EazyDraw Pencil Tool Free Hand Drawing EazyDraw Raw App For Help

The Pencil tool is used to draw a free hand curve. It is simliar to the Brush tool, but does not have the constraint that the resulting path is a Continuous Bezier.

The Pencil tool is found on the main tool palette that is accessed from the top item on the View main menu, it is about two thirds towards the bottom of the palette. The button icon for the Pencil tool is shown at the top left of this page.

Click on the pencil tool button on the main tool palette. The "Tab Creation Cursor" will reflect the tool selection when the mouse is over the front (top) drawing window. The path is drawn by clicking down and tracing out the desired path. When the mouse button is lifted, the path is terminated. The process completes showing the Bezier tool handles for editing.

A Bezier fit algorithm is used to create a 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 - Pencil tab provides access to the Fit adjust factor for the Pencil tool.

Once the curve is complete, lift the mouse to complete the operation and see the resulting Bezier path and associated control points. If multiple Pencil curves are needed, double click the tool, it will darken further and show a red border (indicating "sticky"), in this case when one curve is complete the tool remains active allowing another Pencil path to be drawn immediately. This mode is canceled by clicking another tool (most likely the Arrow tool) to deactivate the Pencil tool and the "sticky" state.

If the resulting path is too "shaky" or jagged, use the Smooth, Shape, or Round commands on the Transform menu to smooth out the path. This is done after the Free-Hand path is fully drawn.

The Knife may be used to remove Bezier nodes. Or use the Insert tool if additional controls are needed along the Bezier curve.

In many cases it is not wise to try to get your Free-Hand path drawn exactly as it is needed with painstaking control at the initial drawing step. A better curve is obtained with a smooth fluid motion. The goal is to get the curve on the page. The curve may not be spot-on; post editing the path, probably with the Node Arrow tool, is the process to engage with precision and detail.

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 to the Quick keys keyboard palette.

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.