Adjusting multiple anchor points of a path

In CS5, and in various documentation it doesn't appear possible to be a way to move multiple anchor points (as it is, in Photoshop). If this is the case... are you kidding me? Even Photoshop can do this.
Quite frankly, on my return to Illustrator, it's, as expected, Adobe has pulled a fast one with their suite of software. What was broken years ago is still broken today.
Photoshop needs the ability to add gradients to shapes, path brushing, symbols, ie the functionality of Illustrator needs to be placed into Photoshop.

Are you saying that if you use the direct select tool and hold down the shift key and select several anchor points you can't move them with the arrow keys?
I certainly can without any problem? It maybe that the increment that they are being moved at is smaller than you would prefer and you can change that in the Preferences.
Also unlike photoshop if you select multiple points in AI you can than drag one of them and the other selected points will move as well.
If you need more support for manipulateing path look at the Astute plug in Vectorscribe.

Similar Messages

Is it possible to select multiple anchor points in CS6?

Hi,
I'm trying to select multiple anchor points of shapes across different layers by dragging over them, but nothing is getting selected.
I use CC at work, and I've done it there, but I use CS6 at home and can't seem to do it.
Thanks!

I doN'T think it is possible to work on two different path at once. I think you would need to merge the two shape layers and work on the resultant merged path. You can target more then one shape layer and select some of the path and change them however the stay separate path and all the point the the selected shape layers are highlighted
CS6 top CC bottom note the difference is the path palettes CS6 shows no paths in the path palette when more then a single shape layer is targeted where CC shows all path involved as separate paths.

In Flash CS4, how do you select multiple anchor points across separate layers?

I am talking about anchor points on a line, not a keyframe. They are also called "handles". I can select the anchor points as "white" quickly, but I can't get them to be "solid"without doing it layer by layer, which is tedious. What I want is way to select lines that are in different layers and get the points I selected in a way similar to the regular selection tool or free transform tool. I have been trying to do this all day and I can't find a good way to do this, and I would appreciate any help.
Here is an image of what I'm trying to do, but more easily. The lines are on separate layers, but when I select them with the subselection tool I have to go layer by layer selecting the points. I'm trying to look for a very quick way of doing it. When I do select all with the subselection tool on, the anchor points are only "white" and not "solid" as shown below.

Now you're post was a while ago and I still need a solution, but I have to say this. I didn't mean to be rude to you; it’s just that it doesn’t answer my question I specified in the original post. I know your intentions are good, but it frustrates me when someone doesn’t fully read a post and offers a solution, it sometimes gives a false impression that the problem is taken care of. Example of being "helpful": http://forums.adobe.com/message/2540277 Yes I know there is a “Yes, my question has been answered,” but you know they don’t always select it, and other people know that as well. But you are right; I should probably act a little bit nicer and reiterate what I’ve already said before, I’ll probably get more help from it. It just seems to be a simple feature that seems to be needed to be in the program. I didn't mean it takes forever to move, it takes forever to select multiple anchor points across, let's say 10 layers, so that's 10 different lines on 10 layers. You have to select each layer and then select the anchor points. If there is an away to select anchor points across all layers in one go please tell me. Maybe I was wrong, but I could’ve sworn I’ve seen ideas that were posted on here get taken into Adobe as a suggestion, but yes I submitted it as a suggestion to Adobe, but I wanted to confirm that there was no way of doing it first since it seems kind unbelievable because the regular selection tool works across multiple layers.

Deleting anchor point, deletes entire path

Need a solution...when I create a path with the pen tool I am unable to delete anchor points without deleting the entire path. Using the Pen tool + option reveals the white arrow (Direct Selection Tool) - I click and drag a box around the desired anchor point - the selected point is then black - all other points along the path are not filled with black - hence they are not selected - I hit the delete button - instead of the single selected point being deleted, the path is deleted. In the past I would have to quit and reboot PS to clear the problem - that fix is no longer working.
Any suggestions. Thanks.
CS4
Mac 10.6.4
4GB RAM

