Direct Selection Tool will not choose individual "path" anchor points

Photohsop CS4, 11.0.1
Mac OSX 10.4.11, MacPro, Dual-Core Intel Xeon, 2.66 GHz, 9GB RAM, NVIDIA GeForce 7300 GT-256 MB VRAM, 500GB Startup HD, 500GB HD (wlhere file resides and scratch disk), OpenGL enabled
I am unable to select individual anchor points and line segments of a path, although the anchor points appear to be individually highlighted, copying them copies the entire path, not just the selected points, and deleting them deletes the entire path, not just the selected points. In effect the "hollow arrow" direct selection tool is working like the "solid arrow path selection" tool.
I ran Disk Warrior, repaired disk permissions. I deleted old preferences by renaming file with Photoshop closed, and then restarted photoshop.
After calling Adobe Tech Support, they are recommending I reinstall the entire CS4 suite, which I am hesitant to do. At the least I will lose all of my menu preferences in all programs. Should I just follow their advice and reinstall CS4?
Thanks.

When you click on it with path selection tool (black arrow) which option is enabled in options bar at top - add, subtract, intersect, or exclude?
Can you combine paths?
Have you tried drawing a new path and selecting points on it?
Can you still add and subtract points?
Edit: Can you pull on the bezier handles?
Edit: is it a vector mask or a standalone path?
I'm trying to simulate your problem – in the meantime I'm brainstorming, not sure how else to help. It seems like something restarting the program would fix.
What about quitting the app. Then going to User: Library: Prefs: Adobe Photoshop CS4 paths, trash it then restart?
Message was edited by: Printer_Rick: Added Edit: Can you pull on the bezier handles?

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The Direct Selection Tool (the white arrow, shortcut "a") has never had that capability. All it's ever done is select and move points. You need to use the Selection Tool (the black arrow, shortcut "v") to do those things. If you want to scale, stretch, etc... a sub-selection of an object, you can make your selection with the white arrow and then use the transform tool (shortcut "e") to modify what you selected.

Selection tool will not select paths?

I am new to illustrator. I created a few closed paths that I filled in with the gradient tool. Then, I made another new closed path. However, when I try to select the first path I made with the selection tool nothing happens. If I hover over the path, green type saying "path" or "anchor" will appear but I cannot click it and it does not show the actual lines of the path. However, If I hover over the last object I created, I can see that path fine, and I can select it. That is the only one. I made sure that the layer is not locked and that I am working on the right layer. It was working fine earlier, but now I have no clue what happened.

There rare many reason this could be happening your item could be
locked or on a locked layer
inside a clipping or transparency mask
has a large object on top, (happens to me often when I have a white plate)
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select all then hide - to test if item is selectable or locked
hide the item on top until you dig down to why you want, make the change, then show all
command click to get past items on top, each click takes you down a layer
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I recommend using the 2nd bullet technique of hiding, this will help you learn a lot about Illustrator

Direct selection tool - how not to move the form/path?

This thing keeps me working my stress ball: when I touch a path with the white arrow I am always first in a mode where the path can be moved. But I want to move a nod or handle - is there a place where I can set this tool to never move or or to never select the whole path? I have the normal selection tool for that! I think I oversee something. Thank you!

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Whichever way it works in each version should be consistent. If not, it may be time for a preference corruption removal, see the hint Move the folder here: http://www.bugge.com/Family-and-friends/Illy/illy.html
This may be a reversible test to see whether you are forced to use older ways in newer versions.

The selection tools will not select paths.

When objects are selected, the bounding box appears, but the neither the paths or anchor points appear. How do I rectify this? I'm guessing i've accidentally changed a setting but there seems to be little light shed online.
Thanks for your time.

bvnri,
Ctrl/Cmd+H, View>Show Edges.
It is the most likely mishit of all, completely surrounded by other keystrokes; you may have thought you you just repeated one of them because it did not work the first time, and then forgotten all about it.

Direct selection tool not showing anchors illustrator CS3, Mac 10.5.8, MBP 2.6 GHz

With the direct selection tool (white arrrow) moving over an anchor they show up, but even if the anchor is selected the anchor blue box disappears as soon as the mouse moves away, so its impossible to select a handle. I can still move an anchor, but its hard to select two anchors to joint the paths etc., sort of like driving blind. If I click on a path, then hold down the command key, the hollow box anchors show up and the cursor changes into the selection tool. The hollow boxes show up on selecting using the selection tool (black arrow). I am pretty direct selection tool was working correctly last week (am an occasional user).
I've know the difference between the select tool, direct selection tool, and group selection tool. I think this happened a year ago and deleting a preference file helped. I, quit illustrator, deleted "com.adobe.illustrator.plist" in my user library, and tried again. that didn't help.

