Looking for Draw Curve Tip

[Kabbie]

When using the Draw Curve tool, every point is assumed to be "smooth". Is there an easy way to insert a non-smooth point (black instead of blue node) on the fly? It's very tedious to go into edit mode, change the node, and reshape the line.

[Adrian]

Not that I'm aware of.

I do it the other way around. I draw using the polyline tool, clicking for each major point and then smooth in node edit afterwards. I find that a very fast and simple way to manually trace items.

The polyline tool also has a mode where you can drag to make a curve as you're drawing so you get the best of both worlds being able to do curves and perfect straight lines all in one tool.

There is the freehand drawing tool as well but I've never got on with that. It seems to be a tool that would work better with a stylus etc or maybe I'm just too stuck with my polyline method.

[Tex_Lawrence]

... every point is assumed to be "smooth" ...

A similar irritation occurs during NODE editing where when I move nodes they go back to being "smooth", and I have to take that off again to adjust the curve to fit.

[adze_cnc]

When using the Draw Curve tool, every point is assumed to be "smooth". Is there an easy way to insert a non-smooth point (black instead of blue node) on the fly? It's very tedious to go into edit mode, change the node, and reshape the line.

Every point (except the first and last of an open curve) is presumed to be blue that's the way Bézier "curves" work and how they differ from a polyline or a shape such as rectangle, circle, etc.

I am confused about inserting a node then changing from smooth to non-smooth meaning that the curve needs to be re-shaped.

My naïf attempt follows (using VCarve 9.519 but that shouldn't matter):

1. base open curve:
 

 
2. node inserted top of dead centre. It is blue as it is part of the Bézier curve:
 

 
3. right-click on the node and "smooth" is checked. Will uncheck that to make it not smooth:
 

 
4. node now black and not "smooth":
 

 
After all that the curve has not changed shape.

How is what you're doing different from what I'm doing that is causing the curve to need to be re-shaped?

For that matter (if you know that you will want one node to be not smooth) can you draw shape as multiple curves the stop and start at those non-smooth points then join the curves together by selecting them and use the "J" command?

[Tex_Lawrence]

I'm away from my computer so I can't create such a detailed reply, but my point starts as your question ends.

I'm usually fixing problems with fonts that the validator indicates; intersections etc. So, once I do change a misshapen curve etc. or move the recently changed non-smooth point, it will change back to smooth. I'm sure there is some kind of node rule that it is following, but it is irritating.

[Rcnewcomb]

In Node Edit you can select multiple points and press L to convert them all from beziers to straight lines.

[Kabbie]

Not that I'm aware of.

I do it the other way around. I draw using the polyline tool, clicking for each major point and then smooth in node edit afterwards. I find that a very fast and simple way to manually trace items.

The polyline tool also has a mode where you can drag to make a curve as you're drawing so you get the best of both worlds being able to do curves and perfect straight lines all in one tool.

There is the freehand drawing tool as well but I've never got on with that. It seems to be a tool that would work better with a stylus etc or maybe I'm just too stuck with my polyline method.

I hadn't thought of that (mostly because I wasn't aware I could drag the polyline to make a curve.) I'll give it a try. Thanks!

[Kabbie]

... every point is assumed to be "smooth" ...

A similar irritation occurs during NODE editing where when I move nodes they go back to being "smooth", and I have to take that off again to adjust the curve to fit.

I've noticed that too! Very annoying.

[Kabbie]

When using the Draw Curve tool, every point is assumed to be "smooth". Is there an easy way to insert a non-smooth point (black instead of blue node) on the fly? It's very tedious to go into edit mode, change the node, and reshape the line.

How is what you're doing different from what I'm doing that is causing the curve to need to be re-shaped?

For that matter (if you know that you will want one node to be not smooth) can you draw shape as multiple curves the stop and start at those non-smooth points then join the curves together by selecting them and use the "J" command?

The difference is that I didn't want the node on a smooth curve in the first place. The shape I want to create actually comes to a point at the node in question. The Draw Curve tool inserts a smooth node when I really want a point, so I have to edit the line by first changing the node from smooth blue to non-smooth black (which doesn't change the overall shape of the vector as you pointed out.) Then I have to reshape the two separate handles of the now black node to get it to form the point I actually wanted in the first place.

Your final comment about stopping at the sharp node and then joining the vectors would work. It just seems it would be easier if the program just let me drop a sharp node on the fly. Thanks for your response!
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[adze_cnc]

You never mentioned a point to be created at that node. You just said you can't change it from blue to black without the shape changing.

Now that I know the final effect how about this:

Base curve:
 

 
Right click on span pointed to by red arrow and select "To Line" or hover over the span and press "L":
 

 
Gets this
 

 
Then repeat for other span:
 

[dealguy11]

I do the same thing as Adrian - use the polyline tool to draw straight lines, go into node editing, select one or more nodes, hit the "S" key and smooth only the ones I want. The "S" key also unsmooths nodes, but not very consistently. It's easy to add nodes while the polyline is still in line mode by grabbing the center point of a line and moving it - it automatically turns into a node. I really like the ability to drag select many nodes and smooth them all at once. I've always found this much faster than the draw curve tool, which just seems fiddly to me.

Never noticed points changing back to smooth while moving them in edit mode. Just tried it now and they didn't do that.

[Tex_Lawrence]

... The "S" key also unsmooths nodes, but not very consistently. ... I really like the ability to drag select many nodes and smooth them all at once....
Never noticed points changing back to smooth while moving them in edit mode. Just tried it now and they didn't do that.

Got a chance to play with node editing without a project to complete. In the font that I was fixing (and other curved objects), I was looking at the "S" in the right-click menu as a toggle. It isn't. If you don't move a node handle (before you do something else) then the node hasn't really been changed to unsmooth. So, I would choose the menu item "S" on a node, then do the same on another node (and move a handle on the second one) and wonder why the first one was not unsmoothed. Operator error.

On the point of drag select, en masse, I've never found the "unsmooth" key. If it could only read my mind!