- Drawing Objects
- Using the Direct Selection Tool
- Drawing Basic Shapes
- Drawing Stars
- Drawing Simple Lines
- Drawing Straight Paths
- Drawing Curved Paths
- Mixing Straight and Curved Path Segments
- Attaching Curves at Angles
- Adding, Deleting, and Converting Anchor Points
- Extending and Connecting Open Paths
- Splitting Paths
- Creating Corner Effects
- Making Compound Paths
- Creating Paths with the Pencil Tool
- Editing Paths with the Smooth and Erase Tools
- Using Type as a Graphic Element
- Using Outlines as Masks
- Using Outlines as Text Frames
Drawing Straight Paths
The Pen tool and its associated editing tools give InDesign its real drawing power. Despite the fact that Adobe's Pen tool (Figure 3.15) was developed for the first version of Illustrator, its multi-faceted nature makes it deceptively complex—a challenge for many users.
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Choose the Pen tool and click to place anchor points (Figure 3.16).
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Continue clicking to add anchor points and extend the path. Do not click and drag, or a curved path will be created.
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To create an open path, (Command-click) [Ctrl+click] anywhere in the document to end the path. To create a closed path, move the pointer over the first anchor point—a small circle is added to the Pen pointer . When you click, the path is closed (Figure3.17).
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TIP
To see the path as you position an anchor point, click with the Pen tool and don't release, and then hold down the spacebar. This enables you to reposition the point you are adding as you draw the path.