Had another look at this and I will try to be as brief as possible.
I forgot to point out in my first comment that I had auto add/delete points selected and with that selected the pen tool autmatically shows the delete point tool when the tool is over a point. Clicking would then remove the point and the path direction will be modified. It is not possible to remove a point from a bezier path without modifying the paths direction, or to remove an end point from a path, this is the mathmatical law involved. If you need a gap in the path, place a new point either side of the required gap the delete the path between them. T modify the end of a path, ie. shorten it, you will still need to place a point where you desire the path to end. If as you suggest the whole path is deleted I can only imagine you may be accidentaly double deleting, as the whole of the path becomes selected when you have deleted a point and a second click will delete the rest of the path.
I have tried to reproduce your problem and so this is what i can come up with. I have been using Adobe Illustrator an Photoshop since 1990 and I have not come across this before.
Hope you find a solution as i do appreciate the frustration it can cause.
Mac Pro 2 x 2.8 GHz Quad Core, OSX 10.5.8, 6 GB Nvidia 8800GT, PS CS5.
Regards

Can't adjust anchor points of path when keyframes enabled...

I have an irregular shape layer that I'm warping over time (smaller to bigger). I'm able to adjust the anchor points of the path to the shapes I want—but once I set the two keyframes of the path that I'm interpolating with a slider, I am no longer able to adjust the anchor points to do minor tweaks e.g. I'm unable to pull out the bezier handles. If I disable the keyframes then I'm allowed to adjust the anchors again but that means I have to start over every time I need to make an adjustment. I've successfully executed the concept but need to tweak multiple shape layers in this fashion and not having access to the anchor point bezier handles is slowing down productivity.
Any ideas?
Thanks in advance,
Chris
AE 12.2.1.5
Mac 10.9.4

As I said before, and if you look closely I have keyframes on the paths, you have to carefully roll over the right parts of your path and make sure that the path is selected and not the shape. It takes a bit of getting used to. You are probably selecting the entire path. If you press the U key twice to reveal the path and the keyframes, select the path, press the G key to select the pen tool, then roll the pen tool over the path you'll see a pen with a plus appear. move off the path and hold down the Ctrl/Cmnd key and you'll see a white arrow. Click and drag around a vertex and now you have selected a single vertex complete with the handles.
You can also do this with the selection tool (V) but the procedure is not exactly the same and I think a little more difficult. If the entire path is selected then you cannot select an individual point, but if you hold down the Cmnd/Ctrl key and move off the path you'll see the cursor change to a white arrow. Click off the path, then you can click on a vertex and get your controls back. I much prefer using the pen tool because it allows me to draw around multiple points and transform them quickly, gives me more options though the modifier keys of Alt/Option or Ctrl/Cmnd to change the tools and generally work much faster, but you can use either one.

Can't see the anchor point or bezier handles when editing an effect

Please help! This may be an easy fix, but when editing an effect I can no longer see the anchor point, keyframes, or bezier handles on the timeline image. Specifically, I am keyframing the Brush Position in the Write-on effect, and while I can move the brush position, there is no visual cross-hair on the image nor bezier handles to adjust the curve... every adjustment is therefore a guess as to where the adjustment handle is.
Is there a button that toggles anchor point and keyframe path display? Obviously, not being able to see what you're working on is very frustrating. I tried to click the icon to the left of the Write-on effect bar (4-point square with the selection tool in the upper right), but nothing happens. The write-on effect bar is selected and the Brush Position is in keyframe mode.
Thank you in advance for your help.

I worked with this the other day. Bezier handles and the hot spots are tough to see and the write-on effect is a bit wierd for me. You may have more success placing keyframes at beginning and end of a clip as I had trouble keyframing only part of a clip and still controlling the writing effect. You can then slide the keyframes later to change the duration.
Also, you may want to disable all the other effects while editing this one, as the others keep getting selected instead for me and I end up e.g. moving the image instead of the brush.

Can't add, delete, convert anchor points

Finally upgraded to CS3, and I find that I can't can't add, delete, convert anchor points on a path in certain documents. I get the "Please use the XX tool on a segment of a path. The appearance tells me I have a path. I can paste the paths into a new file, and everything works. I saved to CS2 and can manipulate to my hearts content. These are not a complicated paths (4-12 points).
On a related note, when I tried to draw the path, the anchor point would not appear where I clicked but up and to the right or down and the left. Moving points with the mouse or the arrow tool constrains the angle and length. Moving in the transform palette, i can move it freely
Obviously, I can copy and paste these into new docs, but is there I did in setting the original documents that caused this behavior, because I'd like to avoid it in the future.
Sorry if this is an obvious question, I'm more of 'Shop person. Thanks in advance.

