Canvas - Altering Shapes - removing holes in shapes with Path Tool.

This has come out of a question the group was asked on Margret Teta Singleton's awesome Facebook Group called Brother Scan'n'Cut Users - find it here https://www.facebook.com/groups/scanncutusers/

So the person in question had this image:

I have no idea if this has copyright etc. I'm using it solely to show you an example of what I'm talking about. If anyone knows who owns the copyright, tell me and I'll credit them here.

So. the question was, what if you have holes in an image, and you want to keep some of them, say the eyes, but not others (apparently this is the islands of Hawaii across the abdomen).

I had a think. And a play in Canvas. And finally worked out why it was such a simple answer...

Canvas - Draw your own shapes - Path Tool for straight lines and geometric shapes

Path Tool for drawing straight lines and geometric shapes

I started writing this post thinking the Path Tool would be quite limited, then by accident (mostly by failing to repeat the same actions and trying to do the same thing differently by mistake) found out that it isn't at all! So this post is going to have far more in it than I imagined, and it's sparking off all sorts of new ideas in my head!

Canvas - Draw your own shapes - Path and FreeHand Tools and Node Editing Overview

Ok this is going to be a sub series of posts initially.  Based on what I know and am finding out as I go along, this post is a basic overview - here is the plan:

1. This one , in three parts, about the Path (drawing straight lines) and Freehand (drawing freehand) Tools in Canvas. I do own a Graphics Tablet but it's upstairs, I've no stairlift yet and also, I've never used it, so all this is going to be on a laptop using the touch pad.

2. The Node Editing functions - these allow you to change the shape of a preinstalled pattern or one you've drawn with Path or Freehand Tools.

3. Using the Path Tool to make curved lines (you need to know about node editing to do this effectively, hence the order).

4. A quick and dirty way of getting your scanned in file to cut reasonably well using the Path tool and then a bit of node editing if the new line needs to be curved.

5. My current best effort on how to change the shape so that lines that joined up before, don't now. The example for this one is the pre installed NOEL word (Logo section in Canvas) where I wanted to work out how to stop the centre of the E falling out (it's in lower case...)  If I find a better way in Canvas I'll do another post but for now, this is the sum total of my knowledge!