Operation Manual

Lines, Curves, and Shapes 77
For example, by dragging the top sliding handle to the right on the pentagon
below will quickly produce an octagon:
You can use the QuickShape context toolbar to swap the
QuickShape type for another, as well as the object's line properties;
use the Colour or Swatch tab to apply the QuickShape's fill.
Converting a shape to editable curves
The conversion of QuickShapes to curves provides you with a starting point for
your own shapes, whereas converting text to curves is one way of incorporating
editable letter-based shapes into designs.
To convert an object into curves:
1. Select your QuickShape or text object.
2. Click Convert to Curves on the Arrange tab.
3. Edit the curve outline using the Node Tool (see Editing lines and
shapes on p. 68).
However they were created, all converted objects behave in a similar manner.
For example, you can create some text with the Artistic Text Tool, convert it to
curves, then use the Node Tool to edit the curves that make up the letters, just as
if you had drawn the letter shapes by hand using the line tools.
The conversion process loses all of the special properties inherent in
QuickShapes and text.