Drawing Curves
The Curve tool
lets you draw a curved line that consists of one or more line segments. Each Bézier curve segment is defined by two data points (endpoints) and one or two control points (handles) that you can drag to adjust the arc of the curve. A control point is connected to a data point by a control line. Moving a control point pulls the curve towards it, and changes the shape of a curve.
A Bézier curve has three types of data points:
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A symmetrical data point has the same line curvature on either side, and two control lines that move together as a straight line.
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A smooth data point has different line curvatures on either side, and two control lines that move together as a straight line.
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A corner data point has one or two control lines and joins different line segments.
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Open the Curves toolbar, and select the Curve tool
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Click where you want the curve to start, and drag a short distance in the direction you want the curve to go. To create a straight line segment, hold down Shift while you drag.
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Release the mouse.
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Move the pointer to where you want the curve segment to end and do one of the following:
Click to draw the curve segment using the current arc.
Drag in any direction to define an arc for the curve, and then click to set it.
If you want to close the shape and continue drawing the curve, hold down Alt and click. You can then move your pointer to where you want the curve to continue and draw a line.
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If you want, you can continue to add line segments by clicking and dragging.
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Double-click to finish drawing the line. To create a closed shape, double-click the starting point of the line.
 | To connect the endpoints of a line, or two different lines, choose View - Toolbars - Options, and then click the Snap to Object Points icon
 on the Options Bar. Select a line tool, and drag a line from one endpoint to the other. The line snaps to each endpoint. |
Index
lines, drawing
curves, drawing
control points definition
corner points
drawing,lines
This help text is published from the OpenOffice-Help files under the Public Documentation License 1.0.
