Redrawing Paths?

[terov]

Is there a way to reform paths and segments by drawing over a selected path?

I'm checking to see if there's something akin to the pencil or brush tools in Illustrator; I miss that feature and I could easily just be overlooking a tool option

(I tried various searches to find instructions, but wasn't sure what sort of name the feature would be under.)

Thanks in advance!

[stuseven]

. I dont picture this exactly... excuse the pun... if the path is already
present in the drawing... ummm... well... you should be able to select it,
copy it... change the line width... draw over it in that sense.
Also - XaraLX does have a freehand tool, although it isnt indicated with a pen/or/pencil icon... with that you can draw freehand on the picture... try that maybe ?

Is there a way to reform paths and segments by drawing over a selected path?

I'm checking to see if there's something akin to the pencil or brush tools in Illustrator; I miss that feature and I could easily just be overlooking a tool option

(I tried various searches to find instructions, but wasn't sure what sort of name the feature would be under.)

Thanks in advance!

[fjgaude]

Is there a way to reform paths and segments by drawing over a selected path?

I'm checking to see if there's something akin to the pencil or brush tools in Illustrator; I miss that feature and I could easily just be overlooking a tool option

(I tried various searches to find instructions, but wasn't sure what sort of name the feature would be under.)

Thanks in advance!

The Shape Editor Tool, F4, on the tool bar may do what you want. The cursor changes shape as you move over points, etc. Try it and see if this gets you to where you wish to be. Also the Freehand Brush Tool, F3, is great for drawing, using the various brush shapes to do what you want. The shapes are being added to right now, but there are many in r1745. Have fun.

frank

[stuseven]

. oops... small error there... actually, the freehand tool IS indicated by
the pencil icon, drawing a line.

.
Also - XaraLX does have a freehand tool, although it isnt indicated with a pen/or/pencil icon... with that you can draw freehand on the picture... try that maybe ?

[terov]

Maybe an example will give a better indication of what I'm looking to accomplish:

Say you draw a square or polygon with the appropriate tool. The feature I'm describing allows you to click and drag over, say, one side of the square, replacing that side with a freehand squiggle that matches the path of your mouse or stylus.

You can accomplish the same thing by adding, deleting, and manipulating control points, but it's a bit more involved than just re-drawing the shape of a selected line until one is satisfied with the results.

This tool is particularly intuitive with drawing tablets; getting the right line (as opposed to drawing multiple lines and then selecting the one you want) is quick and fun.

If there's not a way to do this in Xara, it seems like it would be a wonderful feature to include, and not terribly difficult to implement, since it borrows from the functionality of the freehand tool.

Hopefully this has been more communicative and cogent than my original post
Thanks for all the responses!

[Odat]

I believe that the Freehand and Brush Tool (F3) does what you want. Try the following:

1. Draw your square with the quickshape tool
2. With the square selected, choose Arrange->Convert to Editable Shapes
3. Switch to the Freehand Tool (F3)
4. Hover the mouse over some part of one of the lines that define the square; The cursor icon will change from a pencil to a pencil with a squiqqly line on it
5. Click and freehand draw until the pencil touches another point on the lines that define the square; again, the cursor icon will change as before
6. Let go of the button

The square will be essentially "cut" between the two points that you started and stopped on, and between those points the line that you drew with the mouse/stylus will appear. While the new line is selected, you can use the smoothing slider on the infobar as needed to make the drawn shape more like what you intended.

This works on any shape that is editable, and can be used to either add onto a shape or "carve away" parts of it.

Is this more like what you were asking about?

[Grafixman]

Perhaps you should try the smoothing slider. Select all control points and move the slider to simplify and smooth out your shape.
Oops, just reread your post again. It seems like you're after the opposite, to automatically roughen up a straight line. Dunno how to do that in Xara... Odat's suggestion seems like a good one.

[-=Drifter=-]

Odat's post works great! Thanks Odat, I didn't know that.

[terov]

Exactly what I was looking for. Thank you