<p class="Paragraph">You will find the tools for drawing special shapes in the <span class="T1">Curves</span> floating toolbar. Drag the floating toolbar away from the Main toolbar into an empty drawing or presentation document.</p>
<p class="Paragraph">Select the <span class="T1">Curve</span> icon. The cursor appears as a cross-hair symbol with an accompanying symbol that indicates the new function.</p>
<p class="Paragraph">You can now create a curve with the mouse. The point where you first click the mouse button determines the starting point. The direction in which the point where you release the mouse button lies, defines the direction the curve takes from the starting point. Now, move the mouse without holding the button down - the curve will follow the movement of the mouse - and click where the second point of the curve should be.</p>
<p class="Paragraph">If you keep holding down the mouse button, you can define the direction of the curve from the second point to the next point (just as you did from the starting point), release the mouse and move to the third point, click again and keep the mouse button pressed, and so on.</p>
<p class="Paragraph"><help:key-word value="corner points; drawing" tag="kw68113_2" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"/>But when you release the mouse button after clicking on the second point of the curve, and then click on another point in the slide, the second point is defined as a corner point. At a corner point, the curve abruptly changes direction, thus forming a corner. If you also define point three as a corner point in this way, you will obtain a straight section between points two and three.</p>
<p class="Paragraph">When you hold down the Shift key, the directions will be limited to multiples of 45 degrees. When you hold down the <help:switch select="System" xmlns:help="http://openoffice.org/2000/help"><help:case select="MAC">Option</help:case><help:default>Alt</help:default></help:switch> key, the curve closes, and you can draw an additional curve, which you can combine with the first one to form a single object.</p>
<p class="Paragraph">To precisely link two points within a drawing using lines, click the Line icon on the main toolbar and also activate the option bar via <span class="T1">View - Toolbars - Option Bar</span>. Select the <span class="T1">Snap to Object Points</span> icon on this toolbar.</p>