Suppose I want a path segment to be stroked differently than the rest of the path -- different color or dashed, etc. Can I do that?

If I can't do that with a single path, what would be the best way to get the desired effect using other methods?

Thanks.

No, you can't make different segments of a single path appear differently. The only real way around this is by creating a new path for each line that needs to be different. If you need to just change colours, then you might be able to use gradient to change a path colour.

Okay, but if you use multiple paths, how can you control the fill of the object? For instance, I have something like a deformed rectangle, where every side is a curve. However, I want its right side to be stroked differently (or not at all). But if I delete that path segment, the fill is bounded by a straight line that connects the edges.

Basically, you have fake it. You need to draw another object specifically for the purpose of filling it with colour.

EDIT: I should say, makes this easy.

dnquark wrote:Okay, but if you use multiple paths, how can you control the fill of the object?

One way of doing it would be to start with a single path with the desired fill, duplicate it, remove the fill from the top one, remove the stroke from the bottom one, and then go about splitting the top one into multiple paths.