Preview.app: draw onto existing shape

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Level 1

6 points

Preview.app: draw onto existing shape

When drawing using markup tool I can not draw shapes like an "E" letter

When I draw the vertical line I can not start horizontal lines from this vertical line - when I hover over an existing line pointer turns into a hand and I can't draw

This behavior makes me struggling every time I make notes in pictures or pdfs

Is there any way to reject selecting of existing shapes when drawing?

Maybe I should keep some hotkey pressed or so...

MacBook Pro 16″, macOS 11.6

Posted on Nov 25, 2021 2:43 PM

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Answer 1

Nov 25, 2021 3:58 PM in response to d.k.Brazz

If you are entering a letter E comprised of four line segments:

Create the vertical line segment and then click out in white space to set that line segment.
From the Shapes palette, select another line segment, rotate it horizontally, and make it as long as you need for the horizontal members of the letter E. Move it into place at the bottom of the E.
1. With the horizontal member selected, copy it to the clipboard, and then paste again. It will be the same length as the original, and you just need to move it into its horizontal placement on the letter E.
2. Paste again, and finish the letter E.
Use the arrow keys to position your line segments.

Unlike a proper vector graphics tool, you cannot select all members of the shapes artwork and then group them so that it moves as a single graphic, nor can you save it in some image format.

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Answer 2

Nov 27, 2021 9:58 AM in response to d.k.Brazz

From Apple's Preview User Guide's Annotate a PDF in Preview on Mac:

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Answer 3

d.k.Brazz Author

Level 1

6 points

Nov 25, 2021 11:32 PM in response to VikingOSX

The actual question is not how to write "E" tetter in a tricky way, but how to simply draw in Preview as we do it on paper, without sticking to already drawn shapes

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Preview.app: draw onto existing shape

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