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Drawing Lines and Shapes 91
into the SELECTOR Tool, "Shift + click" to select the second line, then "Alt + S" again to
return to the
SHAPE EDITOR Tool).
Selecting objects is described fully in "Selecting objects (on page 98)".
Once both objects are selected, in the SHAPE EDITOR TOOL or the PEN TOOL, drag the
end handle of one line over the end of the other line. As you drag the mouse pointer
will show a + symbol to indicate that the lines will be joined..
If the ends of the two lines are already very close to each other (but not joined), then
you can either zoom in or drag the end point away, and then back again so it’s over
the end point, and you see the + sign to indicate a join will occur.
To create a filled shape, drag the other two end handles together. Because you join
the end handles, you can only join lines and not shapes. Shapes are closed objects and
so have no end handles.
There’s more information on this in "Shape handling (on page 133)".
Notes:
• To use the PEN TOOL, choose CONTROL BARS from the WINDOW menu and click the
BUTTON PALETTE checkbox, or press "Shift + F5" on your keyboard.
• You can also use the
FREEHAND & BRUSH TOOL (described earlier) to join lines.
• There is an
ARRANGE > JOIN SHAPES menu option which joins two or more shapes
into one single shape, even if they are separated on the page. This makes
overlapping areas transparent. For example, joining an object with a smaller circle
on top this way, produces an object with a circular hole in it.
Splitting a shape
If you want to split (break) a line or shape: Either select an existing point handle on
the line or outline of the shape, or create a new one where you want to break the line.
Just click on the line in the
SHAPE EDITOR TOOL (see above).
Click on the
BREAK AT POINTS button, or press "B".