Artimic Editor

Vector paths — Pen, Nodes & Shape Builder

Draw custom curves with the Pen, reshape them with the Node editor, and combine shapes with Pathfinder and Shape Builder — fully editable vector layers, not flat pixels.

The built-in shapes (rectangle, ellipse, star, …) cover the basics, but real logos, icons, and organic forms need arbitrary outlines. The vector tools let you draw, reshape, and combine those outlines as editable path layers — never baked into pixels, always re-editable by hand or by the AI.

#Why these tools exist

Tool	Key	What it solves
Pen	`P`	Draw any outline — straight or curved — that the preset shapes can't express (custom logos, icons, speech ribbons, leaves).
Nodes	`N`	Reshape an existing path: move/select its anchor points so a path is editable, not a frozen blob. Also moves a whole path.
Pathfinder	—	Combine 2+ selected shapes/paths into one with Unite / Subtract / Intersect / Exclude — the precise, button-driven booleans.
Shape Builder	`U`	Drag across overlapping shapes to merge them (Alt-drag to subtract) — the fast, gestural way to build a silhouette.

The big idea: complex artwork is built by combining simple shapes and refining the result. Pen + Nodes author and edit outlines; Pathfinder + Shape Builder fuse them. Every result is a normal layer you can recolor, restyle, move, and re-combine.

#Pen — draw a path

Pick the Pen (P) and click on the canvas:

Click drops a corner anchor (straight segment to the previous point).
Click-and-drag drops a smooth anchor and pulls out bézier control handles — the drag direction and length set the curve's tangent (exactly like Photoshop / Illustrator).
Click the first anchor again to close the shape and finish it.
Press Enter (or double-click) to finish as an open path — a stroked line/curve that isn't closed (great for signatures, connectors, underlines, organic strokes).
Switch tools (or press another tool key) to abandon an in-progress path.

A live preview follows your cursor so you can see the outline forming. The finished path lands as a new Path layer in the Layers panel — closed paths use the current fill/stroke; open paths are stroked (give them a stroke colour in the Path panel so they show on a light canvas).

Mix freely: some anchors corner, some curved. A rounded blob is just four dragged anchors; a cut diamond is four clicks.

#Nodes — reshape a path

Pick the Node editor (N), then:

Click a path to select it — its anchors appear as amber squares; the currently-selected anchor turns green.
Drag an anchor to reshape; curves are preserved (the control handles move with the anchor).
Drag a handle (the blue dots on the tangent lines) to bend the curve. By default the opposite handle mirrors for a smooth point; hold Alt while dragging to break the tangent and move one side independently (a cusp).
Double-click a segment to add an anchor there (the curve is split without changing its shape).
Select an anchor and press Delete (or Backspace) to remove it.
Drag the body (away from an anchor) to move the whole path.
Shift / Ctrl-click another path to add it to the selection (so Pathfinder can act on several at once).

Handle editing, add/delete anchor, and the green selected-anchor highlight apply to single-outline paths. Compound results (holes, from Subtract/Exclude) stay move-only.

Select 2 or more shapes or paths, and the Pathfinder bar appears above the canvas:

Operation	Result
Unite	One shape covering the whole combined area.
Subtract	The front shape minus the ones behind it.
Intersect	Only the region where they overlap.
Exclude	Everything except the overlap (makes holes).

Select shapes with the Select tool, paths with the Node tool (Shift-click to add). The inputs are replaced by one new path layer that inherits the front layer's style.

#Shape Builder — combine by dragging

Pick Shape Builder (U) and drag a stroke across the overlapping shapes you want to fuse:

The shapes you pass over highlight as you drag.
Release to unite them into one path.
Hold Alt while dragging to subtract instead.

This is the quickest way to carve a custom silhouette out of a few overlapping primitives — drag through the parts you want, let go, done. It works on both shape layers and pen paths, and is the easiest way to combine a shape together with a path.

#Styling paths

With the Pen or Node tool active, the Path panel appears on the right:

No path selected → it sets the defaults for the next pen stroke (pick your fill colour before you draw).
A path selected (click it with the Node tool) → it restyles that path live.

Controls: fill type (None / Solid / Linear / Radial), solid colour with an eyedropper to sample any pixel, a multi-stop gradient editor (add / drag / recolour stops) plus angle for linear, fill rule (Solid vs Holes — even-odd, so overlaps cut through), and stroke (on/off, colour, width). For drop shadows, glow, or an outline effect, use the Effects controls in the Layers panel. A boolean result inherits the front input's style, so you can also style your source shapes first and let the merge carry it.

Paths behave like any other layer: duplicate (Ctrl/Cmd+D), copy/paste (Ctrl/Cmd+C / V), reorder, group, align, and undo/redo all work on them.

#Good to know

Both shapes and pen paths can feed Pathfinder and Shape Builder — shapes are converted to editable paths automatically.
Boolean results are themselves editable paths: recolor them, run another boolean, or (for single-outline results) tweak their nodes.
Holes (from Subtract/Exclude) render correctly; these compound results are move-only — anchor/handle editing applies to single-outline paths.
Pen paths can be closed (filled) or open (stroked) — press Enter or double-click to finish an open one.
Everything here is fully non-destructive and saved inside your .img project, so paths survive save/reload and undo/redo.