From the course: Illustrator CS5 One-on-One: Fundamentals

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The anatomy of a path

The anatomy of a path - Illustrator Tutorial

From the course: Illustrator CS5 One-on-One: Fundamentals

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The anatomy of a path

When introducing folks to vector- based drawing, I tend to speak in terms of lines and shapes. Whether it's straight or curving, a line begins at one point and ends at another. A shape on the other hand is continuous. It might be a circle or a star or entirely free-form, but the outline goes around and around without beginning or end. And typically, you fill the shape with color. Adobe calls both lines and shapes paths. The outline follows the path from one point to another. What I call a line is an open path with an endpoint at either side. What I call a shape is a closed path in which each point connects with its neighbors. The color inside the path is the fill, the outline along the path is the stroke. In this chapter, I'll show you how to draw a variety of closed paths using the geometric shape tools. These include the Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, and Star tools. At first, they may seem self-evident. I mean, who needs help drawing a rectangle? But as with…

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