Using the Add Points Tool
The Freehand tool is great for drawing curves, but sometimes you want to create a curve by placing specific points in specific locations. For this task, the Add Points tool (A) is what you want to use. With the Add Points tool, you can click in the working area to place points, and the curve that is created runs smoothly through these various points.
To create a curve with the Add Points tool, click at the location of the first point and then drag to the location of the second point and release the mouse button. If you click again after releasing the mouse button, you can drag to place another point that will be attached to the curve. If you move the mouse cursor after creating a point, then a new curve is started.
The Add Points tool can also be used to connect any two existing points with a curve by clicking on one point and dragging to another one. When you connect two end points together, the curve will automatically change so that there is a smooth transition between the two points. You can also press the Spacebar to initiate a weld between the new point you’re dragging and the point you’re dragging over.
The Add Points tool can also be used to add points to an existing curve. This is helpful if you need to edit an existing curve. To add a new point, simply click on the curve where you want the new point to be. If you hold the mouse button down after creating a new point, you can drag the point and the curve will follow. This allows you to add a new point and edit the curve in one move.
If the welding of points creates a new closed curve, then the shape is automatically filled if the Auto-Fill option is enabled. Fills and strokes are only visible in the working area if their respective options are enabled in the Display Quality dialog box.
If the Sharp Corners option is enabled, the new curves aren’t smoothed between adjacent points. This results in a sharp zig-zag shaped line. Figure 9.9 shows a set of curves drawn with the Add Points tool. The one on the left has the Sharp Corners option disabled so that all the lines are smoothed, but the one on the right has the Sharp Corners option enabled so that each line segment is straight.
If you want to prevent new points created with the Add Points tool from being welded to any existing curves, you can hold down the Alt/Opt key while clicking. This forces each new click to begin a new curve instead of attaching them together.
Although grid snapping doesn’t apply to the Freehand tool, it does affect any curves created with the Add Points tool (A). If the grid is turned on and the View, Disable Grid Snapping option is disabled, then all points created with the Add Points tool are automatically snapped to the grid points. This makes it easy to quickly create regularly spaced shapes, like those in Figure 9.10.
To draw shapes using the Add Points tool, follow these steps:
1. | Select the File, New menu command to open a new blank project. |
2. | Enable the Grid option at the bottom of the working area and make sure the View, Disable Grid Snapping option is disabled. |
3. | Select the Add Points tool or press the A key. Enable the Auto-Weld and the Auto-Fill options in the Options bar at the top of the working area. Then click in the working area on the grid intersections and drag to create a line. Release the mouse button to create a line. Then click on the second point and drag to create a new line. Continue to click and drag to create a letter A shape. When you click on the first point again, the letter is automatically filled and closed. |
4. | Next to the letter A, create a letter S using the same process. Then draw in a triangle within the letter A. |
5. | With the Add Points tool still selected, click on one point in the triangle and drag to one of the points in the letter A. Then click and drag to create a line connecting the two closest points between the two letters. Figure 9.11 shows the resulting letters. |
6. | Choose the Select Points tool (G) and click on one of the points to select it. Then press the Tab key to select all connected points. Click the Translate Points tool (T) and drag the selected points; all the points in both shapes move together since they are connected. |
