InDesign

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Smooth out paths

Use the Smooth tool to remove excess angles from an existing path or a section of a path. The Smooth tool retains the original shape of the path as nearly as possible. Smoothed paths generally have fewer points, which can make them easier to edit, display, and print.

Path before and after using Smooth tool

  1. Select the path.
  2. Select the Smooth tool.
    Note: If the Pencil tool is selected, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to temporarily change the Pencil to the Smooth tool.
  3. Drag the tool along the length of the path segment you want to smooth out.
  4. Continue smoothing until the stroke or path is of the desired smoothness.
  5. To change the amount of smoothing, double-click the Smooth tool and set the following options:
    Fidelity
    Controls how far your curves can stray before you have to modify the path. With lower Fidelity values, the curves will closely match the pointer’s movement, resulting in sharper angles. With higher Fidelity values, the path will ignore small pointer movements, resulting in smoother curves. The pixel value range is 0.5 to 20 pixels.

    Smoothness
    Controls the amount of smoothing applied when you use the tool. Smoothness can range from 0% to 100%; the higher the value, the smoother the path.

    Keep Selected
    (InDesign only) Determines whether to keep the path selected after you smooth it.