Polyline Tool Properties

The Polyline tool allows you to draw complex lines or shapes by defining each point and their Bezier handles one by one.

NOTE For tasks related to this tool, see About the Polyline Tool.

Pencil Properties

Just like other shape tools, this tool creates pencil lines. Hence, its tool properties are similar to the ones of the Pencil tool and it can be used with pencil presets.

Icon	Property	Description
	Preview Area	The Preview area lets you see a preview of the stroke your drawing tool will make.
	Pencil Properties Dialog	The arrow button right of the preview area opens the Pencil Properties dialog. While the Tool Properties view only gives you access to the pencil size, a list of pencil presets and other drawing options, the Pencil Properties dialog gives you access to all the available options for your pencil's shape and texture. For more information on the Pencil Properties dialog, see the Polyline Tool Properties section below.
	Size	Defines the width of the pencil line used to draw the shape.

Pencil Presets

Icon	Property	Description
	Presets list	Storyboard Pro provides a variety of presets and also lets you create and save your own. It is a good idea to create and save pencils with precise sizes and parameters when you draw and design for efficiency and consistency. All tools using pencil lines share the same preset list. Therefore, the Polyline, Line, Rectangle, Ellipse, and Pencil tools share the same preset list.
	New Preset	Creates a new preset based on the current tool properties.
	Delete Preset	Deletes the currently selected preset.
	Presets Menu	Gives access to more options for managing presets.
	Rename Brush	Allows you to rename the currently selected preset.
	Import Brushes	Allows you to import brush presets exported from Storyboard Pro.
	Export Brushes	Allows you to export your brush presets into an .xml file.
	Small Thumbnail	Displays presets in a grid of small thumbnails with a preview of their tip.
	Large Thumbnail	Displays presets in a grid of big thumbnails, with their name and a preview of their tip.
	Stroke View	Displays presets in a list, with their name and a preview of a stroke done with each preset.

Drawing Options

Icon	Property	Description
	Snap to Contour	When this option is enabled, clicking close to a contour in your drawing will add the point to that contour. The line you are building will be linked to that contour. If this option is disabled, attempting to click on existing contours will always create a point very close to that contour, but not exactly on it. Therefore, it is necessary to enable this mode if you want to create lines that branch from into existing contours in your drawing. NOTE If you draw a line with the Line tool and make its tip snap to a contour or another control point in your artwork, they will be locked together. You can then manipulate both simultaneously using the Contour Editor tool. You can also separate two drawing strokes that have been snapped together by selecting one of them with the Select tool and moving it away.
	Auto Fill	When enabled, drawing a closed shape will automatically fill it with the currently selected Paint colour.
	Trim Extra Lines	When enabled, drawing a closed shape will automatically remove the outstanding lines.
	Align Handles After Trim	When the Trim Extra Lines option is enabled, enable this option to make the point where the beginning and end of the stroke meet into a smooth curve rather than a hard corner.
	Auto-Flatten Mode	By default, when drawing on a vector layer, each new stroke is created as a separate drawing object, which can be edited independently from other parts of the artwork. When enabled, the Auto-Flatten option automatically merges strokes into existing artwork. NOTE Using the Select tool, you can use select and remove a segment of flattened pencil lines. Overlapping pencil lines drawn with the Auto-Flatten mode are essentially cut into segments by the overlap and can be treated as individual lines.

Pencil Properties Dialog

The Polyline tool draws the same type of line as the Pencil tool. Hence, you can configure the Polyline tool's lines using the Pencil Properties dialog, which you can open by clicking on the arrow button right of the stroke display area in the Tool Properties view.

Size and Smoothness Tab

The Size and Smoothness tab allows you to select your pencil's size, its smoothing parameters as well as the shape of its tips and corners.

Property	Description
Maximum Size	Defines the maximum size of the pencil line. If the tool is used with a pressure sensitive pen tablet, the width of the stroke will vary between its maximum size and minimum size depending on the amount of pressure used. If used with a mouse, the width of the stroke will always be its maximum size.
Minimum Size	Defines the minimum size of your stroke as a percentage of the maximum size. If you do not have pressure sensitivity from a pen table, the minimum size value will be ignored.
Centerline Smoothing	Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the central line of the pencil stroke. A higher setting will prevent your line from being shaky and will reduce the amount of control points it has, making it easier to tweak, but is liable to reduce drawing precision and turn sharp angles into curves.
Contour Smoothing	Defines the amount of smoothing Storyboard Pro should perform on the outer contour of the pencil stroke. A pencil line is defined by its centreline and its variations in thickness, rather than its apparent shape. When drawing a pencil line with a mouse, its thickness is uniform. Therefore, its outer contour does not have any control point, except at its extremities, and no smoothing is required for its contour. However, when drawing a pencil line with a pressure sensitive tablet, its contour will have control points and Bezier curves to define the line's variations in thickness, and thus smoothing must be performed on its contour. An increased contour smoothing will reduce the amount of control points on the line's thickness and smoothen its curves, but may affect the precision of the variations in line thickness.
Shape	You can adjust the start, end, and join style of a pencil line. Start: Lets you select the style of the start tip, which is the first tip you drew. You can choose between Round or Flat style. End: Lets you select the style of the end tip, which is the last tip you drew. You can choose between Round or Flat style. Join: Lets you select the joint style. The joints are where the line curves abruptly. You could also define the Join style as the corner style. You can choose between Round, Mitre and Bevel style.

Texture Tab

In the Pencil Properties view, the Texture Tab allows you to select a texture to apply to your pencil lines. You can also add, remove or rename textures, save the current pencil texture palette as the default one, or import the pencil texture palette into your scene.

Icon	Property	Description
	New Texture	Allows you to import an image file into a new pencil texture swatch in the current pencil texture palette. The pencil texture's effect on your pencil line will be based on the image's transparency channel, and will follow your pencil lines on its horizontal axis. This option is also available from the menu button.
	Delete Texture	Deletes a pencil texture swatch from the current pencil texture palette. This option is also available from the menu button.
	Rename Texture	Renames the selected pencil texture swatch in the current pencil texture palette. This option is also available from the menu button.
	Use as Default Pencil Texture Palette	This option is available from the menu button. Sets the currently selected pencil texture palette as the default pencil texture palette in your user preferences. The default pencil texture palette is added to every scene you create in Storyboard Pro. The palette is copied in your preferences, so it will be added to your new scenes in the exact state it is when you make it the default pencil texture palette.
	Pencil Texture Display	Displays the pencil textures in the current pencil texture palette and allows you to select one to use with the Pencil tool.