Working with the Star Tool in Inkpad

by Lindsay in Frequently Asked Questions

We get quite a few support emails from people who have got their Star Tool stuck like this, in skinny, pointy mode! So here is my ultimate guide to working with the Star Tool.

The Basics

Let’s select the Star Tool. The first thing you’ll see is the number of points. This little slider goes from 3 to 50. It will remember the last selected number of points every time you select the Star Tool.

With your number of points chosen, drag a finger across your iPad and hey-presto you have a star.

But that’s not all! Did you know if you add a second finger to your iPad screen while dragging you can change how pointy your star is? Well you can.

Holding a second finger to your iPad screen will freeze the centre anchors of your star, that’s these little guys and enable you to move the outer anchors, like this. So by adding and removing a second finger as you drag you can create all sorts of different stars.

Skinny Mode

Now to solving the pointy star problem. You’ve got your star all spiny looking, and no matter what you do it feels like it’s stuck. Well don’t panic, take a deep breath and I’ll show you how to reclaim your cute little star shape.

Here I’ve created the pointiest, skinny star I can. There is nothing I can do to save this little fellow, so I’ll just have to delete him, because I want a little fat star.

With my Start Tool still selected, I’ll begin dragging. As you can see, like before my star is all spindly and not at all what I want. But if I add a second finger and change the direction I’m dragging you’ll see my pointy spines start to shrink. Can you see? With a second finger added, the outer anchors move. Now if I remove my second finger, then change the direction I’m dragging again my star will start to grow.

I can do this as many times as I like, until I have achieved the star shape I’m looking for. As soon as I remove my dragging finger that will be the stars shape, and that will also be the shape of the next star I drag.

Hope this helps sort out your star woes. If there’s anything else you’re struggling with don’t be afraid to reach out. There’s a contact form in the gallery screen menu, to make it nice and easy to ask for help. And of course there’s lots more videos here full of all sorts of advice!

Lindsay.