Adding Bezier Points to Lines or Shapes

OmniGraffle OmniGraffle for Mac
#1

I have been trying to figure out how to add bezier points to a line or convert an existing control point into a bezier point but have had no success. I did find a reference on an old forum from 2008, but that functionality doesn’t appear to work in the OmniGraffle for Mac 6. Am I missing something? Any suggestions?

I have Bezier Object i need to modify it
#2

Hi @stvnrowley, the first thing to do is make sure the line you’re working with has been set to use the Bezier line type (I know this may be obvious, but better safe than sorry!). Here then is the info on how to add and edit Bezier points:

  • To add a new point on the line you’ll want to double-click on the line (you may need to hold the Option key + double-click if you’ve changed your Preferences).
  • To add handles to a point, hold the ⌘ key then click and drag on the point.
  • Drag either of the two handles to adjust both sides together, or Option-drag to adjust them one at a time.
  • Hold down Shift while editing bezier handles to constrain the handle’s angle to 45-degree increments.
  • If you drag a handle close enough to the point itself, the handle disappears entirely.
  • If a control point has Bézier handles, they appear when you select the point

Hope that helps!

1 Like
#3

Valyria, this is very helpful. thank you.

#4

I have two questions for these instructions.

  1. If you dragged a handle close enought to the point, and the handle
    disappeared, is there a way to get it back?
  2. How can you remove just one point on a line, with out removing all
    of them?
#5

Hi, @dlbower. You can drag the control-handle back out using command-drag, and you can delete a Bezier point by selecting it (it’s drawn solid instead of hollow) and pressing delete.

#6

That worked well. Thanks!

#8

Sorry to reopen a year old thread, but does this work in OmniGraffle v6.0.5? I have tried CMD+click on a shape’s existing non-bezier control point and cannot for the life of me get the red bezier handles to appear. Is there some other more rigorous way to add the trait, say through a specific menu that doesn’t involve keyboard/mouse acrobatics? Thanks!

#11

This isn’t working for me at all. I have a presentation due in a few hours and I’m 100% stuck on this. Weird thing is - this, at one time, worked for me. Honestly, this has been a re-occurring issue and I always dread having to re-learn how to make a curved line (add little handles to the line that you pull out).

so frustrated

OmniGraffle version: 7.11.5
macOS High Sierra 10.13.6

#12

Seems that if I use a mouse I can pull the handles out (I had been trying with only a trackpad).

This link helped me:
https://discourse-test.omnigroup.com/t/how-do-you-pull-out-a-bezier-control-handle/35123/3