Anatomy of a path

Paths and shapes (such as rectangles and ellipses) are always made up of a sequence of curved and straight segments. Expression Design offers two different types of paths: Bezier curves and B-spline curves.

Bezier ("beh-zee-ay") curves describe a path by a combination of points along the path (called nodes) and control handles. Each node can be a corner or a curve point, and each control handle describes the line's tangent at the node. Most drawing applications use only Bezier curves to define paths.

A path made completely of Bezier curves. Note the point (1) and control handle (2).

B-spline curves describe a path using a series of nodes that usually lie off the path itself. Each node defines the general direction that the curve should travel. While this sounds more complex, B-spline curves are typically easier to control, produce smoother curves, and are easier to master. B-spline curves are widely used in 3D modeling software. Nodes on a B-spline curve can also be either curve or corner points (the curve always travels through a corner node).

A path made completely of B-spline curves

Paths are usually built entirely from one type of curve or the other, but you can also mix the two curve types together by joining or appending two paths, or with the Convert Anchor Point tool.

A B-spline path with a brush stroke applied to it

Closed paths

Paths can be open-ended (such as a simple line) or closed (such as rectangles or circles). You can close an open path, join two open paths together, or split a closed path so it becomes open. When you fill an open path or use it as a clipping mask in a clipping mask group, Expression Design uses an imaginary (and invisible) straight line from the paths starting and ending nodes to create the fill area.

You can also build a path from multiple sub-paths. For more information on this kind of path, see Compound Paths.

Path direction

Each path has a starting node and an ending node, though in a closed path, these two might be the same point. The end node is marked with a small arrowhead when you select the object. When you stroke a path, Expression Design applies the stroke in the direction of the path. You can reverse the path direction, or, in the case of closed paths, change the starting node.

Creating paths

Microsoft Expression Design has four different path-drawing tools:

You can also use these tools for quickly creating predefined shapes:

You can also create paths in the shape of text characters with the Convert Object to Path command.