Yeah, removing grid saved me too. The irony here is we use grids to try and be more accurate, yet the paths can't even be found with snap on. Really dumb 'gotchya' for anyone moving over to this software IMHO

Too many anchor point when brushes expand in CS6

I have recently upgraded to CS6 from CS2. I do a lot of digital inking in Illustrator as part of my job. In CS2 I would create a simple tapered brush using 4 anchor points. When I would draw a brush stroke say with two anchor points, and then expand that brush stroke. Illustrator CS2 would convert the outlined tapered brush stroke back to the the original 4 anchor point path that I had originally created with maybe one extra point if the stroke curved drastically. Now is CS6 illustrator creates that same expanded brush with 9 to 12 anchor points in the path. This makes the program completly useless for my task. Is there anyway to correct this?

Just in case you didn't get it. Here is a link to a brush sample. It's a simple art brush. Nothing sophisicated.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/dyrtw6q2gpu26a1/brush%20sample.ai

CS5: Moving Anchor Points w/ Transform Panel, Not Whole Object

Hey there. Did the digging before asking but nothing came up. I'm pretty green, so I'm sure it's something silly. I'm trying to move specific anchor points on a path a few pixels up from their current position, while keeping everything else where it is, so it'll transform the figure's shape. I'm trying to do it precise by changing it's dimensions, rather than clicking and dragging. Thankfully, that's at least an option because it -does- work when I direct select the points I want and drag them. Problems with that:
1) I have very little control. If I want the point moved up by whole pixels, I pretty much have to get lucky because it's always in decimal points.
2) With shapes bordering each other (parts of a complex shape), if I want to move their location to scrunch something (Half circle in a larger half circle, wanting to flatten out the base), if I lift those points up, they leave a gap. As if the top border of the outer circle has another anchor point under the lower of the one above that, and I can't click on it to move everything while they're still touching. I can take screenshots if needed. I'm following a tutorial to get used to the program.
Alternately, I suppose if you have a shortcut for constraining the drag to whole pixels instead of fractions, that's great too. In Photoshop and the like, holding Shift would give me precision, but that's not the case in this tool or perhaps program.
Thanks a bunch. This program is frustrating, but I know I'll have fun with it when I get it.

Hard to decipher exactly what you are asking for, but after reading your post a few times sounds like you want to move vector point by whole pixles amounts.
Have you tried setting your keyboard increment to 1 pixel, and using the cursor keys to nudge points.
If you are working on digital work, you may want to turn on snap to pixel grid, which will also kepep all your times to whole pixel amounts.

Coordinates of anchor points

I want to get the coordinates of anchor points in every path layer. Can illustrator itself offer me a list of corrdinates X/Y?
I need the corrdinates for some science research, plz help me.

Thanks for your method, but it seems not what I want. I did as you said and found all points were separated.
I use anchor points to mark three or four points for every fracture in the picture. So what I want is the text formatted like this:
x11,y11,x12,y12,x13,y13 \n x21,y21,x22,y22,x31,y32 \n x31,y31,x32,y32,x33,y33……
I am reading the manual to learn to edit the script, but it seems not that easy as I am not familiar with it.

How to convert an anchor point to have a single control point...

Can anyone tell me if it is possible to convert an existing anchor point on a path from a dual control point with directional handles either side of the point to a single control point with one directional handle?
In Illustrator this is easy, all you do is drag one directional handle into the anchor point and it deletes that handle leaving just the other handle to control the shape.
In Photoshop this appears to be much harder to achieve as dragging the handle into the anchor point doesn't work and no matter what combination of keyboard shortcuts I've tried I'm not able to get rid of just one of the handles.
I am able to achieve what I want by splitting the path then Alt clicking on the end point of the path but this strikes me as being really clumsy compared to Illustrator's perfect solution. Even InDesign works better, as you just Alt Click on the directional handle once and it deletes it.
What seems totally bewildering is why all these pieces of software (made by the same people) work differently?

