Pressing the Shift key before clicking constrains the position of the next point, pressing the Shift key while dragging constrains the direction of the handle to 45-degree angles.Ĭlick-drag again on the last smooth point to differentiate the length of the outgoing handle, the point remains smooth. This draws smooth curve points with control vectors on either side of the point, the handles are of equal length and direction.Ĭlick-Drag again to finish the first curved segment and start the next. Segments with one visible handle are easier for very shallow curves but are mathematically not ideal.Īs usual, first choose the Direct Selection Tool (A), and then the Pen Tool (P).Ĭlick, hold down the mouse button and drag. When one of the handles of a curved segment is on the point it originates from, the curved segment seems to have only one handle. Curved segmentsĪ curved segment has two handles by definition, a straight segment should have no handles. The Pen cursor shows a minus (-).Ĭlick in between two points on the path to insert an extra point. In the active path, click on a previously set point to remove that point from the path.
You are now creating an open path with two endpoints. Press and hold the Shift key to constrain the placement of the next point to 45 degrees angles in relation to the previous point.
Start, Straight lines firstĪt first, the Pen Tool has a small asterisk (*) next to it, to symbolize the birth of a new path.Ĭlick on the canvas to set a point, click once more to create a straight line. Pressing Cmd/Ctrl then gives access to the previously selected tool, Direct Selection, which is practical. Illustrator does not have handy tangent points that you might find in other drawing software.įirst choose the Direct Selection Tool (A), and then the Pen Tool (P). Curved segments have additional off-curve Handles that control the curvature.Īnchor points in Illustrator can be Corner points or Smooth points.įor Smooth points, the Handles on either side of the point have the same direction. Put photos or scans in a separate layer and lock it.Īll paths are drawn with on-curve Anchor points. Set Stroke to a thin line in a color that contrasts well with the colors in the photo. To digitize letter shapes from a photo, set Fill to “None”. In Illustrator a selected point is dark (filled) and non-selected points are hollow. With the Direct Selection Tool (A), one or more points on a path can be selected. With the Selection Tool (V), a path can be selected. Many other options on this page are related to the pen tool, try them out some time. Go to Preferences > Selection & Anchor Display and activate Constrain Path Dragging on Segment Reshape, the fourth checkbox from the top. Use Cmd/Ctrl-Y to switch between Preview and Outline mode. With Cmd/Ctrl-U, pink intelligent guidelines appear that can help with aligning the next point.
Learn to work with two hands, one to move the mouse, one to press the Spacebar, Shift, Tab, Alt/Option and Command/Control keys.Īctivate “Snap to point” from the “View” menu. So, learn this first, and then complain with other drawing programs if something is missing. But mostly Illustrator has continued to evolve the pen tool.
Some decades ago, this description contained the specifics of Illustrator versus FreeHand, and the details of Fontographer, FontStudio and FontLab.
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