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Direct Selection Tools Randomly Stops Functioning

Hello, I'm having some issues with Adobe Illustrator. For some reason, the direct selection tool will randomly stop allowing me to edit my anchor points. Instead of directly selecting a specific point on a path and giving me the option to move it/ adjust the curve, it just selects the entire path and simply moves it. This is very frustrating, because it forces my to make my paths perfect the first time I make them with the pen tool and doesn't allow me to edit them later. Before you ask, I am indeed using the plain white arrow (not the black one or the white arrow w/ the + sign) and I do not have any conflicting layers above the path or any strange groups that would cause this weird effect. The white arrow also makes the white box when I hover over an anchor point, but clicking doesn't do anything but select the entire path. Please help!

Christopher,
>This is very frustrating, because it forces my to make my paths perfect the first time I make them with the pen tool and doesn't allow me to edit them later.
Obviously, Illy is trying to help you get perfect.
If you want to cheat, you could try following the instructions in FAQ #2.

Direct select tool won't select anchor points

I can't get the direct select tool to select an anchor point on an embedded picture. I'm trying to squash a square image, but the direct select tool will only select the entire object, not individual anchor points. It worked in version 10, but in CS3 13.0.2 it just gives me the solid points. What changed?

>The direct select tool used to highlight the entire object, and the anchor(s) would become white circles. Then, you could move just one of the anchors at a time to make asymmetrical changes.
Not with placed images. Not ever.
>I can still do this with a shape I've drawn, but not with an image I placed.
Yes. That's the way it has always worked in Illustrator.
I have AI 8, 10, and 12 installed on this PC and on a Mac in my studio, so I'm not relying on (my failing) memory.

Group and direct selection tools

I am hovering above artwork with both the Direct Selection tool and the Group Selection tool and they both seem to show the same paths and anchor points.
I am also not sure that I see a difference when selection shapes or groups.
1. Is there any difference with the info that is displayed when hovering over shapes and paths with either of these tools?
2. How does using the group selection tool differ from the direct selection tool?

1. there seems to be no difference
2. basically among other uses, the direct selection tool is used to edit paths/segments, and the group selection tool is used to move paths or groups.

CS2 - Can't select points with direct selection tool

Noramlly in CS5 and any other version of Photoshop or Illustrator that I know of, if you click a point in an object, it will show the handles for transforming the line. As I'm creating something today, it works for a while and then stops. Yesterday I had the same problem. I drew a few things and then suddenly, the Direct Select Tool is not showing any transform handles.
I can get them to show if I can click and drag a box over the point, but this is slow and doesn't work well for layered art. I already tried resetting my illustrator preferences. Any other ideas?
EDIT: Also, in CS5 there's a simple icon that you can click to convert the currently selected point from a curved point to an angled point. Is there not such a thing in CS2?
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Gregor,
Sometimes Illy gets distracted an confused when others start intruding. The usual suspects are listen in Item 7 in Other options .
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Direct Selection Tool don't works cause points dissapear in shapes

Good evening,
I'm using Photoshop CC under a Macbook Pro Retina Display (15 inches), I've noticed that since lasts updates, when I use the direct selection tool for chaning a shape trace the points that should appear for selecting each anchor dissapears, and there's no way to get them back (sometimes by closing the program and restarting fixes this issue).
The tool is working because when I clic somewhere over a shape it gets highlighted on layers panel, but I can't see the points and so, can't modify the shape.
Does this belongs to any option? (I know in Illustrator there's an option to see or hide the points, but don't know if in Photoshop goes the same way or not) or it's a bug from the last updates? (I would say that it didn't happen at the beggining). But as I use a lot shorcuts, sometimes I can make a misstake and press cmd + wrong key, so I think it could be the reason for this... but I'm not quite sure.
Thanks in advice!
EDIT:
I've seen that if I hide the "extras" (cmd + H) it hides the guides but also the points from shapes (that shouldn't be this way, right?) and even I can see them when I turn them on, I can't pick just one as I did in CS6 by using direct selection tool and pressing on just one point (at the beggining all of them are highlighted cause you've got selected the whole shape layer, but when you press one, it should get this highlighted and turn off the rest of them), and the only way to get just one point is to pan with the cursor and make a selection, passing over the points you want to highlight, but this is annoying cause if you've got any other shape below, it will select it as well.

