How to use the Path tool in Brother Canvas Workspace

Learn how to create and edit your own shapes.

Canvas Workspace is the editing software for the Brother Scan N Cut cutting machines. It’s a user-friendly program that allows you to get amazing results without putting a lot of effort. The user experience is straightforward!

In today’s post, we are going to guide you through the Path Tool Canvas Workspace. This article is part of The Ultimate Brother Canvas Workspace Guide, our growing library of resources about Brother Canvas Workspace.

On this article:

The Path tool in Canvas Workspace
The Freehand Path tool in Canvas Workspace
Editing shapes in Canvas Workspace
How to edit the paths of shapes in Canvas Workspace

The Path tool in Canvas Workspace

You can find the path tool in the left toolbar of the Canvas Workspace interface. It’s the fifth icon in descending order, the one that is highlighted in blue on the images above.

The Path tool allows you to draw shapes with straight or curved lines. To generate those shapes, you have to trace some anchor points that you will be able to edit afterward.

The Freehand Path tool in Canvas Workspace

The Freehand Path tool allows you to draw lines directly with the mouse. This means that you’ll keep tracing a path until the mouse is released.

Editing shapes in Canvas Workspace

Once you have created a path, the result becomes a shape. This means that you can edit all the related parameters just as you would do with a pre-made form.

You can find all these parameters both in the upper toolbar and the properties panel. If you would like to learn how to scale, rotate, change the color, or modify the outline of a shape, you can check this post about getting started with Brother Canvas Workspace.

How to edit the paths of shapes in Canvas Workspace

To scale or rotate a shape, you need to click on it once (left image). To edit the path of your shape, you need to double click it (right image).

Adding and deleting points

On the upper toolbar, you’ll find the option to add or delete a point from your path. Every point you add will divide the figure into two new lines. You will be able to edit those lines by pulling the control handles that appear around the point.

Opening and closing paths

Look at the icon that is highlighted in blue on the image above. It’s called Open Path, and it allows you to break a line at a selected point. If you click on the icon at its left, called Close Path, you’ll draw that line again, so your figure will be complete.

Using control handles to modify shapes

In every point, you can find two control handles. Move them around and experiment with the different curves that they generate. If you’d like to create symmetrical changes in your shape, you can choose the Symmetrical Handles option in the upper toolbar.