Freehand Tool
Click and hold to start drawing, move the cursor to trace your shape, release to finish.
Freehand ToolThe Freehand tool captures your cursor movement as a path, making it the fastest way to sketch irregular, organic shapes that would take too long to build point by point. It is ideal for natural pond edges, meandering planting borders, stream beds, and quick conceptual annotations. A built-in Smoothing slider cleans up the raw stroke after you release, and an Auto-close option lets the tool seal the shape automatically when you finish near the start point.
Auto-close
Toggle the Auto-close switch to automatically close the path when you release near the starting point. When Auto-close is enabled, a Close threshold slider appears showing the distance (in the current unit system) within which the path snaps closed.
Tool panel fields
Shows: point count (read-only) and total length (read-only) of the resulting path.
Configure Auto-close if drawing a filled shape
If you want to draw a closed, fillable shape — such as a planting area or pond outline — turn on the Auto-close switch. A Close threshold slider appears beneath it, controlling how close (in your current units) your cursor must be to the start point when you release for the path to snap closed automatically. Increase the threshold if you find it hard to hit the exact start position.
Draw the stroke
Click and hold on the canvas to begin the stroke, then drag your cursor to trace the desired shape. The path follows your movement in real time. Release the mouse button to finish. The sidebar updates the read-only Point Count and Total Length fields to reflect the captured stroke.
Review the smoothed result
After releasing, the smoothing is applied immediately and the path is placed on the canvas. If the result has too many nodes or is too simplified, press Ctrl+Z to undo and redraw with a different Smoothing value. The read-only Point Count in the sidebar gives you a quick signal — a very high count means low smoothing captured many micro-movements.
Apply to commit the shape
Click Apply in the tool sidebar to commit the freehand path as a drawing entity. The new shape appears in the Layers panel under its name. You can then assign a surface style, fill, or contour using the Style inspector, or edit individual nodes by switching to the Path Edit tool.
Use freehand at 80–100% smoothing for natural planting borders and pond edges — it produces the organic, flowing curves that are hard to replicate with geometric tools. For client consultations, use it at low smoothing as a quick mark-up tool to highlight areas for discussion, then refine later with the Bezier or Path Edit tools.
The Freehand tool captures raw cursor movement, so the quality of the stroke depends on how steadily you draw. If you are on a trackpad or using a mouse on an uneven surface, higher smoothing values compensate for hand tremor and produce cleaner paths.
Keyboard Shortcuts
| Key | Action |
|---|---|
| Escape | Cancel drawing |
Frequently Asked Questions
My freehand path has hundreds of nodes and is slow to edit — how do I reduce them?
Increase the Smoothing slider before drawing your next stroke — higher smoothing collapses nearby points into smooth curves, dramatically reducing node count. If the path is already placed, undo with Ctrl+Z and redraw with higher smoothing. Alternatively, switch to the Path Edit tool and use its Simplify option to reduce nodes on an existing path.
The path won't close even though I finished near the start — what's wrong?
Auto-close only triggers when you release within the Close threshold distance of the start point. Make sure the Auto-close switch is turned on, then increase the threshold value so a slightly imprecise release still snaps closed. You can also close the path after placing it by selecting the end node in the Path Edit tool and joining it to the start node.
Can I fill a freehand shape with a surface style or color?
Yes — the shape must be closed first. Use Auto-close while drawing or close it in the Path Edit tool, then select the shape and open the Style inspector. A closed freehand path supports the same surface fills, photoreal material, and contour styles as any other closed polygon in the drawing.
How is the Freehand tool different from the Bezier or Polyline tools?
The Freehand tool captures continuous cursor movement — you draw the shape in one gesture rather than clicking to place individual points. It is faster for loose, organic outlines but gives you less precise control over individual node positions. For shapes that need exact curves or specific node placement, use the Bezier tool. For straight-segment polygons, use the Polyline or Polygon tool.
Can I edit the path after applying it?
Yes. Select the freehand shape on the canvas and switch to the Path Edit tool to add, remove, or move individual nodes and adjust curve handles. The smoothed path is stored as a standard Bezier path internally, so all path editing capabilities apply.