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.

Similar Messages

Anchor Points Refuse To Join

I have been making a simple object using just the pen tool and the line segment tool. I joined all of the points on the object, but two of the anchor points refuse to join. I have tried using Command>J. I also tried averaging and then joining via the object menu. It always comes up with an error that says "open endpoints are not selected / not on the same path" when they clearly are.
Below is a screen shot. The point that's selected is the point in question. All of the other points joined without issue. Any suggestions would be very helpful.

Thanks for the reply. I tried moving the points back and forth as you recommended and made sure that there were just two points. I tried ungrouping and regrouping the objects to make sure they wre not separated, I even tried re-creating the line segment in question sevral times using three different tools. Unfortunately it is still giving me the same error.
Here is an image of the object without the segment in place with arrows pointing to where the open anchors are.

How can I find out the angle of a straight line between two anchor points?

I would like to extend a line which is at a given angle (not 45,90 degree). Is there a quick and reliable way to do this? or to find out the angle of a segment?
What I'm doing at the moment is just direct selecting an anchor point and using the visual guides to extend it. I don't think this is exact though so was I wondering if anyone had any techniques for doing this?
Thanks!

portfelio,
Smart Guides are your friends.
As a general solution, you may:
1) With the Line Segment Tool ClickDrag between the two Anchor Points (Smart Guides say anchor);
2) With the appropriate Reference Point selected in the Transform palette, increase the W or H value and Ctrl/Cmd+Enter;
3) Lock the new auxiliary line;
4) ClickDrag the relevant Anchor Point of the original line along the extended auxiliary line (Smart Guides say path);
5) Unlock and delete the auxiliary line.
After 1), you may also click the Line Segment Tool to see the angle.
Or, in a case with a straight path (segment), you may use the Scale Tool:
1) (Direct) Select the straight path (segment);
2) Switch to the Scale Tool and Click the Anchor Point that is to stay, then ClickDrag the one to move (Smart Guides say uniform when you are dragging in the right direction).

Why does the pen tool remove previous line when I add new anchor points??

Why does the pen tool remove previous lines??
Video here: http://youtu.be/8AmPUkD88h0
It removes the hairline on the face, when I add more anchor points. Why? And how do I correct it?

The ins and outs of the new and changed behaviors in the re-engineered pen tool have been disussed here on this forum and I'm sure a little detour to the help files will also shed some light on this...
Mylenium

Anchor points on line segments.....

Closed path made with pen tool in Flash MX comprises of line segments & curved segments both.While adding anchor points on segments it is noticed
that pen tool adds anchor points on curvaceous segments but not on line segments. Why is it so ? Is their any way to accomlish this task ?

If you hover over the pen tool in its toolbar you should get a selection of different pen tools, at least one of which will allow you to add an anchor point on a straight line.

Illustrator: improve the anchor and direction points as also the direction lines.

The work with anchor and direction points, as well as their direction lines is often frustrating. This is caused by two main problems.
a) Anchor and direction points are visually not different enough, hence give us many options to do that please, e.g. the possibility to display the anchor points sensibly bigger (and other color) than the direction points and to more clearly highlight the currently active anchor point.
b) The direction line color is the same as the active path color, but it shouldn't. Using the same color makes the visual situation much more unclear (many overlapping lines of same color)
Both aspects, a) and b) lead to the necessity to zoom in and out much more often than we should and simply makes us slowly.
Thanks, Michael

You can change the layer color, by double clicking on the layer name.
The bezier points I do not know of a way, except changing your monitor resolution to something with less pixels.
On the mac you can change the cursor size using the accessibility control panel, windows has a similar control. I even like a small increase from normal, except that my brush size for retouching in Photoshop is not accurate afterwards.

Join 3 anchor points for "intersection" effect?

Hi,
I'm seriously stuck trying to join 3 open paths with stroke only, into something of an intersection that is dividing 3 pie slots. However I can't join more than 2 of them, as the screenshot below the third one gets left behind, Join command doesn't work Because I have the opacity down to 70% you can see the ugly overlap in the intersection and I need to join all the 3 points for them to look as they should. Does anyone know if/how this can be done in Illustrator?
Thanks!

Laiza,
You can only have 2 segments from each Anchor Point, so you cannot join 3.
You may select the three paths and use Object>Path>Outline Stroke, then join the three new closed paths with Pathfinder>Unite.

Anchor Points and Intersect Guide Lines Disappeared

Hi! I must have hit some type of command on my keyboard but now my anchor points and intersect guides have disappeared that would normally appear when I roll my mouse over the anchor point or the intersecting paths. I have hit Ctrl + H as well as went to the menu manually and my edges are showing. How do I turn back on this ability to see my anchor points and intersecting lines guide in Illustrator?
Thanks in advance!!
Edit: I run on Adobe Illustrator CS5

Is View > Smart Guides turned on? If not, enable it.
If Smart Guides are already turned on, check if Align to Grid is enabled in the View menu and turn it off.

How to create a wavy line with consistent wave regardless of anchor point spacing?

