Another corner tool curve option

[Chris Heath]

I love the corner tool, and the range of corner options.

 

Is it possible to add another option for corners based on conic sections, e.g., ellipse, where the length and width of the ellipse can be adjusted? Something along the lines of the rounded corners of the iOS icon mask.

 

It would be great if this could also be added to the rounded rectangle tool as an option for creating icons. Although Apple apply the mask to the icon, it's useful to be able to reproduce it when designing, to see how the finished icon will look.

 

Also, an offset tool would be useful for offsetting or insetting, similar to what CAD apps can do. The expand stroke tool is one way to achieve this, although it does break the curve up into lots of smaller curves.

 

This explains the elliptical corner curves and what I mean by insetting:

http://www.designbygeometry.com/ios-icon-mask-corner-curve-study/

 

Thanks

[ronnyb]

Chris that's a great read, thanks for the share! I love the diagrammatic instructions...

 

 

I love the corner tool, and the range of corner options.

Is it possible to add another option for corners based on conic sections, e.g., ellipse, where the length and width of the ellipse can be adjusted? Something along the lines of the rounded corners of the iOS icon mask.

It would be great if this could also be added to the rounded rectangle tool as an option for creating icons. Although Apple apply the mask to the icon, it's useful to be able to reproduce it when designing, to see how the finished icon will look.

Also, an offset tool would be useful for offsetting or insetting, similar to what CAD apps can do. The expand stroke tool is one way to achieve this, although it does break the curve up into lots of smaller curves.

This explains the elliptical corner curves and what I mean by insetting:
http://www.designbygeometry.com/ios-icon-mask-corner-curve-study/

Thanks

[rui_mac]

That is a nice option but... how could it work for non 90° corners?

[00Ghz]

This is GOLD. One of the devs should definitely do it.

[Chris Heath]

Thanks Ronny, rui-mac and 00Ghz

 

With the current corner tool and rounded rectangle tool you can slide the control point (centre of the circle) up and down a single axis (I’ll call this Axis A for now) to change its radius.

 

It looks like the angle of Axis A places it midway between the bezier point’s handles. The circumference of the circle used to create the corner curve runs tangent to the bezier lines (or curves) that originally met at the corner (bezier point).

 

To create an ellipse, it could be a matter of pressing a key to activate a second control point and axis ( Axis B ) that runs perpendicular to Axis A. The key could act as a toggle between axes.

 

Starting with the default corner tool (circle), pressing the toggle key would place the control point where the circumference intersects Axis B. Sliding the control point out along Axis B would create an ellipse where Axis B becomes the ellipse’s major axis and Axis A the minor axis. Sliding it inwards would form an ellipse, where Axis B would become the minor axis, and Axis A would become the major axis.

 

You could take it a bit further with the ability to rotate the ellipse around it’s centre, although to do this, the location of the original bezier point might have to move with it.