Vector Layers: Draw Mode

The Draw mode for vector layers is essentially a 2D drawing program. You can draw lines and curves, reshape existing curves, and manipulate objects in various ways. There are a couple ways that Moho differs from other drawing programs. First, everything you draw in Moho is a set of points and curves. In many programs, when you draw a circle, you get a circle object, or you may type some text to create a text object. In Moho, once you've created the circle or the text, there's no difference between them whatsoever - they're both collections of curves. One happens to be in the shape of a circle, and the other in the shape of some text.

There are advantages in treating all objects the same: first, you never have to worry about what type of object you're working with - the answer is always the same: a set of points and curves. The other advantage is that any operation you can perform on hand-drawn curves can be performed on text, or a circle, or whatever.

The other feature of Moho's drawing mode that is different from many other drawing programs is the concept of "welding". In Moho, two points can be "welded" together into a single point. In fact, any number of points can be welded together. When points are welded together, moving one of them moves them all, along with any curves that pass through that point. This is particularly useful when you start to animate objects. For example, if you want to move a character's nose, then welding it to the face might not be a bad idea. That way, however you distort the nose or the face, they'll always stay connected.

Drawing Tools

The following tools are available when you're working in Draw mode. They all live in the toolbar at the left of the main window. All of these tools are used by selecting them from the toolbar then clicking and dragging in the working area of the main window. If you hold the mouse over a tool, a tooltip will appear with the name of the tool if you need a quick reminder. Also, some tools have a shortcut key that can be used to activate them. If a tool has such a shortcut, this will show up in the tooltip as well (or you can check the keyboard shortcut appendix).

Select Points
Many of the following tools work only on the currently selected points. This is the tool you use to select/de-select points. This tool can be used in a few different ways. The most basic way to select points is to drag a rectangle around them. Also, using this tool you can click on a single point to select it. The third method of selection is to click on a curve to select the entire object. Finally, clicking on a filled-in area will also select an entire object. Each of these selection methods is illustrated below:

Modifier keys: By holding the <shift> key, you can extend a selection. Otherwise, you will always start a new selection when using this tool. Holding the <alt> key will prevent this tool from selecting curves or shapes when you click on them (sometimes when things get crowded it's hard not to click on a shape by accident).

The behavior of the selection tool can be modified in the Moho preferences dialog. If you want to only use the selection rectangle, and none of the other selection methods described above, go to the preferences dialog and un-check "Curve and shape selection".

The selection commands in the Edit menu are also very useful for managing selections. These are described in the Menu reference.

The currently selected points may be deleted by pressing the <delete> or <backspace> keys.

Translate
The Translate tool is used to move a group of selected points. It operates only on the currently selected points, unless fewer than two points are selected - then it operates on the nearest point to where you clicked.

It's important to note that this tool, like most of the Moho drawing tools, modifies points, not curves. If you select all the points in an object and use this tool, the entire object will move. However, if you only select some of the points, then you'll end up distorting the object (which can be very useful). In the picture below, the selected points are highlighted in red. Notice the effect of using the Translate tool on these points.

Holding the <shift> key while using the Translate tool will constrain the selected points to only move vertically or horizontally.

The Translate tool can also be used in conjunction with Moho's welding feature. To weld two points together, use the Translate tool to drag one point on top of another (you must drag just one point to weld, not a group of points). While dragging the first point on top of the second, press the spacebar to weld them together into one point. Be sure to press the spacebar before letting go of the mouse button.

Scale
The Scale tool also operates on the currently selected group of points. Two or more points must be selected to use this tool. Click near the outer boundary of the selected group of points. Then, drag toward the center to make the selection smaller, or drag outwards to make it larger. Holding the <shift> key while using the Scale tool will tell Moho to resize the selection by the same amount horizontally and vertically (if you drag in a diagonal direction), or to resize the selection in only the horizontal or vertical direction (if you drag the mouse horizontally or vertically).

Rotate
The Rotate tool also operates on the currently selected group of points. Two or more points must be selected to use this tool. Click near the outer boundary of the selected group of points. Next, drag the mouse in a circle around the selection to rotate the points. Holding the <shift> key while using the Rotate tool will constrain the rotation to 45 degree increments.

Add Point
The Add Point tool is what you use to draw curves in Moho. Just click and drag in the working area of the main window to create a new curve segment. There are three variations to using the Add Point tool - they differ in where the original click takes place. The first way to use this tool is to click in empty space and drag - this will start a new curve. The second technique is to click just past the end of an existing curve to add another segment to that curve. The final way to add points is to click on a curve segment to add a point there, then drag it to the final desired position. Each of these uses of the Add Point tool is shown below.

