User Guide

Canvas 12 User Guide
To create a calligraphic stroke:
1. Enter a value in the Weight field or drag the blue arrows in the edit box. The Weight refers to
the thickness of the stroke.
2. Enter a value in the Width field or drag the red arrow in the edit box. The Width refers to the
thinnest part of the stroke. The Width should differ from the Weight.
3. Enter a value (in degrees) in the Angle field. You can also adjust the angle by moving the
blue arrows or red arrows in a circular motion. Typically, the angle is set to 45 degrees.
4. Select endcaps and line joins for the pen stroke. For an explanation of the various cap and
join choices, see "Standard pen stroke controls" on page 272.
5. Click Add Preset when you are completed.
Calligraphic pen stroke
Choosing line joins and end caps
For standard pen strokes and calligraphic strokes, you can specify the type of line joins and end
caps. Line joins determine the appearance of two path segments that meet at a corner. End caps
specify the shape of the endpoints of an open path.
Line joins
Canvas has three types of line joins: miter, round, and bevel. For preset pen strokes, Canvas
indicates the type of line join in the respective manager in the Attributes palette.
Miter: Joins path segments with sharp corners that extend to a single point. When you
choose miter joins, the Miter Limit field is enabled. Enter the miter limit in degrees (5, 10,
30, 60, or 90 degrees).
The miter limit setting tells Canvas which corners are too tight to miter; Canvas bevels these
corners instead; i.e., if the miter limit is set to 10°, and two path segments join at an angle of
9°, Canvas bevels the corner rather than creating a miter join. The miter limit lets you prevent
long, spiked corners that might result as a combination of a wide pen size and a small angle.
Round: Smooths corners, so the joint is rounded instead of pointed or flat.
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