Operation Manual
Shaping objects | 167
3 Select the nodes along the curve that you want to transform.
4 On the property bar, click one of the following buttons:
•
Stretch or scale nodes
•
Rotate or skew nodes
5 Drag a set of handles to transform the nodes.
Breaking the path of curve objects
Paths
Paths outline an object’s shape and are often visible as one or more line or curve segments. You can disconnect line segments from one
another to create subpaths. Even though they are not connected, subpaths are still part of the defining path of the original object; however,
you can extract a subpath to create two separate objects: the extracted subpath and the object it was extracted from.
Subpaths
Subpaths are the basic curves and shapes from which a single curve object is constructed. For example, a single curve object with subpaths
is often created when text is converted to curves. The letter “O,” for instance, is composed of two ellipses: the outside ellipse that defines the
letter’s shape and the inside ellipse that defines the “hole.” The ellipses are subpaths that compose the single curve object, “O.” One of the
basic reasons for creating an object with subpaths is that you can produce objects with holes in them. In the following example, you can see
objects underneath the center of the letter “O.”
1) The letter “O” is converted to curves. 2) The resulting subpaths are the outside ellipse
that defines the shape of the letter and the inside ellipse (tinted gray) that defines the hole.
3) In comparison, the black ellipse consists of a single path and cannot contain a “hole.”
To break a path
To Do the following
Break a path
In the toolbox, click the Shape tool . Select a node on the
path, and click the Break curve button on the property bar.
Extract a broken path from an object In the toolbox, click the Shape tool. Right-click a path, and click
Break apart. Select a segment, node, or group of nodes that
represents the portion of the path you want to extract, and click
the Extract subpath button on the property bar.