The Add Point tool can also be used to weld two points. Click and drag in one of the ways described above to add a new point. Drag the new point on top of an existing point, and press the spacebar before releasing the mouse. An example is shown below:

Delete Edge
It's easy to delete points - just select them and press backspace or delete. However, sometimes you may want keep two points, but break the curve connecting them. To do this, use the Delete Edge tool. Just use it to click on the curve segment you want to delete and it will disappear.

Rectangle
The Rectangle tool is a shortcut for creating a rectangular shape. Just click and drag to draw a rectangle. Hold the <shift> key to constrain the shape to a square. Hold the <alt> key to make the click point the center of the rectangle, instead of one of its corners. There's nothing special about rectangles created with this tool - they're just four points and four curve segments and can be manipulated just like anything else. You could create the same shape with the Add Point tool, but for a simple rectangle, this tool is quicker.

Oval
The Oval tool is a shortcut for creating an oval shape. Just click and drag to draw an oval. Hold the <shift> key to constrain the shape to a circle. Hold the <alt> key to make the click point the center of the circle. There's nothing special about ovals created with this tool - they're just four points and four curve segments and can be manipulated just like anything else. You could create the same shape with the Add Point tool, but for a simple oval, this tool is quicker.

Curvature
This tool works on the currently selected points, or on the nearest point if less than two points are selected. It adjusts the level of smoothness of the curves passing through the selected points. Drag to the left to make the curves less smooth, and drag to the right to make the curves rounder.

Noise
The Noise tool works on a group of selected points. Click and drag to move the points around in random directions. This tool can be used for example when you want to duplicate an object using Copy and Paste, but you don't want the new object to look exactly like the original. Just use this tool to distort it a little bit.

Horizontal Shear
This tool works on a group of two or more selected points. Click and drag to shear, or slant the group of points to the left or right.

Vertical Shear
The Vertical Shear tool works exactly like the Horizontal Shear tool, except that it slants a selected group of points vertically instead of horizontally.

Freehand Drawing
The Freehand tool lets you draw complex shapes by just dragging the mouse around. You can adjust the sensitivity of the Freehand tool at the bottom of the Draw mode toolbar. After using the Freehand tool, you will often want to go back and use the Translate tool to modify the result, delete unnecessary points, and weld points together.

Move Layer
Use this tool to move the entire layer. It doesn't matter what points are selected - everything in the layer will move when you use this tool. Holding the <shift> key while using the Move Layer tool will constrain the layer to only move vertically or horizontally.

Scale Layer
Use this tool to resize the entire layer. Holding the <shift> key while using the Scale Layer tool will tell Moho to resize the layer by the same amount horizontally and vertically (if you drag in a diagonal direction), or to resize the selection in only the horizontal or vertical direction (if you drag the mouse horizontally or vertically).

Rotate Layer
Use this tool to rotate the entire layer. Holding the <shift> key while using the Rotate Layer tool will constrain the rotation to 45 degree increments.

Set Layer Origin
Click anywhere in the layer to set the origin to that point. The origin of a layer is indicated by the crosshair displayed when editing that layer. The origin is the point that the layer rotates around when using the Rotate Layer tool, and is also the point that the layer resizes around when using the Scale Layer tool.

Drawing Modifiers

The following buttons appear in the toolbar as well, but work a little differently. Instead of selecting one of these to use in the working area, just click one of these buttons to modify the currently selected points.

Peak
Click this button to turn smooth curves into sharp corners. It affects all curves that pass through currently selected points. At these selected points, the curves will change from smoothly bending to sharp corners. (The Rectangle tool, for example, creates curves with this setting turned on.)

Smooth
This button has the opposite effect of the Peak button above. It converts sharp corners into smooth curves.

Horizontal Flip
Click this button to flip a selected group of points horizontally.

Vertical Flip
Click this button to flip a selected group of points vertically.

Working with Text

To create a text object, just choose the Draw->Insert Text... menu command. Type in the text you want, select a font, and click OK. The text will appear in your document, pre-filled with plain black color, and it can be resized and positioned just like any other object.

Remember: there's nothing special about a text object. It can be manipulated just like anything else. This includes using any of the drawing tools to distort its shape, or to add new points in the middle of a character. This also means that in order to move or rotate a text object, you need to select all the points in the object. This is easy to do using the Select Points tool - just click on the filled in area of the text to select all of it.