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Nodes, Tangent Points, or Anchor Points

By Sue Chastain, About.com

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All About Nodes

Path with 8 Nodes

This path has eight nodes.

What are Nodes?

Nodes are points through which a path passes. Nodes appear along a path at every point where the path changes direction, and at the beginning and end of a path. In some software, nodes may be called anchor points or tangent points. Nodes can be manipulated to change the shape of a path. When a node is selected, its control handles are displayed.

There are several types of nodes. Smooth and corner nodes are the two primary node types and all others are variations of these, provided by different software programs for convenience in editing. In graphics software, a node may also be referred to as a point or anchor point. The following pages will show and describe the different types of nodes you will encounter in graphics software.

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