Lost bezier handle on closing path with pen tool

Can any of you please instruct me how to avoid losing the first point’s backwards bezier handle when closing a path with the Pen Tool?
This is a longtime annoyance for me, but I cannot rule out that I simply have failed to find the proper way of turning off this behaviour.

I just did!
See my last post with the picture. I rotated not just the anchor point but the straight line that it was coupled to.
Steve.
Steve, you can rotate anchorPoints and adjacent straight segments all day long, and you will still not be replicating the behavior and intent of FreeHand's Connector Points.
We're not talking about rotating straight segments here. (I would hope that everyone knows you can do that.)
Forget rotating things. Draw a path with a curved segment and an adjacent diagonal straight segment. The straight segment has no extended handles; only the curved segment does. Now adjust the length of the handle of the anchorPoint that joins to the straight segment in such a way that you cannot break tangency of the curve with the straight segment. In other words, the handle is always constrained to the angle of the adjacent straight segment.
Don't bother coming back with the workaround of scaling the handle. That still does not ensure tangency.
Example: This is Fontographer (FreeHand's progenitor). The highlighted point at the bottom of the motorycycle's skid plate is a Corner Point. The segment to the left of it needs to be curved, while maintaining perfect tangency with the straight segment to the right of it. In the inset, the Corner Point has been converted to a Tangent Point, and its handle is being dragged out (all with one selection tool, I might add.) The handle cannot be dragged out at any angle other than that which is tangent to the right segment.
That's just an example of converting a pre-existing Corner Point to a Connector Point. But now consider ensuring tangency fluidly as you draw with the Pen. In Illustrator, click to place a CornerPoint. Click or clickDrag to place a second anchorPoint oriented at any angle from the first point such that you are guaranteed that the first segment is straight, and that the next segment will be curved and tangent to the first segment. Can you do that in Illustrator?
While we're at it, note that in FOG, as in FH, you always know what kind of point you are dealing with. Corner Points are displayed as squares, Curve Points as circles, and Connector Points (Tangent Points in FOG) as triangles (regardless of whether their handles are extended or retracted).
JET

Similar Messages

The feature that i need most...do not activate paths with pen tool

If you have to add one thing in illustrator...
Make optional NOT to add new paths to an unselected anchor point with the pen tool.
I never want to activate paths with the pen tool
Arrow tool=select
Pen tool= add new points
If i want to add new segments to a path, i'd select it first a selection tool.
To my knowledge, Illustrator is the only vector application that doesn't follow this convention
In theory,activating the paths with the pen tool should speed the drawing: However when working with illustrations that combine open and closed paths, or if we want to start a new line from an anchor point, we have to lock, unlock or put in layers in order to avoid to activate unselected paths:
That's very slow and frustrating, specially when in other apps, you can create complex illustrations in just one layer and with no lock/unlock due a more precise control over the paths.
I have mentioned this feature before, but every time i face a project with a mix of open and closed paths, is a major problem
Please change this behaviour or at least, make it optional.

Yes, it has to be removed in two places and someone who has the authority might take action upon my mentioning it again.
Here is a link on syncing - http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1386nHave a read. Someone who uses the Books tab often might give you a step by step guide. Meanwhile, you can email yourself a PDF to keep you going. If it is a one page PDF it will be shown as opened in the email on your iPad. Press on the centre of it to save it to ibooks.If it is more than one page it will be shown as an icon; press on it for the prompt where to open it and choose iBooks, or whatever. I use Goodreader as it has a superior file management system. It costs very little.
Here is the link fo the iPad User Guide should you not already have it. You can download it to iBooks - http://support.apple.com/manuals/#ipad
Finaly, get more help by clicking on iPad Support at the top of the index page on this forum.

One point circle path with pen tool

I have heard or people drawing a circle path with one point and dragging or something like this. I would really like to be able to do this! Is this possible?

Absolutely just hold down the shift key while dragging one of the ellipse tools. Add the Alt|CMD key then circle center will be where you start dragging from. Marque ellipse tool or ellipse tool. Selection can be turned into path. But the Ellipse tool is better for its a vector tool. Can create shapes layers, Paths and fill pixels... Pen Tool circle is hard but you can use the pen tool to edit the circle path created with the ellipse tool.

