Creating Lines, Rectangles and Ellipses with the Shape Drawing Tools

T-HFND-004-006A

You can use the Line, Rectangle, or Ellipse tool to draw shape without having to trace them. You can also use these tools to draw perfect circles and squares.

  1. Select a drawing from the Drawing Thumbnails panel.
  1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Line tool.
  1. In the DrawingCamera view, click and hold where you want the line to start, then move the mouse cursor where you want the line to end.

    • If you want to snap the angle of your line to the nearest 15° angle, hold the Shift key.
    • If you want to snap the end of your line to the nearest shape, hold the Alt key.
    • If you want to draw a curved line, hold Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (macOS). The line will end where your mouse cursor currently is, and moving the mouse cursor will pull the line's curve towards it.
TIP You can use the Contour Editor tool to tweak the shape of your line—see About the Contour Editor Tool.
  1. Select a drawing from the Drawing Thumbnails panel.
  1. In the Tools toolbar, select the Rectangle or Ellipse tool.
  1. To automatically fill the shape, in the Tool Properties view, enable the Auto Fill option.

  1. In the DrawingCamera view, click and hold where you want one of the corners of your shape to be, then move the mouse cursor where you want the opposing corner of the shape to be.

    TIPS
    • To draw a perfect square or circle (with equal width and height), hold the Shift key. You can also enable the Draw Square or Draw Circle option in the Tool Properties view.
    • To draw the rectangle or ellipse from its centre instead of its corner, hold the Alt key.