The above image shows my problem. All have the same zig zag effect setting, but due to inconsistent anchor point spacing there is inconsistent waviness. Is there a way to make a wavy line that is not a distortion based on anchor point distances? I'd like all my wavy lines to look nice and consistent like this:
The only reason they're so consistent is the absolute setting has been used but these lines are all straight and have only 2 anchor points, start and finish, hence the wave is consistent. It's harder when the lines are curvy and have a different number and spacing of anchor points.

If you want the fill to follow the boundary, here's one way to do it, more easily done than demonstrated:

Why does removing an anchor point from this line reshape the image?

Hi,
I tried removing an anchor point from a semi-circle, but removing the anchor point reshapes the image.
Video of it here:
Anyone know how I can correct it? The semi-circle is a portion of a circle that remained after I had removed a portion, so reshaping it by moving the remaining anchor point will not do, as it will not create that perfect semi-circle.

Can you first change to outline view then select the anchor point in question with the direct selection tool and post a screenshot of the outcome (with guides showing). Just want to see if there is a handle point attached and then this may be the reason why. It may be worth using the delete anchor point tool instead of the eraser.

Show not selected anchor points (and connect)

Hello.
Every now and then I have the problem in Illustrator that I want to connect two anchor points with the pen tool. The two anchor points belong to different objects. Is there any way to always show all anchor points. Today I have to select one of the object to see the first anchor point I want to connect. And then hovering the point over the plaece where I presume the second anchor point is located until the mouse icon indicates that I have the pointer at an anchor point.
A second question: Is there any way to connect more than two “lines” to an anchor point? I.e intersect and connect an anchorpoint in the middle of a line with a third anchor point.

Almost.
My thought was that if I could see all anchorpoints of all objects, without selecting the objects. Ie. se all "white" anchor points, when I select them they will become "filled/blue".

CS5: Coloring Anchor Points

Hi there. I'm clearly missing some simple beginner thing. I'm working on a tutorial, and the directions I'm at are these:
Step 16:
Select the bottom shape and use the Mesh Tool (U) to add an anchor point in the left corner, exactly in the middle of the bottom shape as shown.
Paint all the bottom anchor points of this shape with R:0, G:0, B:0. And paint the top anchors points with R:135, G:96, B:66.
Here's the Tutorial if you want the visual reference: http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/illustration/how-to-make-a-magic-book-using-adobe-ill ustrator/
I'm creating a book, and this is at the base, so it was basically two rectangles with a half circle in the middle as a spine. I used the mesh tool to create a line that bisects the shape. I have to assume meshes behave differently, because I couldn't Divide the paths to make separate segments, and changing the fill of the shape ignores the mesh line. So I'm assuming right now a Mesh path isn't counted as a normal path. But it's telling me to paint all the anchor points, and in two different colors... How on earth do I do that?
I click the gradient tool, it doesn't seem to do anything but paste a gradient slider over things, that doesn't affect the fill color.
Grabbing the shape and changing it's color in the Color panel changes the entire shape's fill...
Selecting the group and trying to make it a gradient from the Gradient panel does nothing, it doesn't even register as a thing that can be filled.
So what exactly are those directions asking me to do?
Thanks so much!

Looks like the instructions is missing key information for people that aren't very accustomed to using Illustrator.
To add a fill to a gradient mesh point you need to first select the Direct Selection Tool, which is the A key, and then click on each point of the gradient mesh you want to change. To make this process quicker, click and drag across the points you want to include while holding the shift key. This way you don't have to select each point precisely and can be a little looser with what you're selecting. But keep in mind that any points you surround with the direct selection tool will be selected so depending on the shapes in your file dragging across them may not be the best option.
Then with the points selected you can go into your Color pallet and change the color of just those points. You'll know the points are selected because they'll be filled in with a solid color while non-selected points will be "hollow" which is just a fancy way of saying they'll be filled with white.

Won't allow me to join end points together

Hi,
This has been an on going problem for me.
I have two lines i want to join, so i average the end points and try to 'join' them but i cant, theyre still left as separate lines/points.
Can someone help me out?
Thanks
PS im using Illustrator CS6

Two possibilities:
They may be in different groups
There may be more than 2 anchor points selected.
Check in the Layers panel to see they are not grouped separately
click each point and drag, to see if there is an extra point hiding under one end point.

Change Stoke Weight PER Anchor Point

I was wondering if in a future release of Illustrator if it would be possible to be able to have the option to change the weight (or thickness) on an anchor point by anchor point basis. Picture a straight segment (line) made up of two anchor points (drawn with the pen tool).
I would like the ability to click on the first anchor point and change the weight (stroke / thickness) of that anchor point to 1 pt then click on the second anchor point and change it's stoke to 5 pts. I would like the line segment to be 1 pt thin at the beginning and for it to gradually get thicker until it reaches a 5 pt thickness at the second anchor point.
In addition to that I would like to be able to do this with all of the Illustrator drawing tools, for example: Using the square tool, to be able to start the whole square at 1 pt stoke thickness... but then be able to select one of it's corner anchor points and change that one point to 3 pt thickness and have the attached segments get progressively thinner going down to the other 1 pt anchor points.
I hope I've explained that well enough. If you need examples please let me know.
Cindy Colby
[email protected]

