Edit points and curves

The pen draws a path point by point, straight or curved. Open any vector’s points to move them, bend them, or grow a new segment from any point, even one in the middle, so three or more segments meet there.

Draw with the pen

Press P, or pick the pen in the bottom bar.

1. Click to place a corner point.
2. Press and drag to place a smooth point: the drag pulls out its handles, and the curve follows.
3. Keep going. The line to the pointer shows where the next segment will go.
4. To close the shape, click the first point again. It fills, and the pen hands you back the Move tool with the new shape selected.
5. To leave it open, as a line, press Enter or Esc. An open path gets a stroke and no fill.

Open the full-size picture

Esc finishes the path; it doesn’t throw it away. The status line says so: “Enter or Esc to finish”. To remove a path you didn’t want, press Ctrl+Z.

Clicking inside a frame puts the new path in that frame.

Open a vector’s points

Select a vector and press Enter, or double-click it. Its points and segments show on the canvas, and the Inspector’s header says “editing points”.

• Click a point to select it, Shift-click to add more, or drag a box round several.
• Drag a point, or a handle of a selected point, to move it. The arrow keys nudge selected points by 1 px (Shift: 10 px).
• Click a segment to add a point there.
• Press Esc or Enter, or double-click empty canvas, to finish.

Rectangles, ellipses, polygons, stars and text aren’t vectors. To edit their points, select one and choose Object → Flatten (Ctrl+E): it becomes a vector and its points open.

Move, Add, Bend and Delete

While the points are open, the bottom bar holds the point tools instead of the drawing tools. Each says what it does when you hover it, and the status line says it again.

Tool	What a click or a drag does
Move	Drag points and handles · click a segment to add a point · click inside an area to select it
Add	A dot rides the outline showing where the point lands · click empty space to run a line from the selected point, or to start a second run in the same shape · click a point you already have to pick it up
Bend	Drag a segment and the curve follows the pointer · click a point to step it through sharp, free, mirrored angle, and mirrored angle and length
Knife, Paint	Cut the shape and paint its areas: see Knife, Merge and Extrude
Delete	Click a point to remove it · click a segment to open the path, or to merge the areas either side

The modeller’s keys work here too: G moves the selected points with the pointer, R rotates them and S scales them. Type a number for an exact amount, press X or Y to lock a move or a scale to one axis, then Enter (or click) to apply or Esc to put them back. Shift+X and Shift+Y turn on symmetry: an edit to one point is mirrored onto its reflection across the middle of the shape.

Corners and curves

Select one point and the Inspector’s Point section shows how its handles behave.

Open the full-size picture

Mirroring has four buttons:

• Sharp corner: no handles; the path turns through the point.
• No mirroring: each handle moves on its own.
• Mirror the angle: the handles stay in line; each keeps its own length.
• Mirror angle and length: both handles stay equal.

Hold Alt while dragging a handle to move it alone, just this once, without changing the point’s setting.

Radius rounds a corner between two segments.

Branch a point

A point can have three or more segments. Grow a new segment from any point of a shape, even one in the middle of a path, and the lines enclose separate areas, each of which can have its own fill.

With the pen:

1. Select the vector, and press P. Its points show.
2. Hover a point: the status line says Click to start a branch from this point. Over a segment it says Click to add a point here and start a branch from it.
3. Click, then draw as usual.
4. End on another point or segment of the same shape. Before you click, the status line says what will happen: Click to end the branch on this point · the area splits in two and both halves keep their fill.

Open the full-size picture

The new segment joins the shape: it doesn’t become a new layer. Hovering the end of an open path with the pen says Click to extend the path from this end, and carries the path on.

In vector edit, with the points open:

• Add: select a point in the middle of a path, then click empty space. A segment grows from that point.
• Extrude (E): select a point and press E. A new point grows from it and follows the pointer; click to place it. From a middle point it snaps to the line straight out of the corner, and the status line adds “on the guide”. See Knife, Merge and Extrude.

What happens to the fill:

• Where the new lines close off an area, both sides keep the fill they had. Paint them separately with the Paint bucket.
• A point where three or more segments meet has no mirroring and no corner radius. The Inspector shows both rows switched off, with the reason under each.
• Lines that cross in a shape with areas meet at a point: Polyform adds one where they cross, when you let go.
• A shape that has areas is saved in a newer file format, which Polyform 0.9.0-beta.8 and older can’t open. A project with no such shape opens in them as before.

Undo

Each of these is one step in History, and Ctrl+Z takes it back whole: Draw Vector, Draw Branch, Extend Path, Move Points, and the rest. If a branch switched a shape to areas, the same Ctrl+Z switches it back.