Working with Control Points

Select a markup to reveal its control points. Click and drag a control point to move it. The line segments connected to the control point will automatically resize to reach the repositioned control point.

Different control points react in different ways when moved. Some markups, like rectangles and ellipses, can be scaled up and down or stretched, but their basic geometric properties cannot be changed (for example, a rectangle cannot have just one corner moved, as that would result in it becoming a polygon). To scale one of these markups up or down, click and drag one of the corner control points. To stretch one of them, click and drag one of the edge control points.

Other markups, like polygons and clouds, can have an irregular shape and are contained in a bounding box, which has its own control points. To scale one of these markups up or down, click and drag a bounding box control point. To move one of the markup's control points, and thus change the basic shape of the markup, click and drag one of its control points.

It is also worth pointing out that while it is recommended that you select a markup to reveal all its control points before moving one, it is not required. When the mouse pointer hovers over a markup's control point (but not a bounding box's control points), the pointer itself changes and that control point is shown; it can be clicked and dragged to the appropriate effect. Doing so selects the markup automatically, revealing the other control points.

If the mouse pointer changes but control point is not shown, clicking and dragging will move the entire markup without changing its shape.

Use any of the following methods to add a control point to a markup:

• CTRL-click on the desired location of the new control point and go to Control Point > Add Control Point.
• Hold down SHIFT and click on a line of the markup.

Use any of the following methods to remove or subtract a control point:

• CTRL-click on the desired control point and go to Control Point > Subtract Control Point.
• Hold down SHIFT and click on the desired control point.

Lines at acute and obtuse (but not right or straight) angles can be converted into arcs. To do so:

• To convert by control point, CTRL-click on the control point and select Convert to Arc. The first line connected to the control point will be converted to an arc.
• To convert by line, CTRL-click on the line and select Convert to Arc.