Line art, but also text, is basically made
up of paths. The outline of a path is called a stroke and a stroke
can have the following attributes:
- Weight. The weight is the thickness
of a stroke, usually expressed in points.
- Color.
- Dash pattern.
You use the dash pattern to create dashed lines. You can do this
by specifying the length of the line segments and the space (gaps)
between them.
- Cap style.
The cap style determines the appearance of the stroke at the end
of a path.
- Join style.
The join style determines the appearance of the stroke at the corner
points of a path.
- Miter limit. The miter limit
is the limit when a join switches from mitered (pointed) to beveled
(squared-off). You can calculate the miter limit by dividing the
miter length by the stroke weight. If the length of the miter equals
a given number of times the stroke weight, the join will be beveled.
Suppose the stroke weight of a line is 2 pt. and the miter limit
is 4. As soon as the length of the miter is 8 pt., the tip of the
angle will be squared off to a bevel join. Logically, a miter limit
of 1 will always be a bevel join because the miter length is always
more than the stroke weight. To allow “pointier” angles, you increase
the miter limit. Obviously, the miter limit does not apply to joins
of which the style has already been set to round or bevel.