Smoothing an "S" Curve

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Bhikkhu Pesala
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Smoothing an "S" Curve

Post by Bhikkhu Pesala »

I found that an "S" curve only needs five nodes, not eleven as there are in this "S" from a cheap clone of Centurion.

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Stage 1
First, select in turn each of two suitable on-curve points between the on-curve extreme points of the "S" curve and use the "G" shortcut to add a pair of orthogonal guidelines passing through the nodes.

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Stage 2
Next add an on-curve point roughly in the centre of the "S" curve between two off-curve nodes by presing the "A" shortcut.

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Stage 3
Now you can delete all the unnecessary nodes, that is all except these five.

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Stage 4
Use the cursor keys to move the two off curve points so that the "S" curve again intersects the guideline intersections. It is easier if you turn off "Fill Outlines" from the Grid toolbar.

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Stage 5
The final adjustments can be made by using "Zoom to selected" on the Drawing toolbar to zoom to the selected off-curve point. Then hold down the control key and use the cursor key to move the node by single funits until the intersection of the "S" curve with the guidelines is as precise as possible.

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Stage 6

Double-click the ruler to clear the guidelines, then repeat for the other side of the "S" curve, and you're done.

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All I want now is an option to do that automatically :D
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