Path with Pen tool- Color

Is there a way to enhance (change color) of the path generated with the Pen tool. I don't mean "stroking" the path after the path is completed. I mean the original outline of the path with the Pen tool. I have a rather completed photo which I am having trouble seeing the path as I am generating the path.
Thanks.

Hi
I think I see what you mean... it is a fine line and unlike in other applications, I'm pretty certain I'm correct that you cannot specify a colour for it.
I can only suggest, and I don't know if this will help, but you could make the layer your complicated photo is on temporarily less opaque so: lighter in effect. Not actually lighter and not a permanent change you understand. I don't know how well you know PhotoShop so if you need me to explain exactly what to do, just say, no probs. I'll explain, it's easy.
I'm not sure it will help, but it's all I can think to suggest I'm afraid. I'm sure if anyone has a better idea, they'll be along soon to tell you about it :-)
Edit... ah... just beaten to it by Marlo with a better idea, lol.

Linking two different paths with pen tool or other: HOW?

The question is simple yet important: I have drawn path 1 and
path 2. I want to joint them, the way you join in every graphic
application like Illustrator (cmd+j) or FreeHand. If I try to clik
on the ending point of one of them nothing happens and I can't find
a command to join them in some other way.
So, does someone have any suggestion or shuld I think taht
this is impossibile to obtain?
Thanks

Flash's drawing engine is different than other vector drawing
programs. Easiest way in flash is to
use the Selection tool (black arrow) and turn on "snap"
(little magnet icon). Then drag one point
close to the other and they will snap together ;)
--> **Adobe Certified Expert**
--> www.mudbubble.com
--> www.keyframer.com
iTinette wrote:
> The question is simple yet important: I have drawn path
1 and path 2. I want to
> joint them, the way you join in every graphic
application like Illustrator
> (cmd+j) or FreeHand. If I try to clik on the ending
point of one of them
> nothing happens and I can't find a command to join them
in some other way.
> So, does someone have any suggestion or shuld I think
taht this is impossibile
> to obtain?
>
> Thanks
>

Re: Closed Path with Text

I hope this is a simple enough question and someone can help me out!
I created a closed path with the pen tool. Then I filled it with text using the 'Text Area Type Tool'. Now I would like to use the closed path as a Shape (in order to fill with color) and I'm not able to reverse it from a Text Shape.
Is there a way to copy the Text Shape and convert it back to a regular path Shape?
Thanks so much for your help! I have a bunch of these Text paths that I would like to fill with color.
~Owen

With the Group Selection Tool (the white arrow with the + sign next to it), drag over a portion of the path enclosing the area text, or click on the path, to select the path without selecting the text itself. You may then copy and paste (or paste behind, etc.) and then fill or stroke the path.
Peter

Problem with Pen Tool CS5

Hi,
I just got Photoshop CS5 and I'm having a bit of trouble with the pen tool - namely, I can't see the path I'm creating. In CS3 I could clearly see the line between two points but in the new program the line is nearly invisible making it very difficult to create the path. Is this a setting I can fix?
thanks

I was having 32 bit while I upgraded from CS3 to CS4. The only problem with CS4 that time was with pen tool.Though I cannot precisely recall , I can say it t was very lazy and very frustrating and this was resolved totally after shifting to 64 bit.--If urs existing system is 32 bit try with 64 bit

How do you change the color of the path the pen tool makes?

There must be some way to change the color of the path the pen tool makes from that grey color to something that will contrast with the image underneath. I found one thread about this from 2010 or so and the answer led to a dead link. This seems like it would be a very helpful feature that would be easy to implement. Someone please tell me in 2014, after a zillion version of photoshop have come out in the past 30 or so years, how do we do this? Thank in advance.

Why? When you zoom in too close sometimes it become too pixelated to see what's going on and the point on the pen become to close to each other. Why can't you change the path to a color so that it doesn't blend into the image you're trying to trace? Why is the unchangeable color one of the most likely colors to become invisible on most images? So frustrating!