1000x this. My designs are 100% vector shapes, so if Adobe have changed this core behavior intentionally, they’ve just made my life a lot more difficult.
We should be able to use the Direct Selection Tool to select a shape layer (similar to how the Move Tool has done) by clicking on any visible pixel. But then we should be able to freely drag-select points on that shape (starting from any neutral area) without selecting other shape layers. This is how it’s worked since before I can remember.
Here’s why the two new selection modes don’t work:
Active Layers - I can no longer freely select any visible shape. Instead I’m forced to make a time-consuming roundabout to the layer palette, where I have to squint to find my shape layer, and activate it manually before continuing. (Hitting “V” to select a layer, then “A” to get back to the D.S. Tool is nearly as cumbersome. Plus, I leave off the Move Tool's auto-select mode.)
All Layers - Treats all my shapes as if they’re on one layer. Overlapping shapes are therefore impossible to work with -- mainly drag-selecting and deselecting points -- in situ.
We either need a “legacy” setting, or some way to constrain selection on drag, via a key modifier or something. This “all or nothing" thing doesn’t work for me... and apparently for others. Why would they change such a thing?
Or maybe there’s something I’m missing. Please let that be the case!

How do I constrain anchor angle when I tug on a path with the direct select tool?

How do I constrain anchor angle when I tug on a path with the direct select tool like it did in every version of Illustrator since 1988? New behavior is costing me time.

That solves it!
I was not able to find this in the online materials about the pen tool. In fact, Illustrator Help | Adjust path segments does not show the new functionality at all. They need to update that article.
Better way to implement the new functionality
It would have been nice if Adobe added to the chording controls for the direct select tool the ability to toggle this setting temporarily by holding down the space bar after mouse down to drag a segment.
Before mouse down this would give the user the hand tool.
If, after mouse down, I could hold space bar and have the behavior switch from the historical capability where dragging a segment cannot change adjacent segments to the new behavior where dragging the segment cannot move anchors but can rotate them, I am sure I would find times when the tool saved time. If, before mouse up, I release spacebar, turn the constraint back on with anchors pointing in their new directions and allow me to stretch the curve protecting the new shapes of adjacent curves.
Using space bar for this would be intuitive to me because holding down the space bar is something I already do to organically drag the page around with the hand tool. The new tool allows me to more organically stretch artwork around, something that is distantly analogous, but close enough to remember.
For long time Illustrator users, the chording features holding Ctrl/Alt/Shift/Space or Ctrl/Command/Shift/Space in different combinations while using the direct select tool and pen tool is the killer app part of Illustrator that keeps us using it. This what we did on Illustrator 88 on a Mac Plus in 1988 and is still the most productive way to produce vector art when precision is required.

Direct selection tool not working

Im trying to use the direct selection tool, but instead of moving objects its only moving anchor points.. how can i fix this? it doesn't usually happen!! Im using illustrator CS6
THANKS!!!

godcoma,
I believe the (normal black arrow) Selection Tool is what you are after here.
If you ClickDrag an Anchor Point of an unselected object with the Direct Selection Tool, only that Anchor Point will be dragged along. If the whole object is selected, the whole object will be dragged along. You may select the whole object in the Layers palette if that is what you wish.

Why is my direct selection tool not responding?

I have Creative suit 5.5 upgraded last year but cannot use ID as a couple of the application tools including direct selection tool just dfont respond. Any ideas?

Thank you. Please see InDesign tools and panels don't respond to mouse clicks (Windows 7/Vista)
If you have large fonts enabled in Windows 7 interface customization you cannot run an Aero theme with ID. You can leave the large fonts and use a classic theme, or return the font size to normal and keep the Aero theme.
The symptoms of this problem are not always restricted to the article description.

Direct select tool in illustrator CC not working

I think i might of, at some point, hit a shortcut key by mistake that has rendered my direct select tool duff. But after a lot of search and going through options i can't figure out what's going on.
If i select the direct select tool (A), click on my expanded stroke split into dashed lines. Usually i'd be able to use direct select to target each dash, but instead now nothing gets select when i use my direct select. Nothing at all. It's bugging the hell outta me as it's effecting my workflow. Is this a bug, or an option that's been switched on/off?

Doidge,
Is the Direct Selection Tool working normally for other tasks?
If it is, there must be something strange about the former dashes. You may have a closer look at them in the Layers palette.
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Direct Selection Tool will not choose individual "path" anchor points

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