Vector tools
Underneath every shape and every brush stroke in Formo is the same foundation: a vector network, not the closed-path model most drawing tools default to. This is where you reach that network directly — for the moments a shape tool or a freehand stroke won't get you exactly what you need.
Vector networks — why any point can connect to any other point
Most vector tools model a drawing as a set of closed paths: self-contained loops of points, each one its own separate object even when three lines are meant to meet at a single shared corner. Formo's vector network works differently: any point can connect directly to any other point, and a single shared vertex can be the meeting place for three, four, or more lines at once, joined rather than just overlapping.
Why this matters in practice. Draw three lines that should all meet at one corner in a closed-path tool, and you get three separate endpoints sitting on top of each other. Nudge one later, and the other two don't follow, leaving a visible gap you have to notice and fix by hand. In Formo's network, that shared point is one vertex; move it, and every line connected to it moves with it, because they were never separate to begin with.
Two-sided fills. Because a segment in the network isn't locked into belonging to one closed loop, the same edge can carry a different fill on each of its two sides. Draw a line through an existing shape, and Formo reads it as a cut, splitting the region into two independently fillable pieces that share that new edge, rather than requiring you to manually rebuild two separate closed paths.
This is the substrate the pen tool, the shape tools, and even brush strokes all ultimately sit on top of; everything below in this article is really just different ways of reaching into the same underlying network.
The pen tool: points, curves, and handles
The pen tool gives you direct, precise access to the vector network: placing exact points and curves by hand, the same tool you'd reach for in any serious vector editor.
Activating it. Select the Pen tool from the toolbar in Prototyping mode, or press P.
Placing a sharp point. Click once. No drag, no curve handles — just a straight corner, the path continuing in a straight line to wherever you click next.
Placing a curved point. Click and drag instead of just clicking. Dragging out from a point pulls a pair of symmetric tangent handles from it, curving the path smoothly through that point on both the incoming and outgoing sides, a mirrored pair by default, so the curve stays smooth through the vertex rather than kinking.
Breaking the symmetry. Hold Alt while dragging a point's handle, and the tangent breaks into two independent sides instead of a mirrored pair, letting the curve arrive smoothly from one direction and leave sharply (or at a completely different angle) on the other. This is what a "corner point with one curved side" actually is under the hood.
Closing a path. Click back on the path's own starting point to close the loop. The path becomes a closed shape rather than an open line.
Finishing without closing. Press Enter to end the current path as an open path and drop directly into point-editing mode on what you just drew. Press Escape once to finish the current path but stay in the Pen tool, ready to start a fresh one; press Escape a second time to leave the Pen tool entirely and return to the Pointer.
Selecting and editing multiple points at once
Once you're editing a path's points directly, you're rarely working on just one at a time.
Marquee selection. Click and drag across empty space near your path to draw a selection box: every point inside it gets selected together, the same marquee convention used for selecting whole objects elsewhere in Formo.
Adding to a selection. Shift-click an individual point to add it to whatever's already selected, or to remove it if it was already part of the selection, the same additive/toggle convention used throughout the editor.
Moving several points together. With multiple points selected, drag any one of them, and the whole selected group moves together, preserving their relative positions to each other.
Turning a pen path into a brush stroke
A path built with the pen tool isn't limited to being a static vector shape; it can become a brush stroke too, and more directly than a shape can.
How to do it. Right-click the path and choose Ink with brush, the same action covered for shapes. The path's own geometry becomes the centerline for a brand-new brush stroke, painted with whatever nib, size, and curve settings your brush is currently set to — ink with a real pressure profile, following your exact hand-built curve, and just as editable afterward as anything drawn freehand.
Why this is the most direct case. Turning a shape into a brush stroke requires an invisible first step: auto-converting the shape to a plain vector path before inking it. A pen-drawn path is already that plain vector path, so there's no extra conversion happening under the hood; inking it is the simplest, most direct version of this action.
Why it's worth doing. This is the move for combining the pen tool's precision — exact points, deliberately placed curves — with the brush's expressive, textured look, without having to choose one or the other up front.