I just want a straight line!

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ucogavin
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I just want a straight line!

Post by ucogavin »

Is there an easy way to just make a straight line? The only tool I see that can do that is the polyline mode tool. But I cannot get it to just give me a short straight line to save my life! It shouldn't be this difficult. It keeps jumping and giving me a bent line.
ChoccieMuffin
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Re: I just want a straight line!

Post by ChoccieMuffin »

I don't use Capture, but a common way in a drawing package to get a line to stay straight is to hold down the Shift key while moving the mouse to draw the line. Give that a go, it might do the trick. (And let us know if it does!)
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Andrew
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Re: I just want a straight line!

Post by Andrew »

Okay, so I only recently figured out how to do this myself, and I share your pain at how difficult it was to discover. To create a straight line:

- Select the Polyline Mode button.
- Click (and release!) wherever you want your line to start.
- Drag the mouse to where you want the line to end.
- Click to "pivot" the line. Now if you drag the mouse elsewhere, a new, attached line goes with it.
- If you do NOT want to create a polyline with that bend, do not move your mouse (or, move your mouse back over the end of the original line) and click again. This last click ends the line, so if you didn't create an additional segment, you have a simple straight line.

I believe Capture defaults to having an arrowhead on the end of the line -- you can turn that off by selecting the line and pressing F4 to open the Polyline Properties dialog. On the Arrows tab, set both the head and tail location to "None." That will get rid of any arrows and leave a plain line behind.
Hope that helps!
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SteveS
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Re: I just want a straight line!

Post by SteveS »

...and once you have created a straight line of the right colour and weight, without bends or arrowheads, add it to your palette. That way it will be easy to create a new line whenever you want!
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Nita Beck
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Re: I just want a straight line!

Post by Nita Beck »

An alternative to the Polyline tool is the Arrow tool. Think of a line as an arrow with no head or tail. I created a straight line by first opening the read-only Arrows palette. I selected one of the straight arrows and put it on my image. Then I opened the arrow's properties and tweaked the settings (making many of them 0) until I had a shape that was just a thin line. Looked great. I could drag it around, make it longer or shorter, make it slanted, horizontal, or vertical, change its color. I switched back to MyPalette and added the line to it.

Voila, I've got a nice line that I can manipulate any way I want.

Try it. It shouldn't be too hard to set up.
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Andrew
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Re: I just want a straight line!

Post by Andrew »

Nita Beck wrote:An alternative to the Polyline tool is the Arrow tool. Think of a line as an arrow with no head or tail. I created a straight line by first opening the read-only Arrows palette. I selected one of the straight arrows and put it on my image. Then I opened the arrow's properties and tweaked the settings (making many of them 0) until I had a shape that was just a thin line. Looked great. I could drag it around, make it longer or shorter, make it slanted, horizontal, or vertical, change its color. I switched back to MyPalette and added the line to it.

Voila, I've got a nice line that I can manipulate any way I want.

Try it. It shouldn't be too hard to set up.
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