pen tool

[kat]

Love the pen tool. How do I delete or add points on the line?

kat

[MEB]

Press cmd (with the pen tool selected) and click anywhere on the line to add a point. To delete press cmd (with the pen tool selected) click on the node you want to delete and press backspace.

[retrograde]

Doing the above deletes the node but keeps the path closed. I want to delete the node to create an open path. How would I do this?

 

Ie: I want to create an arch from an existing sphere path. So I try delete the bottom node to give me an arch shape but it keeps the path closed...

[MattP]

You have to break the path (on the context toolbar for the node/pen tool) first, then delete the node :) It will break at the selected handle, or if none is selected it will break at the start/end handle

[retrograde]

Thanks Matt that worked. Are there any cut/knife tools in the queue for upcoming releases. 

[MattP]

Definitely not in the beta - they will be added at some point, but they aren't high up the list because there are already different ways to achieve the same effect.

[retrograde]

Hi Matt. Well, actually, I'm struggling trying to cut up shapes on a project and really missing a simple cut tool.

 

In the meantime I'm using the boolean divide and add to limited effect. The divide seems to work well but then trying to combine shapes is sometimes giving unintended hit and miss results. I think part of the problem is how the marque selection is working. It's selecting things I'm not wanting and when I hit the add button more pieces then I'm wanting are being combined.  The marquee set to "touch" is selecting objects when I am crossing into their invisible rectangular bounds, but not actually touching. For example if I have a "U" shaped object with a few small shapes tucked down inside the bowl of the "U", if I try to marquee those little objects the larger "U" gets selected as well because I've crossed over it's invisible boundary. This isn't ideal. Touch should literally mean "touch" before anything selected. 

 

A couple of other niggly things:

 

- the icons for break curve, close curve and join curves are too similar, every time I use them I have to hover to make sure I'm clicking the right one...

- when drawing a perfectly horizontal or vertical line do I need to switch to the straight line mode? The normal convention in every app I know is to hold shift to constrain to 90's and 45's. I'm talking about not just a single line but part of creating a larger irregular shape. I have tried using shift and it doesn't seem to make a difference...

 

I'll soldier on and I realize things are still developing, but would really welcome some sort of simple eraser or cut tool in the tool set.

[Matthias]

I think part of the problem is how the marque selection is working. It's selecting things I'm not wanting and when I hit the add button more pieces then I'm wanting are being combined. The marquee set to "touch" is selecting objects when I am crossing into their invisible rectangular bounds, but not actually touching.

 

Hi Retrograde,

seems you are not alone here …

 

As Matt explains in the linked thread there are several ways to select objects (using modifier keys), but the weird behavior of selecting by touching the bounding box instead of the actual object remains. When I try to select things I always have to think shortly on how to trick the marquee tool in order to do what I want.

 

To me, selecting an object by touching its bounding box is programmer’s logic, derived of coordinates being stated in order to draw the object correctly. In real live no one would expect to get hold of a round plate by grabbing somewhere within a virtual rectangle containing it.

[MattP]

Hi retrograde,

 

Just a quick response to say that the icons are still in development - join and close are actually the same at the moment! Also, the Pen Tool used to constrain to 8-axis when you clicked or dragged to create - but this was recently removed as part of Ben's overhaul of snapping/constraining - Ben will put it back in very soon. Sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime :(

 

The marquee behaviour you're mentioning does need looking at.

 

Thanks,

Matt

[retrograde]

Thanks Matt, sorry if I seemed a little cranky. It was late last night and the first 3 things I attempted to do didn't work as expected... :wacko: I have to remind myself that this is still in beta and not everything is ready to come out of the oven so to speak. We all appreciate your teams patience with all these requests! 

 

Glad to hear the pen tool constrain setup being in flux was the reason behind that and that those icons are still being worked on. That marquee behaviour however needs a solution I think. Last night I was all set to blast off a rant about the booleans workflow when I noticed it was the selection process that was the culprit... ;)

 

I can see why it might make sense to set it up that way but when you're trying to select a couple of objects that just happen to be inside another larger objects bounds, especially if you're zoomed in close and don't see that that larger object is also selected... vector mayhem will insue...  ;)

[MaxClass]

Here is an option I have used in place of a cut tool (but would still like to have one).

 

Convert the path to “Curves” then add a node using the node selection tool where you want the cuts to occur. Then select the nodes on either end of the curve you want to break and use the “Break Curve” following the “Action:” in the toolbar to break the path and separate it from the rest of the path.

 

What you are effectively doing is creating nodes at the points you want to cut then breaking the path at those node to separate out the segments you wish to keep.

 

If you just want to duplicate/copy one segment you can create a copy (command-j) of the segment then move it away and leaving the original in place.

 

I have tested this and it works perfectly until we have a cut tool.

 

Max

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