IBM Lotus Symphony


Drawing Bézier curves

The lines tool lets you draw a curved line that consists of one or more line segments. Each Bézier curve segment is defined by two data points (end points) and one or two control points (handles) that you can drag to adjust the arc of the curve.

A control point, represented as a circle, is connected to a data point, represented as a square, by a control line. Moving a control point pulls the curve towards it, and changes the shape of the curve.

A Bézier curve consists of three types of data points.

Symmetrical
A symmetrical data point has the same line curvature on either side, and two control lines that move together as a straight line.
Smooth
A smooth data point has different line curvatures on either side, and two control lines that move together as a straight line.
Corner
A corner data point has one or two control lines and joins different line segments.
  1. Open the Lines toolbar, and select the Curves tool Curve.
  2. Click where you want the curve to start, and drag a short distance in the direction that you want the curve to go.
  3. Release the mouse.
  4. Move the line to where you want the curve segment to end and do one of the following:
    1. To define an arc for the curve, drag in any direction, and then click.
    2. To close the shape, hold the Alt key and click.
  5. Optional: To draw straight line segments attached to the curve, click and drag.
  6. Double-click to finish the drawing.
  7. To connect the end points of two different lines, select the lines and right click. Then click Connect, the line snaps to each end point.

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