A way to "re-connect" bezier handles and other path editing techniques

Question

I've searched and rummaged through tutorials for days but I haven't found a way to do a few things that I've come to think of as essential when it comes to path manipulation.
I'm using Illustrator CS4 (on Windows XP SP3) and I'm coming from a background of Inkscape. Within Inkscape, there are several handy tools that are missing from Illustrator that I haven't found workarounds for. Here's a list of these tools and a brief description for each of how they work within Inkscape:
]- "Shift + C" with anchor point selected: this will make the bezier handles of the point move independently of each other.
]- "Shift + S" with anchor point selected:
b this will "connect" the bezier handles
so that moving one side moves the other side relatively (and opposite to each other so that the bezier handles form a straight line).
(note: in Inkscape there is no way to make the bezier handles relative and not form a straight line, which is something I know would be useful)
]- "Shift + Y" with anchor point selected: this will make the bezier handles collinear (like shift + S) plus make the lengths of both handles the same.
(note: another possible feature would be to make the handle lengths relative, but not the same)
]- "Shift + Click + Drag" on a selected anchor point with the path selection tool: this creates one bezier handle in the direction you drag. This is very useful if you don't want to change the curve of the other side.
With these functions (preferably including the suggestions I've noted), path editing in Illustrator would be much easier.
On the topic of Inkscape's path editing abilities, there is also a way within the program to delete anchor points in two ways:
]The default way is to press "Del," which deletes the anchor points and makes the anchor points around the deleted points attempt to fill the area as close as possible to how it was with points.
]The second way is to press "Ctrl + Del," which deletes the points and does nothing to the surrounding points.
Inkscape's default deletion method is a huge time saver when you simply have a surplus of anchor points; you can the excess and the shape maintains itself (often the result is for the shape to smooth itself out).
I hope that these suggestions are described well enough to be understood. I also hope that, in understanding these potential techniques, you can see their potential usefulness within Illustrator.

Answer 1

Lee,
All those functions are present in Illustrator. I personally think their interface stinks in some ways, but they are there.
> "Shift + C" with anchor point selected: this will make the bezier handles of the point move independently of each other.
Convert AnchorPoint Tool. Press Alt to invoke it when the Pen tool is active. Otherwise, switch to it with Shift C. Use it to drag a smoothPoint's handle, and it will convert the point to a cornerPoint, letting you move the handle you click independently.
> "Shift + S" with anchor point selected: this will "connect" the bezier handles so that moving one side moves the other side relatively (and opposite to each other so that the bezier handles form a straight line).
Again, the Convert tool. Mousedown on an anchorPoint and drag. The point will become a smoothPoint and both handles will extend symmetrically.
There are also buttons to convert selected points between smooth and corner in the Control Panel when anchorPoints are selected.
> (note: in Inkscape there is no way to make the bezier handles relative and not form a straight line, which is something I know would be useful)
In my musings about Bezier drawing interfaces, I've often imagined a metaphor of "joints" rather than points. (That's really what they are: two adjacent Bezier curves with coincident endpoints.) Joints can be "hinged" or "locked"; "bent" or "straight". They can also be "dislocated". Joints can be locked bent or locked straight, and can be moved either way.
> "Shift + Y" with anchor point selected: this will make the bezier handles collinear (like shift + S) plus make the lengths of both handles the same. (note: another possible feature would be to make the handle lengths relative, but not the same)
See second item, above.
> With these functions (preferably including the suggestions I've noted), path editing in Illustrator would be much easier.
They are there; thier interface is just different.
> On the topic of Inkscape's path editing abilities, there is also a way within the program to delete anchor points in two ways:
> The default way is to press "Del," which deletes the anchor points and makes the anchor points around the deleted points attempt to fill the area as close as possible to how it was with points.
Not present in AI. (Not associated with a direct point manipulation tool, anyway. Commands like Simplify try to remove points while retaining the shape.)
> The second way is to press "Ctrl + Del," which deletes the points and does nothing to the surrounding points.
The Delete AnchorPoint Tool. Invoke it by pressing the minus key. Similarly, there is an Add AnchorPoint Tool, invoked by pressing the plus key. By default, the Pen Tool does that automatically to selected paths, but you can turn it off in prefs (unlike the infuriating auto join behavior, which affects UNSELECTED paths.)
> Inkscape's default deletion method is a huge time saver...I hope that...you can see their potential usefulness within Illustrator
Just about every user of programs like Illustrator, FreeHand, Draw, Canvas know very well the advantages of keyboard modifiers for such things, and all such programs provide them. (Although I do consider AI's treatment considerably more tedious than FreeHand's.)
You need to spend some time looking at the keyboard shortcuts described in the Help files, and carefully practicing them. You need to know how to invoke them while in the process of drawing paths with the Pen.
JET