jeffreydevey Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 When closing a path joining a straight anchor point to a curved anchor point, it would be nice if holding the option key enabled the closed anchor point to be a combination point (straight on one side and curved on the other), rather than defaulting to a smooth anchor point and having to remove the control handle. I keep trying different modifier key combinations and can't figure out how to eliminate the extra step. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MattP Posted October 9, 2014 Staff Share Posted October 9, 2014 What 'mode' of the Pen Tool are you using? The default mode ('Pen Mode') will do what you are asking when Option/Alt is held, but the 'Smart Mode' will not - it adds another Smart node point which means the node is free to balance its off-curve handles automatically. It is effectively ignoring the Option/Alt modifier - and I'm not actually sure it should be... I'll have a think... :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffreydevey Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 Hi Matt, thanks for your quick response. I didn't realize there were different pen modes available (good to know), but after checking it turns out I am using the default 'Pen Mode'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MattP Posted October 9, 2014 Staff Share Posted October 9, 2014 Is this what you're trying to achieve? I held down Option/Alt before I started to drag the last point. PenQuestion.mov If not, then I need to know exactly what you were trying to do, because I'm obviously not thinking along the right lines! :S Thanks, Matt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffreydevey Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 Not exactly ... I've attached a screen shot of what I mean. Say one wants to create the shape at left ... the default behavior creates the shape at right, requiring removing the extra handle created when closing the shape. Thanks again for your response. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Staff MattP Posted October 9, 2014 Staff Share Posted October 9, 2014 If you select the 'end' point in the Pen Tool, does it show the handle extending off to the left? If so, this is where the curve is coming from. Option/Alt click the extending off-curve handle and it will become sharp (coincident with the on-curve handle) and now closing will not add a curve. ...hopefully ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffreydevey Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 Yes, the handle extends to the left. I had Option-clicked the handle to arrive at the shape at left in the previous attachment, but was wondering if there was a way to join a straight segment to a curve directly without having to use an extra click to remove the unwanted handle. Option-clicking the end point (without dragging) to close the shape does this in Illustrator. Not a huge issue, but would save an extra click. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeffreydevey Posted October 9, 2014 Author Share Posted October 9, 2014 Also want to add that the Affinity team has done a brilliant job, and I enjoy working with the program so far. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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