Drawing arcs


    The Arc tool creates a curved line segment or a closed, wedge-like shape. There are two ways to draw with the Arc tool: you can drag to draw the arc directly on the artboard or click to specify properties in a dialog box.

To draw an arc segment by dragging:

  1. Select the Arc tool Arc tool .
  2. Click where you want the arc to begin, and drag to create an arc.
  3. You can press any of the following to get specific results as you drag:

    • Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to extend the arc from both sides of the reference point.
    • The spacebar to move the arc as you draw.
    • ` (grave accent) to create multiple arc segments as you move the mouse.
    • C to switch between an open and closed arc.
    • F to flip the arc, keeping the reference point constant.
    • The Up Arrow key or Down Arrow key to increase or decrease the arc's angle.

To draw an arc segment by specifying properties:

  1. Select the Arc tool.
  2. Click where you want to place the segment.
  3. Set any of the following options in the dialog box, and click OK:
    • Click a square on the reference point locator (reference point locator ) to determine the point from which the arc is drawn.
    • Length X-Axis to specify the length of the arc's x axis.
    • Length Y-Axis to specify the length of the arc's y axis.
    • Type to specify whether you want the object to be an open path or a closed path.
    • Base Along to specify the direction of the arc. Choose X Axis or Y Axis depending on whether you want to draw the base of the arc along the horizontal (x) axis or vertical (y) axis.
    • Slope to specify the direction of the arc's slope. Enter a negative value for a concave (inward) slope. Enter a positive value for a convex (outward) slope. A slope of 0 creates a straight line.
    • Fill Arc to fill the arc with the current fill color.

    Note: By default, the Arc Tool Options dialog box displays the dimensions of the last arc you drew. The unit of measure is determined by the unit of measure set in the Document Setup or Units & Display Performance Preferences dialog box.

To display or hide the center points:

  1. Choose Window > Attributes.
  2. In the Attributes palette, click either the Show Center button Show Center button or the Don't Show Center button Don't Show Center button .