Bezier

Parent page: Schematic Objects

A placed Bezier curve

Summary

A Bezier curve is a non-electrical drawing primitive. It is a free-form curved line that can be placed on a schematic sheet. The curve is defined by a series of vertex points that 'pull' the line into a curved shape.

Availability

Beziers are available for placement in both Schematic and Schematic Library Editors:

• Schematic Editor - click Home | Graphical Elements |  from the main menus.
• Schematic Library Editor - click Home | Place |  from the main menus.

Placement

After launching the command, the cursor will change to a cross-hair and you will enter Bezier placement mode. Placement is made by performing the following sequence of actions:

1. Click or press Enter to anchor the starting point for the curve.
2. Move the cursor and click or press Enter to place a series of vertex points to define the curve. As you move the cursor the curve will be continually redrawn to indicate how it would look if you placed a vertex at the cursor position.
3. After placing the final vertex point, right-click or press Esc to complete placement of the curve.
4. Continue placing further Bezier curves, or right-click or press Esc to exit placement mode.

Additional actions that can be performed during placement are:

• Press the Tab key to access an associated properties dialog, from where properties for the Bezier can be changed on-the-fly.
• Press the Alt key to constrain the direction of movement to the horizontal or vertical axis, depending on the initial direction of movement.

Graphical Editing

This method of editing allows you to select a placed Bezier object directly in the workspace and change its size and/or shape graphically.

When a Bezier object is selected, the following editing handles are available:

A selected Bezier curve.

• Click and drag an editing handle to "bend" the curve.
• Click anywhere on the Bezier – away from editing handles – and drag to reposition it. While dragging, the Bezier can be rotated (Spacebar/Shift+Spacebar) or mirrored (X or Y keys to mirror along the X-axis or Y-axis respectively).

Non-Graphical Editing

The following methods of non-graphical editing are available:

Via an Associated Properties Dialog

Dialog page: Bezier

This method of editing uses the Bezier dialog to modify the properties of a Bezier object.

The Bezier dialog.

The dialog can be accessed during placement by pressing the Tab key.

After placement, the dialog can be accessed in one of the following ways:

• Double-click on the placed Bezier curve.
• Place the cursor over the Bezier curve, right-click then choose Properties from the context menu.

Via an Inspector Panel

Panel pages: SCH Inspector, SCHLIB Inspector

An Inspector panel enables you to interrogate and edit the properties of one or more design objects in the active document.

Notes

1. A Bezier object must have at least four vertices to form a curve.