Altering point handles

The join of two curved line segments can be either smooth or sharp (a sharp join is sometimes called a cusp join). If a point handle is sharp, you can control the two curve handles independently. If it is a smooth point, the curve handles move together.

image\POINTS.gif

image\PRCARROW.gif To alter point handles

1. If necessary, select the line (see Selecting objects).

2. Choose the Shape Editor Tool.

3. Select the point handle by clicking on it.

4. Click the Sharp Point button or the Smooth Point button on the Shape Editor Tool Infobar. Note that clicking Sharp point does not reshape the line but you can now move the curve handles independently.

Tips

image\BULLET.gif You can quickly swap the state of a point handle by double clicking it.

image\BULLET.gif You can select several points and then change the join shape in one operation (see Selecting Several Point Handles).

image\BULLET.gif With the Shape Editor Tool, you can also press Z to make the point a sharp join or S for a smooth join.

image\BULLET.gif CTRL-clicking Sharp point reshapes the line to show a sharp point. Note that this is the opposite of how clicking and CTRL-clicking worked in CorelXARA.