Patent ID: 7405733

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for drawing a spline in a computer-implemented graphics program, comprising: (a) drawing the spline using a first method; and (b) seamlessly switching from drawing the spline using the first method to drawing the spline using a second method, without terminating the drawing of the spline, in response to a first user command; (c) wherein the first method comprises a point-and-click method and the second method comprises a freehand method, or wherein the first method comprises a freehand method and the second method comprises a point-and-click method; (d) wherein the point-and-click method comprises selecting a cursor location and then placing a vertex for the spline at the cursor location; and (e) wherein the freehand method comprises selecting a cursor location and then dragging the cursor along a path, so that the spline follows the path, wherein one or more vertices are automatically placed on the path for the spline as the cursor is dragged.