Edit Bar controls: Mode, Use Selected Palette, Palette, Retain Bridge Positions, Leave Original, Gap Tolerance, Plus/Minus Deviation, Maximum Angle, Node Editor, Accept.
This tool allows you to smooth a path of lines and arcs or lines and Beziers, thereby decreasing the number of entities required to represent the path. The tool is useful if the geometry was generated by scanning or digitising a shape, as these operations can generate large numbers of small entities.
Before activating the tool select the entities to be converted. If you have a number of complex shapes it is often worthwhile converting them one at a time.
When you start the tool the following edit bar appears.
Mode
From the drop-down list choose one of the following:
- Arcs and lines
- Beziers and lines
This defines the entity types that will be used to make up the resulting geometry.
Use Selected Palette
Check this option to change the palette of the generated geometry to that specified in the drop-down list. Otherwise the palette of the original entities will be used.
Retain Bridge Positions
If this option is checked then the current bridge positions will persist after the smoothing operation has been completed.
Leave Original
If this option is checked then the original entities will not be deleted. Otherwise they will be replaced with the new ones.
Gap Tolerance
If there is a gap between two entities that is smaller than this tolerance then the resulting geometry will close this gap.
Plus / Minus Deviation
This is the maximum distance that the arcs or Beziers are allowed to be from the original geometry. The smaller this value the more accurate the results will be, but also more entities are likely to be generated.
Maximum Angle
This is the maximum angle between two successive entities where smoothing can still take place. Entities with a greater angle than this will be left as separate entities.
Node Editor
Press this button to enter the Node editor sub-tool. This allows intersections of geometry to be manipulated and dragged across the canvas on the fly. There will be a different edit bar whilst this sub-tool is in operation.
From the Entry Mode drop-down list select one of the following:
- Select node
- Add node
- Show all nodes
Rewind 
Press this button to undo the previous action.
Smoothing
Press this button to return to the main tool.
Accept 
Press this button to accept the changes to the nodes and continue in the Node editor sub-tool.
If a node is selected for editing or a new node is added then the Entry Mode drop-down list has the following entries:
- Add node - Pick a point to add a new node
- Break curve - Break the curve at the chosen point
- Cancel current operation - And return to Select node mode
- Cusp - Break the continuity at the current node
- Reconstruct node - Reconstruct the current node to allow for joined entities
- Select node - Make a different node current
- Show/Hide all nodes - Display or remove small square markers on each of the nodes
- Smooth - Reinstate the tangency at the current node following a cusp operation
- Symmetrical - Make all the control vectors the same length at the current node
Press Apply when you are happy with the results, to generate the new line and arc/Bezier entities.
Pan and zoom ability is available during the smoothing operation, using left-click to pan and shift left-click to zoom.