Yes it seems your suggestion to drag the directional point so that it sits directly on top of the anchor point is the best one can do. It doesn't actually delete the direction point like it does in AI merely makes the direction point so small it doesn't actually do anything. Not ideal really.
Maybe all the separate development teams should meet up for a coffee some time and just iron out all these indifferences, I reckon they could get it done in an afternoon, I'd be happy to write them a list. And don't even get me started on how the Workspaces differ from app to app!

Select range of anchor points

Hello, I am new to the forums but not so new to Illustrator. I am working on a scanned black and white image that I image traced in Illustrator. I am now in the process of seperating certain parts of the image from each other for changing colors. I know how to do this, but my way is by using direct select and going in and picking out points and joining them which is going to take ages. Is there any way to say select a range of anchor points on a path (not the whole path, but not individual points either) like shift clicking a range of files in windows explorer? Are there any other ways I can go about this in a more time efficient manner? Any help would be greatly appreciated! I am using the Creative Cloud.

It might help if you could show an example, and be a bit more specific.
Are you separating white areas or paths from black? When autotracing black and white imagery, I usually select any white fill and then Select > Same > Fill Color, and delete. Most of the time, the black is a compound object. As far as selecting series of points (assuming you are dealing with only one color, and not a repeating set of paths underneath), direct-select and shift-key-drag over points you want selected.
However, if you are wanting a complex black object to be made into various colors, separated by new paths you draw, then draw your paths, select the new paths and the shape underneath, and click on the left-most icon under Pathfinders in the Pathfinder Palette. You can also do this using Shape Builder by highlighting everything, choosing Shape Builder Tool, and clicking on one area. You can add other areas to your shape by click-dragging from one area to another.
If this isn't addressing your issue, then please post a screen shot and give us more details.

Add Anchor Points by Distance?

I often need to add anchor points to a shape when I bring it into Cinema 4D to extrude and warp.
The Object>Path>Add Anchor Points just adds an additional anchor between existing anchor points, effectively doubling the density every time its run.
This isn't great for shapes with very long segments and very short segments. The short segments don't need subdividing, but the long segments need more subdivisions.
Is there a script or plug-in that can add anchor points based on distance? Such as: Add an extra anchor point to a path every 10 mm?

Navarro,
You may do it in this roundabout way:
1) Select the object and Select>Object>Direction Handles;
2) Ctrl/Cmd+X to Cut;
3) Press Delete;
4) Ctrl/Cmd+F to Paste in Front;
Now you have changed the path segments into separate paths;
5) For each (path segment) path apply Object>Path>Add Anchor Points as needed or maybe (depending on version) use the more versatile free Divide script, see below;
6) Select the paths and Ctrl/Cmd+J to join them (use Direct Selection in older versions).
With the rectangle shown, it would be changed into two long horizontal paths and two short vertical ones; you can select each pair and add Anchor Points, or maybe just leave the vertical ones as they are.
You may download the Divide script here:
http://park12.wakwak.com/~shp/lc/et/en_aics_script.html

How to join two points in a path

It's not obvious how this is done. Also, is there a way to
remove points on a path- or add them? I assume there is, but again,
not clear how it's done.
Thanks!

To manipulate the anchor points in a path, use the
Subselection Tool (white arrow in top right of the Toolbox) and it
will become intuitively obvious. You can select, drag, and delete
anchor points, as well as move their handles and change the curve
of the path.
To add anchor points, use the pen tool (looks like a nib
pen).
All of the above can be found in just about any beginning
Flash tutorial, including the tutorials that come with Flash. And
your specific questions would have been answered by spending
approximately 30 seconds searching Flash's built-in Help.

Joining anchor point to middle of a line

Hi!
Is it possible to join the end of one line to the middle of another line? This is to create a live paint area. I am using 5.
Thank you!
Richard

Anchor points have and two connectors and no more. So you can't have an anchor point controlling three paths. It's not possible to join paths in the middle of them.
However, for Live Paint, you don't really need to join the paths. Just draw a path that overlaps the other and Live Paint will see the area between paths as a fillable section.

Adjusting multiple anchor points of a path

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