The Pencil tool is used to draw and sketch on vector layers.
Vector strokes produce files that are very light, and are ideal for long projects because you do not have to compromise on efficiency during playback. Also, you can modify the shape of the lines after you draw them using the Contour Editor or Perspective tool. The strokes are stored as separate lines until the drawing is flattened.
| • | Advantage: File sizes are light, centreline is easy to edit, can be zoomed in on or scaled up without losing quality. |
| • | Disadvantage: Not optimized for transparency. Textured pencil lines are NOT recommended for sketching (heavy compared to solid pencil lines). Textured pencil lines do not look as natural as textured brushes. |
| • | Recommended Use: Solid pencil lines: For sketching, creating clean drawings with a solid and uniform outline style and for artwork you intend to scale or film from different distances (close, mid, far). Textured pencil lines: For light textured or mixed-style artwork that demands a lot of line manipulation that you may intend to scale or film from different distances (close, mid, far). |
The Pencil tools support pressure sensitivity, allowing you to create lines with variable thickness, producing central vector lines of constant or variable width, making a clean line. This means that a pencil line’s control points (used to deform its shape) are located along the length of the central spine. The Pencil tool is very useful for tracing, clean or final drawings.
You can customize pencils, controlling the line’s colour, size, smoothness, and the minimum and maximum width.