment
shape, or at the end of a segment. You can reshape a
shape or connector by dragging its vertices.)
. You can:
Add a new segment to a shape
- If the Tools toolbar isn't already
open, on View
menu, move mouse to
Toolbars,
click Tools
on pop menu.
- Click the Line
, Sector
 ,
Arc
, Curve
or Freehand tool
, and then select a shape.
- Between two existing vertices
on the shape's outline, point to where you want
to add the segment.
- Click.
A new vertex appears where you clicked the
shape, creating a new segment. To make the shape
look the way you want, you may need to adjust it
by dragging vertices and control points (control
point:
(1) The circle
that appears on a line segment or an arc segment
when you select them with the Drawing tools.
Drag a control point to change the curve of an
arc or ellipse. (2) A point
that influences
the curvature of a spline segment.)
.
Reshape
a line
- If the Tools toolbar isn't already
open, on View
menu, move mouse to
Toolbars,
click Tools
on pop menu.
- Click the Line
, Sector
,
Arc
, Curve
or Freehand tool
.
- Select a line or a shape contains a line,
and position the mouse over the shape to
automatically display the control point
.
- Move the control point you want.
Through this way a
line can be changed to a arc, vice versa.
Reshape an arc
Change the curvature of an arc
-
If the
Tools toolbar isn't already
open, on View
menu, move mouse to
Toolbars,
click Tools
on pop menu.
-
Click the
Line
, Sector
,
Arc
, Curve
or
Freehand
, and then select a shape.
-
Select an arc or a shape that contains
an arc.
You can also select the arc or shape
using the
Selection
tool
 , and then position the pointer over
the shape to automatically display the
control point and move it.
-
Point to the arc's control point
.
-
Drag the control point until the arc
looks the way you want.
Note An arc has an invisible snap
point in the middle of an invisible line
between its two endpoints. When you drag the
control point (control
point:
(1) The circle that appears on a line
segment or an arc segment when you select
them with the pencil tool. Drag a control
point to change the curve of an arc or
ellipse. (2) A point that influences the
curvature of a spline segment.)
to that snap point so that the arc has no
curvature, the arc becomes a line.
Change the eccentricity (or symmetry) of an arc
-
If the
Tools toolbar isn't already
open, on View
menu, move mouse to
Toolbars,
click Tools
on pop menu.
-
Click the
Line
, Sector
,
Arc
, Curve
or
Freehand
, and then select a shape.
-
Select an arc or a shape that contains
an arc.
You can also select the arc or shape
using the
Selection
tool
, and then position the pointer over
the shape to automatically display the
control point and move it.
-
Click the control point
on the arc to display its eccentricity
handles
.
On circular arcs, the eccentricity
handles (eccentricity
handle:
The circle that appears at each end of a
dotted line when a control point of an
elliptical arc is selected with the pencil
tool. Drag to change the angle and magnitude
of an arc's eccentricity.) are
under the control point.
If you don't see the eccentricity
handles, click control point
again and the eccentricity handles will be
selected, just drag it.
-
Edit the arc by doing the following:
-
To change an arc's magnitude of
eccentricity, drag an eccentricity
handle farther from or closer to the
control point.
-
To change an arc's angle of
eccentricity, drag an eccentricity
handle around the control point.
Reshape
a curve
- If the Tools toolbar isn't already
open, on View
menu, move mouse to
Toolbars,
click Tools
on pop menu.
- Click the Line
, Sector
,
Arc
, Curve
or Freehand
.
- Select a curve or shape contains a curve,
and position the mouse over the shape to
automatically display the control point
 .
- Move the control point you want.
Reshape
a freehand curve
-
Click the
Freehand tool
,
you also can click other
Drawing
tools, and then select a freehand curve (freehand
curve: A shape with curved segments. Also called
a spline.).
-
Click the vertex you
want to reshape, and the control handles will
appear.
-
Drag a control point
to change the shape of the freeform curve.
Reshape a shape by dragging a vertex
-
If the
Tools toolbar isn't already
open, on View
menu, move mouse to
Toolbars,
click Tools
on pop menu.
-
Click the
Line
, Sector
,
Arc
, Curve
or Freehand
.
-
Select a shape. For shapes that you
create using the drawing tools, you can also
select a shape using the
Selection
tool, and then position the pointer over the
shape to automatically display vertices or
control points and move them.
-
Click the vertex
.
When the pointer is
directly over the vertex or control point, it
changes to a four-headed arrow
. When the vertex or control point is selected,
its color changes to magenta.
-
Drag the vertex or
control point to a new position.
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