The Pen tool is the classic vector drawing tool — it lets you precisely draw vector shapes and paths by manually adding anchor points, either sharp or smooth. The curved or straight lines that connect the two anchor points are called vector paths. Even the most complex of shapes are composed of these paths. In Pixelmator Pro, using the Pen and Freeform Pen tools, you can draw vector paths to create your own shapes and save them to your shapes library.
Smooth anchor points feature additional direction handles. You can move them to adjust how much the path curves at the selected anchor point.
A vector path can be closed, which means it has no beginning or end (like a square or circle shape) or it can be open, in which case it is a line with a beginning and end point.
To draw a straight line segment with the Pen tool:
To finish the path and leave it open, do any of the following:
To finish the path and close it to create a shape, do any of the following:
Tip: If you’d like to delete the anchor point you last added, press the key on your keyboard.
After you draw a vector path, you can further refine, remove, or add anchor points. To learn more about this, see Edit vector paths.
To draw a curved line segment with the Pen tool:
Drag anywhere else in your image to add another smooth anchor point and adjust its direction lines.
The last anchor point you added will be solid red, while any points you added previously will be outlined in red.
Tip: To adjust the direction lines after adding an anchor point, – drag one of the direction handles.
To finish the path and leave it open, do any of the following:
To finish the path and close it to create a shape, do any of the following:
Tip: If you’d like to delete the last anchor point you added, press the key on your keyboard.
After you draw a vector path, you can further refine, remove, or add anchor points. To learn more about this, see Edit vector paths.