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Closing a freehand shape
You can directly create a closed shape by ending a line back at the beginning over the
start handle. A + by the pointer shows when it is positioned over the start handle.
Joining shapes
"Arrange -> Join shapes" lets you create holes in solid shapes. Because overlapping
parts of the same shape are drawn with no fill color (i.e. you can see through the
overlapping parts), you can use this effect to create holes in shapes but retain the
ability to break them apart later.
For example, to create a donut shape:
1. Create an ellipse (described later).
2. Create a second ellipse over the first. (The color of the
second ellipse has been changed to make it obvious.)
3. Select both.
4. Choose "Arrange -> Join shapes".
This creates a single shape with a hole in it.
You can combine or join several shapes.
The cutout is made using the top object. If that object is a group, you can make
several holes in one operation. For example, a group of three stars can make a hole in
this rectangle shape:
Groups are described in Object handling (on page 120).
When several shapes overlap:
• The top shape (or top group) becomes a hole through the other shapes.
• The line attributes and colors of the other shapes change to those of the top
shape.
• If several shapes overlay:
- an even number of shapes overlapping becomes a transparent area;
- an odd number of shapes overlapping becomes a solid area.
• The numbers on this example of three circles show how many shapes overlay in
each area: