Now that we understand how nodes can be adjusted, let’s look at some of the curve drawing tools, which can be found in this flyout toolbar. Symmetrical nodes have the same tangency and curvature on both sides of the node. The last node type is symmetrical, which has a diamond shape. Right-clicking on a node enables you to change its type, such as changing a smooth node to a cusp.įor a cusp node, use the control handles to create a sharp corner. In addition to moving nodes themselves, you can use a node’s control handles to control curvature. Select all nodes on this object and click Convert to Curve. To do this, we need to convert the straight segments to curves. The square nodes of our rectangle-shaped curve are cusp nodes, which means nodes that hold a sharp corner. The three shapes represent the three types of nodes: cusp, smooth, and symmetrical. On the Nodes and Handles tab, you can set node display size and colors. You can change the look of nodes by going to Tools > Options > CorelDRAW. Add a node by double-clicking along a line or curve.Three nodes are white squares, and the arrowhead node at the start or end of the curve is a line node.Ī node you select turns blue, and you can drag nodes to change the shape. When you use the Shape tool now, you can access each node individually. Now a curve is listed in the Objects docker.
Do this by either clicking the Convert to Curve icon, by right-clicking and choosing Convert to Curves, or pressing Ctrl + Q. If you want to work with these nodes to change the shape, you first need to convert the rectangle to a curve. But again, you can’t use them to change the shape. You can also see nodes when selecting the rectangle with the Pick tool – they are the tiny white squares.
But you can’t do much with these nodes except change the shape of the corners.
This rectangle has nodes, which can be seen when activating the Shape tool and clicking the rectangle. Here’s a rectangle, which is listed as such in the Objects docker. Every curve has nodes, which can be displayed and manipulated with the Shape tool.Īside from spirals, freehand lines, and Bezier curves, most CorelDRAW objects are not created as curves.Ĭlick on any of the images below to view full-size. A curve can be a straight line, an open curved line, or a closed, multi-segment path. Introduction to CurvesĪ curve is an object that follows a specific path which gives it its defining shape. In this tutorial, we’ll look at what defines a curve, the various curve drawing tools, and working with the nodes that comprise curves. Curves in CorelDRAW can be as simple as a single straight line, or complex open or closed shapes comprised of curved or straight segments.