Pen tool
Draw a path one anchor point at a time, with full control over the bezier handles at each node.
The Pen tool (P) is the precise way to draw a vector path: click to drop a corner, drag to pull a curve out of it. Nothing needs to be selected first: a click on empty canvas always starts a brand new Shape layer.
Placing points
Click to add a corner point. Click and drag to pull a curved handle out of that point at the same time: the opposite handle mirrors it unless you hold Alt, which breaks the tangent so the two sides of the curve can bend independently.
You can grab and adjust the last point's handles again before moving on: click its outgoing handle, then its incoming handle, then the anchor itself. Holding Alt while dragging a handle mid-draw breaks its tangent the same way.
Closing and finishing a path
With three or more points placed, click close to the path's starting point to close it and end the stroke there. To stop without closing, press Escape or right-click: the path stays open and stays selected.
Clicking the endpoint of an existing open path (one you drew earlier and left unfinished, or came back to with the Pen tool selected) resumes drawing from that end.
Pen modes
A four-way switch at the left of the Tool Options bar changes what a click places:
| Mode | What a click places |
|---|---|
| Pen | A corner point; drag to pull handles out of it by hand (the default) |
| Smart | A point that is automatically smoothed: Celas Studio refits curved handles through every point you have placed so far as you go |
| Polygon | A straight corner point only; dragging never pulls a handle |
| Line | Two straight points, then the stroke ends on its own |
Curve editing while drawing
When a Shape layer is selected, six curve buttons appear in the Tool Options bar: Split Curve, Break Curve, Close Path, Simplify, Join Curves and Reverse. They act on the selected node of the shape's main contour and grey out when they do not apply: Close Path, for instance, only lights up on an open path with at least three points. Simplify is the exception that acts on the whole shape rather than the selected node: it cuts the node count while refitting the outline as curves. See the Node tool.
Anti-alias
The Anti-alias checkbox is on by default and applies both to the shape you are about to draw and to every currently selected shape. Turn it off for hard, aliased edges, useful in Pixel Mode.
| P | Pen tool |
| Altdrag a handle | Break the tangent instead of mirroring the opposite handle |
| Escape or right-click | Finish the path without closing it |