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Draw a path with the Pen

The Pen tool draws a vector path from anchor points.

  1. Select the Pen tool: click it in the tool rail or press P.
  2. Click on the canvas to drop an anchor. Each click adds a straight segment from the previous anchor.
  3. Click and drag instead of clicking to pull out bezier handles and curve that segment.
  4. To finish the path, double-click, or press Enter to commit. Press Esc to cancel the path you're drawing. Backspace removes the last anchor you placed.

Closing a shape whose two ends both carry a tangent mirrors them into a smooth join, rather than dropping a flat chord across the last gap.

The finished path is a vector object, and it stays selected after you commit it, so you can adjust what you just made without reaching for Select first.

By default a path uses the Default fill, which reads what you drew: an open line becomes a satin column, a closed loop becomes a tatami fill. Override it on the bar at the top of the canvas, or set the Pen's default fill ahead of time. See Setting the default fill for new shapes.

Freehand drawing​

Freehand is its own tool, next to the Pen in the rail (N in the default preset). Drag to draw by hand. It stays active after each stroke, so you can draw several paths in a row without reselecting it, and a drawing can be built from several strokes before you commit it. See Freehand drawing for the stroke welding, the snap-to-close, and the draft bar.

Freehand shares its fill type with the Pen: changing it for one changes it for the other.

Edit a path later​

Double-click a finished path with the Select tool to enter node-edit mode, where you can move anchors and handles, change a node between Corner, Smooth, and Symmetric, and insert or delete anchors. In node-edit the essentials bar carries the curve, node, and segment operations, so you don't have to go to the panel.

Close curve / Open curve connects the last point back to the first to close an open path into a loop, or breaks that connection to open it again (needs at least 3 points to close). With nothing selected, you also get curve-level tools including Smooth curve, which re-fits every node into one flowing curve, and a Simplify slider that previews live on the canvas and commits only when you release.

Commit with Enter, cancel with Esc.

The Cutter (K) splits an open path wherever the knife crosses it.