Bezier curve handles get messed up when creating shape

Figma automatically adjusts (ie. messes with) the bezier curves if you tweak them as you create a shape. When I take the time to create a bezier the way I want it, I find it frustrating that Figma thinks it knows better.

Is it possible to turn off this? If not, I’d suggest changing the mechanic or having an option to turn it off.

I know I’m not helping, but how did you fixate the handle in the first place?

What do you mean by fixating? I’m not aware that you can do anything before you even begin drawing the shape.

I meant (found out) the drag-clicking first point instead of normal click. Yeah, not sure why exactly Figma changes this, but it looks like it cleans up what is not necessary, because the preview of the line remains accurately equal to the output when you draw the second dot.

Take a look:

Yes, of course the line that is drawn is exactly the same. The problem here is the fact that it changes the handle lengths for some unknown reason. It makes it annoying to work with, as I have to fix it.

I don’t quite understand why you need to fix the handle afterwards, if the line is already accurate.

Wouldn’t you instead break the geometry of the shape if you “fix the handle” manually?

If I had to make an educated guess on why this happens, I would bet on the fact that some of the handle length might ‘move’ from the first handle to the second when you add the second vector point without its own handles (simple click). If you then go back and ‘fix’ the first one, then the total sum won’t be the same anymore…

When I create a shape like that I create it roughly the way I want it, with the intention of working on it slightly afterwards. This is especially true if I create letters. I’ll place some anchor points with beziers where I think I want them, knowing that I’ll tune it a bit afterwards. If they suddenly shift around, I have to tweak every single bezier point, not just the ones that I envisioned I would need to tweak. In essence: I know myself where I’d like the beziers, but Figma has its own intentions. It’s about having control of what happens.

I’m not keen on arguing further why it’s something that I appreciate in my own workflow. But if you still need convincing, I would say that a strong argument against this weird behavior is that Figma is the only application that does so. Coming from more “professional” vector creation tools like Illustrator, this behavior feels very odd. Perhaps it helps some novices, but I find it cumbersome. Especially when you can’t turn it off.

Btw, you’re right that this is only the case when single-clicking to make a non-bezier-handle-point.

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