Cindy,
That request comes up here all the time. It really isn't workable. You'll soon find that you don't want the thickness settings to be locked to the positions of anchorpoints, because you're not going to want the
thicknesses to be locked to the
shape of the spine path.
So on-object variable thickness control would end up requiring yet another set of handles along the path, just for controlling thickness. I serously question the real-world value of this.
Look, you want to be able to vary the thickness of a stroke. You can already do that with an Art Brush. Example:
1. Rectangle Tool. Draw a square.
2. Rotate Tool. Rotate it 45 degrees.
3. Remove Anchorpoint Tool. Click the left anchorpoint to remove it.
4. Drag the resulting triangle to the Brushes Palette. Define an Artbrush.
Now draw a path of any shape. Apply the Brush. You now have a "stroke" that increases thickness along the path.
But you want it lighter or heavier weight overall. Adjust the stroke weight in the Stroke dialog.
You want it going in the opposite direction. Change the direction of the path, change the direction of the Brush, change the direction of the Brush as it is applied to just that path (doubleClick its listing in the Appearance Palette), or make a pair of Brushes from the beginning (as I often do).
But you said you want the start of the path to be 1 pt, not zero, and then to be 5 pt. at the end. Fine. Instead of a triangle, create your ArtBrush from a trapezoid instead of a triangle.
Now... apply that trapezoid Brush to an ess curve. Works fine. Starts at 1 pt.; increases weigth to 5 pt. at the other end. But now you decide you want it to start at 5 pt., shrink to 1 pt. at the middle of the ess, then increase to 5 pt. toward the end.
Now, you could easily build a Brush that does that, too, but consider this:
So you use one of the methods explained above to make a "reverse" of the trapezoid Brush. You cut the ess path at the middle, where you want the thin to occur, and reverse the direction of one half.
Now you encounter one of the key problems with all these half-baked suggestions for on-object stroke weight adjustment handles: The place where the "thin" changes directions has a kink in it. Do you want that kink? Sometimes yes, sometimes no. How will you control the "smoothness" of the change of direction of the stroke weight curve? Your tidy interface is going to have to get more complicated. It's going to have to include some kind of "direction handles" at each of the weight-change key points.
Now I ask you: What feature in AI already gives you that control? Answer: ArtBrushes.
Now consider the real-world practicality of all this. What do you want to use this for? Drawing calligraphy-like flourishes? You try that with any more than one or two intermediate thickness keys along a given curve, and you'll find the smoothness of the result is quite difficult to control. An ArtBrush thoughtfully-built from a simple geometric primitive is easier to control.
Or do you want to use it to give your cartoon line drawings more of a hand-drawn look that is more convincing than the almost always unsatisfying results of Calligraphic Brushes? Do you really want to adjust handles on each and every path you draw in a cartoon? Try some of my simple geometric ArtBrushes and see if you
really need more than two or three variants to get the look that you want.
The idea sounds great on the surface, but if you give careful thought to the actual implementation, you'll find it isn't as workable as you first think. And for the vast majority of
practical uses, simple ArtBrushes already facilitate it.
Some here have even mocked-up elaborate fake "interfaces" for a separate window in which to tediously describe a "profile" of a varying stroke that would then later be added to paths; all the while failing to realize that is essentially what ArtBrushes
already are--except you don't need a separate dialog to do it; you can do it right there on the artboard, and then update the ArtBrush.
I fully expect that if Adobe spent development time in pursuit of a separate dedicated interface and feature set for this, the end result would be as awkward to actually use as the on-path handles for pathType objects, and as tedious and time-wasteful as all the tweaks and twiddles in LiveTrace.
All that's really needed is a few thoughtful improvements to the already-existing Brushes feature set. How about an "isolation mode" (or edit window) for Brushes, instead of having to drag an existing Brush onto the artboard, edit it, and then drag it back to update it? Then do some work on improving the mitering of Brushes where they encounter corners and sharp bends in the spine path.
The usefulness of other Brushes (particularly Pattern Brushes) would benefit hugely from just a few similarly modest improvements, too.
JET

Suddenly can't merge any anchor points?

I am busy working on creating a big object with many split ways, you can compare it with the streets of NY or something,
Now the first 5-6 hours went great combining anchor points so it is one big object. However now suddenly Illustrator is giving me an error on mergin anchor points, i do them exactly the same as i did the first 5 to 6 hours?
How can i still merge anchor points, i can't find a solution because it got broken in the progress and not on the start like everyone else their problem with merging anchor points....
Please help me and thanks

theraaf,
I apologize for the figure of speech (end of the line).
What I meant was: You can only join two paths end to end, by end Anchor Points.
It sounds as if you are trying to join the end point (or an inner point) of one path to an inner point of the other, like a road junction or a crossing, and that is impossible.
There can only be two segments from each Anchor Point.

Joining anchor point to middle of a line

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