A or can be converted into a pattern using
Transform->Pattern. You need to specify the number of
replicates and whether or not the original path or
text-path should be displayed. For example, if you specify 4
replicates and show the original, there will be 5 versions of the
shape: the original and the 4 replicas. The following pattern types
are available:
Rotational
The replicates will be rotated around the original
shape. For example, if you specify an angle of 90° and 4
replicas, the first replicate with be created by rotating a copy of
the original by 90°, the second replicate by 180°,
the third by 270° and the fourth replicate by
360°, which will superimpose it over the original.
The point of rotation is initially set to the center of the original
shape, but can be moved to a different location when the shape is in
||. (See
Figure 8.35.)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
Figure 8.35: A rotational pattern: (a) original path; (b) the path in (a) has
a rotational pattern applied with 3 replicas, 90° angle of rotation,
with the original path visible; (c) the pattern in (b) in edit path mode:
the green control indicates the point of rotation; (d) the
point of rotation has been move to the right, changing the shape of
the pattern.
Scaled
The replicates will be scaled versions of the original
shape. There are two that govern the pattern: the
anchor, which can be freely moved, and the offset, which is
constrained to lie along the scaling axis. (See
Figure 8.36.)
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 8.36: A scaled pattern. The original path is the same as in
Figure 8.35(a): (a) the path has a
scaled pattern applied with two replicas, the horizontal scale
factor set to 2 and the vertical scale factor set to 1.5; (b)
the pattern in (a) in edit path mode: the green control is
the anchor and the cyan control is the offset; (c) the
anchor has been moved to the left.
Spiral
The replicates will be placed in a spiral around the
original with the given incremental angle. There are again two
that govern the pattern: the anchor and offset,
which can both be moved freely. (See Figure 8.37.)
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 8.37: A spiral pattern. The original path is the same as in
Figure 8.35(a): (a) the path has a
spiral pattern applied with ten replicas, the increment angle set
to 60° and a gap of 50bp; (b)
the pattern in (a) in edit path mode: the green control is
the anchor and the cyan control is the offset; (c) the
anchor has been moved down.
All patterns have two modes:
Single
the pattern is drawn as a single path (see
Figure 8.38(b)).
Multi
the original and each replicate are drawn as separate
independent shapes (see
Figure 8.38(c)).
(a)
(b)
(c)
Figure 8.38: Patterns can either be single or multi-mode: (a) original path
has a bar start marker, a triangle end-marker and a gradient fill paint;
(b) the path in (a) has
a rotational pattern applied with single mode set; (c) the
same pattern as (b) but with multi-mode.
Note that created by applying text to a pattern produce
different results to applying a pattern to a . (See
Figure 8.39.)
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
Figure 8.39: Text-path patterns: (a)
original text area and path; (b) text area and path in
(a) combined to form a text-path; (c) a scaled
pattern is applied to the text-path with 2 replicas and scale
factors 2.0 and 1.5; (d) the path in (a) has
the same scaled pattern applied; (e) the text area and
pattern in (d) have been combined to form a text-path.