Brush Tool

The Brush tool is used to draw a free hand curve. It is simliar to the Pencil tool, but has an additional constraint that the resulting path is a Continuous Bezier.

The Brush tool is found on the main tool palette that is accessed from the top item on the View main menu.

Click the Brush tool to activate, the tool button will darken. Move the cursor over the drawing area (note the change in the cursor) then click down and drag the cursor to draw the desired path. The Bezier path will follow your motion across the drawing page.

A Bezier fit algorithm is used to create a continuous Bezier that follows (or fits) the trail of points created by the motion of the cursor over the drawing. There is an adjustment factor that determines the trade off between a smooth Bezier that "closely" follows the trail of points and one that exactly passes through each point of the trail. The Tablet palette is where you find the Fit Setting.

Once the curve is complete, lift the mouse to complete the operation and see the resulting Bezier path and associated control points. If multiple Brush curves are needed, double click the tool, it will darken further and show a red border (indicating "sticky"), then when one curve is complete you may immediately begin another. The process is completed by clicking another tool (most likely the Arrow tool) to deactivate the Brush tool and the "sticky" state.

Free hand drawing is often done with a pen and tablet as the pointing device. But a normal mouse will work nearly as well with the brush tool.

A smaller value for Fit (on the Tablet palette, Brush Tab) will normally result in more Bezier nodes while a larger value (looser fit) generates a smoother curve with less nuance and fewer Bezier controls.

The Brush tool generates a continuous Bezier, compared to the Pencil tool that provides an unconstrained Bezier path. If sharp corners are needed, use Pencil tool. If the path will be smooth with gentle curves, the Brush tool might be the tool of choice.

In many cases both the Brush and the Pencil tools will follow your drawing activities, they are actually quite similar. Each of the tools has an independent Fit setting (on the Tablet palette). You may want to set each with a different fit setting, then you have two tools with different fit settings available.

The Brush (and the Pencil) tool is often used with a Brush stroke as defined with the Brushes palette. It is, of course, not necessary that a Brush stroke is used with the Brush tool. A Brush stroke may be applied as you create the path, or it may be added after the creation step. Use the approach that works best for your needs.

The Brush and the pencil automatically determine the optimal location (or frequency) of Bezier vertices. In some cases the automatic choices may not be best for a drawing task. The two Bezier tools (located just above the Pencil and Brush tools) provide a similar curve fit with manual control of the position and frequency of the vertices. Be sure to experiment and learn how to use these tools as well as the Pencil and Brush tools.

When drawing with Brush and Pencil it is sometimes important that tool changes happen quickly, so as to not break the artistic creative flow. The Quick Keys palette provides support in this area. For an efficient work flow the user should set up appropriate sets of quick keys, design your key sets to conform with your personal dexterity. EazyDraw’s Factory setup has a Brush, Node, and Pencil key set, but each user should arrange keys for personal fit and efficiency. This is done with simple drag and drop.