Lets play with circles now. There are three different tools that create circles with different inputs:
  • Circle center and one point on the circle,
  • Circle center and radius equal to the distance between two given points,
  • Circle center and radius (numerical value) fixed by the user.

In this tutorial you will use only the first  (center + point) tool.  You will also move around on the screen, and zoom in / out.

 

Select the (Center + point) tool by clicking on the icon or typing "c". Create a circle by clicking first at the center, then at the location of a point on the circle.

Try to duplicate the given design. To see how it works, select the Move tool (or type "m"), and move one of the highlighted points. Then follow these steps:

  • First create a fairly small circle near the middle of the construction window. Right click on the circle's center to open the "Edit Point" dialog. Name the center "C", and select the "Show object name" icon (second icon in the second-to-last row). Similarly, name the point on the circle "A", and cause the name to display.
  • Create a circle with center A that contains C.
  • The circles you have created have two intersections.  Continuing with the Circle tool, click on one of the intersections (note that both circles will highlight when your mouse is in the right position). Then create a circle that passes through C. Do the same with the other intersection
  • Continue in this manner until the design is finished.

Move the window left, right, up, or down by using the Arrow keys on the keyboard. Zoom in or out by typing '+' or '-', or by using the mouse wheel.

Experiment! The circles in the design have many intersections that are not marked by points. Create circles centered at these points that pass through points you've already created. See if you can extend the design: there are several different ways to do so.

If you got lost, have a look on this page.

This ends our first tutorial!