Flip Cloud Direction
A cloud annotation's scalloped bumps can face either outward (classic revision cloud) or inward (cut-out / scalloped hole appearance). Spark lets you flip an existing cloud without redrawing it.
What Flipping Does
- Outward cloud: arcs bulge outward from the rectangle / ellipse body.
- Inward cloud: arcs curve into the body.
Flip toggles between the two. The bounding shape is unchanged — only the arc sweep direction reverses.
How to Flip
- Activate the Select tool.
- Right-click the cloud.
- Choose Flip Cloud Direction.
The cloud re-renders immediately with the opposite direction. The change is undoable.
What Qualifies as a Cloud
Flip is available on:
- Rectangles drawn with Line Style = Cloud.
- Circles / Ellipses drawn with Line Style = Cloud.
- Lines drawn with Line Style = Cloud (cloud-edged lines — less common).
- Revision Cloud annotations (free-form shape drawn with the dedicated tool).
- Cloud shape annotations.
Flip is not shown in the context menu for non-cloud shapes.
Behind the Scenes
For rectangular and elliptical clouds, Spark re-generates the bump path from the stored bounding box with the new direction. For free-form Revision Clouds, the cached bump-path is regenerated using the same bounding geometry plus the flipped sweep direction.
Cloud Intensity (arc radius) is preserved across the flip — only the direction changes.
Use Cases
| Direction | Typical use |
|---|---|
| Outward | Standard revision cloud marking a change |
| Inward | Indicating an area to be removed or cut out; alternative visual for a callout |
Related Operations
- To change color: right-click → Change Color.
- To change intensity (bump size): select → Tool Options → Cloud Intensity.
- To change thickness: right-click → Properties or Tool Options.
- To change the bounding shape: drag the 8-direction resize handles.
Undo
Ctrl+Z after a flip restores the original direction.
Tip — If you find yourself using inward clouds often for a specific review workflow, create a stamped template: draw one inward cloud as a template, then copy/paste it for subsequent markups. Spark preserves the direction when pasted.
Saving
The cloud orientation is persisted in a Spark-specific PDF custom key (/SparkCloudOrientation). When reopened in Spark, the direction is recovered. Other PDF viewers will render the cloud outline but will not have a flip control — they see a fixed path.