Arrow Stroke

Related Information

Arrow Palette

Arrow Color

Arrow Shape

Arrow Location

Color Well

Palette Aids

Defaults

Arrow Stroke

Lines, curves, and outlines (borders) may be drawn with Arrows at ends and vertices. The parameters that control the outline drawing style of the arrows are found on the Arrows Panel. To show this panel select "Arrows" from the Tools Menu which is on the Main Menu. To work with these parameters select the "Style" Tab as shown in the example.

In order to change the "Outline" of a graphic(s) it must be the selected graphic in the top window of EazyDraw. If no graphic is selected the Arrow parameters on the panel represents the arrow format that will be used when creating new graphics. Follow the Target Graphic(s) link for more information on this topic.

Either the Start or End arrow location check box must be selected to enable the Arrow Stroke parameters. If the parameters are disabled it is usually because the graphic selected does not have an arrow at either the start or end.

The line width used to draw an arrow may be defined independently of the curve to which it is attached. You use the Stroke Width parameter shown to specify this width.

The value in the text box shown circled is the Width of the arrow outline. This width is measured in Fine Scale Units (inches, mm, or points) as shown by the Units Button found at the upper right hand corner of the palette. You may change the value by typing in a new number.

You may also change the value using the "Slider" shown circled next the text box. As you change the slider bar the value is updated in the text box and the target arrow(s) are updated to reflect the new Width.

The "Join" popup menu is used to specify the shape of a arrow’s vertices. This parameter performs just like the Join Style of any other path in EazyDraw. The choices are Miter, Round, and Bevel. Miter is the normal choice for making an arrow with a point. Follow the link for full documentation of this parameter.

The "Miter Limit" value applies when Miter is used as the Join Style. If the arrow has a very sharp tip and Miter Join Style is used, the tip may protrude a large distance. This distance will approach infinity as the tip’s included angle approaches 360 degrees. This requires a limit value, if the protruding distance exceeds a multiple of the line width - the join style reverts to Bevel, which will not have the sharp tip. This limit is entered with the numeric entries provided. See Miter Limit of the Color and Style palette for a more detailed description.

The "Multiple-For Each Segment" check box is used to add arrows to each vertex along a multiple segment path, curve, or outline (e.g. the box of a rectangle). This parameter works with the Start or End arrow Location parameters to determine which side of a vertex (or end of a segment) get an arrow.

The example to the right shows some effects possible with independent control of the arrow’s outline width.

The drawing style parameters follow the model of the Fill and Outline parameters that control the appearance of all graphics in EazyDraw. To learn more about their use follow the link Styles Panel to the documentation on fill, borders, lines and outlines.

An arrow doesn't need to have an Outline component. If no outline is drawn it will consist only of its Fill with no border, or specific outline. This is the way to specify a Width of zero. A value of zero for the width actually results in a "hairline" which is the smallest line width possible for the target screen or printer, at the display zoom or drawing scale.