User Guide

Chapter 4: Drawing And Vector Effects
Constraining the path: To constrain the path of the Knife tool to 45° increments, press
Shift as you drag. Release the Shift key to drag freely.
Partial cuts: If you stop dragging before the cutting path intersects a second point on
an object's perimeter, the cutting path appears but the object stays intact. To use this
cutting path to divide the object, drag a second cutting path so it intersects the perimeter
of the object and the first cutting path. Or, you can intersect the cutting path with other
cutting paths to create a closed shape. The part of the object that falls within the closed
shape becomes a separate object.
Cutting holes: Cut out pieces of a vector object by dragging inside the object and
creating a closed path. The parts of the object that fall within the closed cutting path
become separate objects. To create a closed cutting path, the path must cross itself.
Gradient inks: If an object’s fill ink is a gradient, and the style is Radial, Directional,
Rectangular, or Elliptical, the gradient remains intact across the separated objects.
However, if the gradient style is Shape, the gradient fills each divided object separately.
To configure the Knife tool:
Use the settings in the Properties bar.
Cut Only Selected Objects: Select this option to make the Knife tool slice only vector
objects that are selected and intersected by the cutting path. This setting can prevent
unintentional changes to nearby objects.
Cut All Objects: Select this option to make the Knife tool slice any vector objects that
the cutting path intersects, whether the objects are selected or not.
Cropping vector and image objects
Canvas contains a Page Crop tool that can be used to crop several objects at once. This tool can be
used on both image and vector objects.
If some vector objects contain SpriteEffects, you should render those objects before
applying the Page Crop tool.
Any objects that are outside of the cropping rectangle will be deleted after completing the crop. After
applying the Page Crop tool, images remain paint objects. Vector objects, however, become Bézier
curves. The pen stroke, if any, becomes a composite object.
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