Node Editing in Version 5
Node editing is one of the best ways to make text work for you, however it can also be the most tedious. If you zoom in close to the text, double click on a single line of that image. If you have double clicked correctly, the Node Edit flyout tool will appear somewhere on your material page, and the nodes of the image will be shown as blue dots. It is important for you to understand what each node represents and what each will do for you in your editing.
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The Corner Nodes looks similar to the “+” and is used to construct straight lines.
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The Tangent Node looks similar to an “^” and is used to provide smooth transition from a straight line to a curved line.
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The Curve Node looks similar to an “o” and used to construct curved contour.
When you move your cursor over a node and select it, it will turn red. Once it is selected you may click and drag it wherever you want to, or you may select the delete key on your keyboard to completely remove it. Another useful tool is the Edit Toolbox. You can access this by right click and hold while a node is marked RED, refer to page 2-36 in your User Guide for more information.
On the Node flyout tool bar you will see five tabs, which include Arc Edit, Node Edit, Segment Edit, Okay (Green check), and Delete( Red X).
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The Arc Edit tool is used to create new nodes for an object.
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The Node Edit tool is used to either drag or manipulate nodes.
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The Segment Edit tool is used to reshape a section of the contour to fit either a straight line, a corner line, or a curved line.
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Green Check is for all editing complete.
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Red X is for starting over or deleting the editing.
Let’s try some node editing. Create a five sided star shape. Double left click a line of the star to expose the nodes. Notice the corner (+) nodes located at each angle change.
Use your mouse to select the node at the top of the star. When the node turns RED, click and drag the node downward, towards the middle of the star, and release. The red node should now be repositioned, and the shape of the star readjusted. If you don’t like the new position you may either click the red X in the edit window to return to the original star shape, or you can press the Delete key on your keyboard to completely remove the node.
In the example below I deleted the node completely. Notice that when the node is removed the line snaps between the remaining two nodes.