Since the original release of DrawScribe in March 2012, it has received an amazing response from customers and reviewers alike, including a 5/5 MacUser result last month.

But there’s always more to do and improvements to be made. So we listened to feedback and have now made available version 1.1 — a free upgrade to existing customers.

Downloading and upgrading

If you have yet to join the many Illustrator users who have found DrawScribe to be indispensable, you can download DrawScribe version 1.1 by clicking here…

Existing users, including those within the 14 day trial period, can find upgrade links via the Illustrator menu Help > Astute Graphics > DrawScribe > Check for Updates….

Once downloaded, simply run the installer. There is no requirement to de-activate or re-activate your license key.

Note that Astute Graphics’ products are currently in the process of being updated for Illustrator CS6. This update of DrawScribe is compatible with Illustrator CS3 to CS5.1, Mac OS and Windows.

Details of enhancements

An overview of the key updates may be seen in the following movie:

In addition to publishing the movie on YouTube, it is also available via the product’s movie page.

A full change list is provided below:

• InkScribe new preference: “When Creating New Points, Ignore Drags of Less Than [x] pixels” (ideal for those drawing in InkScribe using a Wacom pen)
• InkScribe new preference: “Single-Click Point Creation Retracts Handles”
• Previous option is incorporated into “Pen Tool” InkScribe preset preference is not modified by user.
• Dynamic Sketch now allows the gesture trimming function to be accessed when holding down “Shift” regardless if the gesture trim mode is selected in the panel. This method doesn’t require repeat squiggles to erase – all paths intersecting the path of the pointer will be trimmed.
• The auto-generated ‘out’ handle from an existing straight segment to a new curved segment is now tangent to the path, making a true Connector. The InkScribe preference has still been reworded from “Create Smooth Point (Connector)” to “Create Smooth Transition (Connector)”.
• Auto-generated curved segments (those created when the curve button is selected and “Single-Click Point Creation Retracts Handles” is off and the new point is single-clicked) are now constant radius, i.e. circular sections (unless the angle between the active path and the new point exceeds 90°).
• Both InkScribe and Dynamic Sketch now honor Draw Behind / Draw Inside modes (in CS5 and above).
• The Dynamic Sketch tool no longer fails to show the “No Draw” icon when the active layer is hidden or locked or other related scenarios.
• Dynamic Sketches, when converted to guides, are locked down but retain their dynamic status when released.
• Various bug fixes

The key enhancements to the InkScribe and Dynamic Sketch Tools have been further detailed by Iaroslav to compliment the movie provided above…

InkScribe Tool

Single-Click Point Creation Retracts Handles

Choosing this option in the InkScribe Preferences dialog window allows users to single-click a new point in a path, ensuring that the handles of that point are restracted (as per Pen Tool). This results in the creation of straight segments.

To show this option, let’s use the default method to connect three points with the help of the InkScribe Tool by single-click creating each one (first ensure you’re in the curved segment mode and the Single-Click Point Creation Retracts Handles option is off).

As we can see, the points are connected by curved segments. Now turn on the Single-Click Point Creation Retracts Handles option and repeat the same procedure.

All the points except for the first one have retracted handles.

When Creating New Points, Ignore Drags of Less Than [x] pixels

When clicking and dragging to create a new point, drags that do not exceed this threshold are ignored. This option is designed for those who use graphic tablet, such as a Wacom, for work. When you create a line which should consist of straight segments with the help of InkScribe (or indeed the Pen Tool!) and a Graphic tablet, the resultant path may contain points with tiny handles.

This happens because the tip of the stylus slips when you create a point, especially occurring when drawing quickly. If you are using the InkScribe Tool for drawing, you can now set up the tool to ignore this slippage.

Dynamic Sketch Tool

Gesture trimming by key modifier

The Dynamic Sketch Tool’s gesture trimming mode allows you to remove parts of — or whole — paths with zigzag gestures across the path. Ensure that the Gesture trimming mode button is enabled via the tool’s panel and cross the target path between 3 and 5 times.

However, this can be less intuitive when using a mouse. Now you can trim paths by a single gesture across the path / paths, holding the Shift key. There is no need to enable to the Gesture trim button in the tool’s panel to allow this.

This key modifier approach may be used by users of both mouse and graphic tablets.

New example artwork

The new downloads also contain two great new example original Illustrator artwork files by Sean Ferguson; Britannia 60 and Major Tom. Along with the original example files, these are wonderful for examining professional creation results and techniques.