Snap to mid-point

**flim** · 16 March 2020, 04:48 AM

How to snap to the mid-point of a line? I cannot found snap setting beside the end point.

**Acorn** · 16 March 2020, 08:27 AM

A Xara straight line has no mid-point as it can be transformed into a curved one at any time.

Clone and Rotate 90⁰. The crossing is the mid-point, to which you can Snap.
Clone and Scale 50%. Align end point. Mid-point is then the other end of the halved line.

The mid-point of a curved line is far more intriguing.
You could add a Point and Break there and keep approximating as. as each Line or segment has a Perimeter (P).
I would make a Text Column of pattern 1234567890 and then Fit Text to Curve. Count the numbers along the line and halve to get to the mid-point.
Accurate to about 5px but could be improved.

Acorn

**wizard509** · 16 March 2020, 01:12 PM

Another way is create a rectangle with the same length as the line and find the mid point of that by selecting and where the center is put a guide and that will be the be the center or mid point of your line

**flim** · 16 March 2020, 01:43 PM

Originally Posted by wizard509

Another way is create a rectangle with the same length as the line and find the mid point of that by selecting and where the center is put a guide and that will be the be the center or mid point of your line

Thank you for the recommendation, but if my line is not horizontal or vertical, I need to rotate the rectangle and align to the line, this is counter intuitive.

**flim** · 16 March 2020, 02:02 PM

Originally Posted by Acorn

A Xara straight line has no mid-point as it can be transformed into a curved one at any time.

Clone and Rotate 90⁰. The crossing is the mid-point, to which you can Snap.
Clone and Scale 50%. Align end point. Mid-point is then the other end of the halved line.

The mid-point of a curved line is far more intriguing.
You could add a Point and Break there and keep approximating as. as each Line or segment has a Perimeter (P).
I would make a Text Column of pattern 1234567890 and then Fit Text to Curve. Count the numbers along the line and halve to get to the mid-point.
Accurate to about 5px but could be improved.

Acorn

Thank you, but that workaround sounds too complex to me, and reduce efficiency significantly if I need to snap to multiple mid-points.

In CorelDRAW I can snap to mid-point on a line or bezier curve in a snap.

**Acorn** · 16 March 2020, 04:32 PM

"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

There is a paradigm shift when you ken the Xara way and it all falls into place.

Acorn

**wizard509** · 16 March 2020, 04:50 PM

I have spent some time writing a tutorial but on my version at least (XDP16) just selecting the line and converting to editable shapes shows the bullseye in the center anyway so really I didn't need to do anything.

**wizard509** · 16 March 2020, 04:54 PM

Originally Posted by Acorn

"Toto, I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore."

Acorn

No we're not but I do have to go there from time to time.

**Fred C** · 16 March 2020, 04:59 PM

@ Flim
Complex...

**Acorn** · 16 March 2020, 05:05 PM

Originally Posted by wizard509

I have spent some time writing a tutorial but on my version at least (XDP16) just selecting the line and converting to editable shapes shows the bullseye in the center anyway so really I didn't need to do anything.

Q - When is a Line not a Line? A- When it's an Editable Shape. Ha-ha-ha.

Try bending it.

Acorn