Tips for drawing polygons, spirals, and stars

You can control the shapes of polygons, spirals, and stars by pressing certain keys as you draw the shapes. As you drag the polygon, spiral, or star tool, choose any of the following options to control the shape:

  • To add or subtract sides on a polygon, points on a star, or number of segments on a spiral, press the Up Arrow key or the Down Arrow key before releasing the mouse button. The tool remains set to the last value you specified until you reset the number.

  • To rotate the shape, move the mouse in an arc.

  • To keep a side or point at the top, hold down Shift.

  • To keep the inner radius constant, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS).

  • To move a shape as you draw it, hold down the spacebar. (This also ...

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