Setting Path Direction

Setting Path Direction

As you create paths, the path direction comes from the order that you create the anchor points. The first point you create is considered the start of the path and the last point the end. E 10510d311k ven closed paths such as the rectangles and ellipses that FreeHand creates have a direction. Ordinarily it doesn't make too much difference what direction is applied to a path. However, there are sometimes when the path direction does matter.

To change the direction of a path:

Select the path you want to change.

Choose Modify > Alter Path > Reverse Direction.

or

Choose Xtras > Cleanup > Reverse Direction.

TIP

The Reverse Direction command is obvious when applied to paths that are part of a blend (see Chapter 17 Blends or applied to the path that has text attached to a path (see Chapter 20 Text Effects

Figure 7. When objects with the same direction are blended (on the left), the blend is smooth. When the direction of the top object (on the right) is reversed, the shape of the blend changes.

Figure 8. The text on a path (top) is positioned on the top of the path and flows to the right. When the direction of the path is reversed (bottom), the text changes position and flows to the left.