>I sent this to the Illustrator Listserv last week and have not heard a
>reply.  Could any of you help me?
>
>Here are my questions...
>
>Has AI8 changed the way it handles the pencil tool?  I find that I cannot
>draw curved lines with my tablet without the software assuming I want
part
>of the line to be straight.  Could someone explain to me the differences
>between Fidelity, Smoothness and Keep Selected options?  And does the
Auto
>Trace option have anything to do with the Keep Selected option?
>
>TIA,
>
>Amanda
>
>
>***********************
>Amanda Ramsey
>Scientific Illustrator
>US Geological Survey
>www.usgs.gov

Amanda,

I think no one answered you because most people have given up on the
pencil
tool as a hopeless botch that needs to be fixed (I am probably showing
preduice here.)  I hardly ever use it.

I think the key feature is the "Keep Selected" option.  If this is active,
the pen tool will keep the line you just drew highlighted.  The result is
that if you draw anywhere near the line, the line is altered, no new line
is formed. Pages 66- 69 in the Illustrator 8 manual give a full
description
of the tool and preferences.  Smoothness  smooths out the path you create
(helping you create smooth curves) and fidelity will effect how closely a
line must follow the smoothed path (this probably effects sharp turns in
the line.)

I don't have a good answers as to why part of your line is straight.  I
don't use the pencil tool (only the smoothing tool in the pop out tab.)  I
tried a few curves and could not make a line that had straight segments.

Britt

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RS Information Systems
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