How to Offset Path

Logo Desigern Pro can expand and contract shapes not only by scaling, but also by offsetting an object's path, i.e. by displacing it perpendicular to the path in each point. The corresponding commands are called Inset and Outset.

1Find Toolbar Buttons

When the Logo Designer Pro program is opened, click the "Path" tabbed item on the Main Ribbon Bar to switch to this category. Then find the "Offset Path" sub-category on the panel. you will find the toolbar buttons. As shown below.

2Select the Objects

Use the Selection Tool to select one or more objects to be offset paths.

3Click Toolbar Button or Press Shortcut Keys

To help logo designers use these functions more conveniently, Logo Designer Pro provides shortcut keys for these functions. As shown in the table below.

Inset	Outset	Dynamic Offset	Simplify
Ctrl + Shift + I	Ctrl + Shift + O	Ctrl + Shift + J	Ctrl + L

• Inset: Inset selected path Objects.
• Outset: Outset selected path Objects.

The plain Inset and Outset commands produce paths (converting the original object to path if it's not a path yet).

Original Path	Inset Path	Outset Path

• Dynamic Offset: Create a dynamic offset object. Often, more convenient is the Dynamic Offset which creates an object with a draggable handle (similar to a shape's handle) controlling the offset distance.

Such a dynamic offset object remembers the original path, so it does not “degrade” when you change the offset distance again and again. When you don't need it to be adjustable anymore, you can always convert an offset object back to path.

• Linked Offset: Create a dynamic offset object linked to the original path. Still more convenient is a linked offset, which is similar to the dynamic variety but is connected to another path which remains editable. You can have any number of linked offsets for one source path. Below, the source path is green, one offset linked to it has red fill, the other has blue fill.

Select the green object and node-edit it; watch how both linked offsets respond. Now select any of the offsets and drag its handle to adjust the offset radius. Finally, note how you can move or transform the offset objects independently without losing their connection with the source.

• Simplify: Simplify selected paths (remove extra nodes).The main use of the Simplify command is reducing the number of nodes on a path while almost preserving its shape. This may be useful for paths created by the Freehand Tool, since that tool sometimes creates more nodes than necessary. Below, the left shape is as created by the Freehand Tool, and the right one is a copy that was simplified. The original path has 28 nodes, while the simplified one has 17 (which means it is much easier to work with in node tool) and is smoother.

The amount of simplification (called the threshold) depends on the size of the selection. Therefore, if you select a path along with some larger object, it will be simplified more aggressively than if you select that path alone. Moreover, the Simplify command is accelerated. This means that if you press Ctrl + L several times in quick succession (so that the calls are within 0.5 sec from each other), the threshold is increased on each call. (If you do another Simplify after a pause, the threshold is back to its default value.) By making use of the acceleration, it is easy to apply the exact amount of simplification you need for each case.

• Reverse: Reverse the direction of selected paths (useful for flipping markers).