Reshaping a Drawing Using the Contour Editor Tool
The Contour Editor tool is a powerful tool that allows you to add, remove or modify points on a vector line and control them with Bezier handles. It is used to correct line shapes and modify a single part of a colour zone. If a line is too thin or has a gap in it, you can modify and correct it with the Contour Editor tool. You can also use this tool to create elaborate shapes.
The Contour Editor displays vector points around a shape and the central vector points in a pencil line. Pulling or pushing on these points adjusts the brush’s line thickness. Points can be selected and deleted. Each point has two Bezier handles for correcting the curves between two points. Shapes can be modified by pulling and pushing directly on the segment between the points. You can use it to perfect a central shape pencil line, a contour shape brush line, or even create an elaborate shape from a basic ellipse or square.
How to reshape with the Contour Editor tool
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Select a drawing from the Drawing Thumbnails panel.
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In the Tools toolbar, select a shape tool: . |
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In the Tool Properties view, click the Ellipse button, click the Auto Fill button and set the pencil size to 0. |
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In the Drawing view, draw a circle. |
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In the Tools toolbar, select the Contour Editor tool. |
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In the Drawing view, click the line to reshape it. |
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Select one or several points by clicking on them or circling around. |
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Press Delete to delete a selected point. |
Press Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (Mac OS X)and click on the contour to add a new point to adjust the contour.
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To modify the shape, you can: |
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Pull on the Bezier handle. Both point’s handles will move as one. |
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Hold down Alt and pull on one of the Bezier handles. The point’s handle will move independently from the other one. |
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Move the selected points to a new area. |
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Pull directly on the line between two points. No selection is necessary. Holding down Shift will limit the contour modification to the curve between the two first points. |
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If an anchor point has no visible Bezier handles, hold down the Alt key to display them. |
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To add control points, press Ctrl (Windows/Linux) or ⌘ (Mac OS X) and click the line. |
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To remove control points, select the control point and press Delete. |