Spline Polygon
Click the Home | Draw | Area | Spline Polygon command to create a spline polygon. Spline polygons are smooth, flowing areas with no sharp or distinct angles.
Spline Polygon Properties
Spline polygons contain two types of properties: line properties and fill properties. You can change these properties in the Property Manager.
Drawing Spline Polygons
To draw a spline polygon:
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Click the Home | Draw | Area | Spline Polygon command to enter drawing mode and begin drawing a spline polygon.
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Move the cross-hair pointer over the location for the start of the spline polygon and click the left mouse button.
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Move the pointer to the next position along the line and click again. Generate the spline polygon by clicking on the anchor points during the polygon creation. The anchor points identify a change in the spline polygon's shape and direction. Notice that the spline polygon shape is visible and that you can change its curvature by moving the mouse.
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Continue clicking on the anchor points until you click the final point, and then press the ENTER key. Alternatively double-click the left mouse button to set the final point complete the spline polygon. The new spline polygon is drawn.
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Press the ESC key, click the Spline Polygon command, or click another command to exit drawing mode.
This shows a Spline Polygon drawn through three points.
Drawing Tips
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Click points on the page to draw a spline polygon, or click and hold the left mouse button and drag the pointer to draw a continuous stream of points. When drawing a stream of points the plot window auto-scrolls to keep the cursor in the plot window.
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If the CTRL key is pressed while clicking points, the points are constrained to 45-degree angles.
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Click the right mouse button to remove the last drawn point. Repeated clicking of the right mouse button removes all points in reverse order.
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Double-click the left mouse button or press the ENTER key to close the spline polygon.
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Press the ESC key to cancel drawing the spline polygon before ending the line.
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Use the Insert | Reshape command to change the spline polygon's shape.
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Change the properties for a group of selected spline polygons in the Property Manager.
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Line and fill properties are set through the Property Manager.
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Line and fill default properties are set through the File | Options command.
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Drawing mode is persistent for each individual plot document. You can switch to other documents or applications, and spline polygon drawing mode will still be enabled when you return to the plot document. Other plot documents may have a different draw tool or the select tool enabled.