Using the Spiral Tool

Using the Spiral Tool

FreeHand's Spiral tool provides you with more than enough options for creating all sorts of spirals.

To set the Spiral tool mode:

Double-click the Spiral tool i 323k1011d n the Tools panel or Xtra Tools toolbar . This opens the Spiral dialog box

Figure 33. The Spiral tool in the Tools panel.

Figure 34. The Spiral dialog box.

Choose between the Non-expanding and Expanding type.

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An Expanding spiral opens up as it moves out from the center. Non-expanding spirals are evenly spaced.

If you choose Expanding, use the slider or enter a number in the Expansion field. The higher the number, the greater the expansion rate

Figure 35. A comparison of two spirals drawn with different expansion rates.

Choose one of the following from the Draw by list:

o        Rotations lets you specify the Number of rotations in your spiral.

o        Increments lets you specify the amount of space between the curls in non-expanding spirals or the starting radius for expanding spirals.

Choose one of the following from the Draw from list:

o        Center starts at the center of the spiral.

o        Edge starts from the edge of the spiral.

o        Corner starts from the corner of the bounding box that holds the spiral

Figure 36. Spirals drawn from the Center (left), the Edge (middle), and the Corner (right). The dashed lines show the length and direction of the drags.

Click one of the Direction icons to choose either a counterclockwise or a clockwise spiral.

Click OK to implement your settings.

To create a spiral:

Drag with the Spiral tool to create the spiral on the page.