Table of Contents - Serif

Working with Objects 115
Cutting with a freeform or straight line is possible by drawing the line across the
object (or by sweeping the knife cut in and out of the object multiple times in a
zig-zag pattern). By hovering over resulting "split" fragments you can click an
unwanted fragment to delete. Alternatively, you can deselect the Knife Tool to
move the cut fragments apart (see carrot illustration).
Up to now you may have only performed straight cuts, but you can use the Knife
Tool's context toolbar to cut with more sophisticated "shaped" cutting profiles
(e.g., Wavy, Shark Fin, Bump, plus many more) or preset knife paths (cookie
cutters) based on QuickShapes. The context toolbar is also used to modify any
applied cutting profile.
To cut selected objects (freeform or straight line):
Ensure Edit All Layers button on the Layers tab is enabled if you
want to cut through selected objects on multiple layers.
1. Select the Knife Tool on the Drawing toolbar's Vector
Edit flyout.
2. (Optional) Use Smoothness on the tool's context toolbar to set how
regular the freeform cutting line is—click the right arrow and drag the
slider right for increasing smoothness.
3. (Optional) By default, you'll get a straight cutting profile, but for
regular-shaped cuts, pick a Cutting Profile from the context toolbar.
If required, adjust the Wavelength and/or Amplitude for your shaped
cut.