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138 Drawing Lines and Shapes

Drawing Lines and Shapes

Drawing a line or a shape

You can use any of these tools to draw lines and shapes:
• The FREEHAND & BRUSH TOOL ("F3").
• The STRAIGHT LINE & ARROW TOOL
• The SHAPE EDITOR TOOL ("F4").

The FREEHAND & BRUSH TOOL is the easiest way to draw simple lines, curves, and
shapes, and it acts rather like a pencil.

The STRAIGHT LINE & ARROW TOOL is best if you want to draw single segment straight
lines, or add arrow heads and tails to any types of lines.

The SHAPE EDITOR TOOL is best for drawing precise curves and lines. It is also the main
tool to edit lines and shapes.

Note: Although it is not in the Drawing Tools toolbar, you can also use the PEN
TOOL to create precise shapes. It has limited functionality and works like the line
tool of other drawing programs. To use the PEN TOOL, choose CONTROL BARS from
the WINDOW menu and click the BUTTON PALETTE checkbox. Then click the PEN
TOOL icon in the Button Palette.

The Freehand & Brush Tool

You can use this tool to draw in a freehand manner, as you would with a pencil.
It can also be used to create brush strokes described below. While using this tool
the status line provides reminders on how to use the tool.

1. Position the pointer where you want the line to start.
2. Press and hold down the mouse button.
3. As you drag the pointer around the document, your line is drawn in real time.
4. Release the mouse button to terminate the line.

After you’ve drawn a freehand line you
can control how smooth the curve is (i.e.

how many control points) by adjusting the
Smoothing Re-fit Indicator smoothing control slider on the InfoBar.
Low values make the line follow your mouse movement more closely by creating more
control points, and higher values produce smoother curves with fewer control points.