Slow down when processing image clipping in photo shop with pen tool

Adobe cs5 slow down when processing image clipping use with pen tool. The path is applying after few seconds when we draw on the image. My system supporting 4 GB memory with 64 bit.

The main thing i use paths for in photoshop is extracting objects from photos.
Other uses include stroking paths with the paint tools. For example, if you had
a powerline to remove, one could trace the line with the pen tool and then stroke
the path with spot healing brush set to content aware fill.
more info on photoshop paths:
http://help.adobe.com/en_US/photoshop/cs/using/WSfd1234e1c4b69f30ea53e41001031ab64-73ada.h tml
MTSTUNER

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

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.

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

Ctrl not working with Pen Tool - Can't move shapes or paths

I have Windows 8 and Photoshop CS3. It works fine, but I accidentally must have messed something up earlier tonight, because holding down Ctrl (when using the pen tool) suddenly won't let me move shapes or paths. I work a lot with vector graphics and design so I've ALWAYS held down Ctrl after closing a path and then moved it around on the canvas. The cursor turns black when I do this. Now, it's white and tries to select nothing? If I click directly on the path, it just alters the handlebars. And the Move Tool tells me I can't select anything.
This is what it looks like when I hold down Ctrl when using the pen tool and try to move my path. I cannot select it.
Please help me, I have a project due and the only way I can move my paths or shapes now is by clicking ctrl+t and it's very annoying.
Thanks in advance.

What you describe is how it works with one of the Shape Tools selected in the toolbox.
With the Pen Tool selected, one presses the Ctrl key, drags around the path to select all the points and then click and drag on one of the sides (not one of the points) to move the whole path.

How to Extrude a path created with Pen Tool

Hi All
I have created a path with the pen tool (the brown part), and now I want to extrude it, but it extrudes the whole containing block (See image below)
Now I have tried everything, from grouping to compound paths etc, but nothing works.
How do I extrude my path?
Thank you

...and Texturized it AFTER the extrusion....
Applied a Grain Texture after the extrusion.
For clarity:
Always pay attention to the Appearance palette. The order of the items in the Appearance stack reflects the order in which they are applied.
A so-called "live effect" (of which both 3D Effect and Grain Texturizer are examples) is an operation which is automatically re-applied after you make an edit to the object to which it is applied. The effects are applied in the order in which they appear in the Appearance stack, from top to bottom.
1. Ellipse Tool: Draw an ellipse. Leave it selected.
2. Apply 3D Effect.
3. Apply Texturize Effect.
Look at the Appearance palette. 3D Effect is listed above Texturizer, and the whole 3D rendering is texturized.
4. Appearance palette: Drag 3D Effect to below Texurizer. The unwanted extrusion of the entire texture image appears.
JET

Combine and Join Two Closed Paths With A Straight Path

Hi,
I have two closed path and I need to combine or join them with a straight path. When I selected all and right click to join, it did not join. Please refer to my screen shot. Thank you.

You can't create Y-junctions.
You can do one of two possbilities:
Just place the open path wherever you need and leave it there.
convert all of the shapes with Object > Path > outline stroke and then use the pathfinder functions.

Very difficult to see paths when working with pen tool - Mac

Photoshop CS5 - Working with the pen tool is something I do a lot but it is such a pain because I can barely make the lines out sometimes. It can get so bad that my eyes hurt. I found some advice about adding an adjustment layer and changing the level. This kind of works but I find it difficult to believe that they can't be made more visable. Turning off the anti-aliasing hasn't seemed to have made any difference either.
Is CS6 any better?
Thanks

I cannot understand why Photoshop is at version 13.x and there isn't a control for the user to adjust the path colour and brightness.
The thread does not address the whole issue but explains why the bahaviour changed on Mac:
http://feedback.photoshop.com/photoshop_family/topics/please_let_us_change_the_pen_tool_pa th_color

New path-layers from every line with pen tool?

Hi! I'm currently using Illustrator CS6 as a test version and when I use the pen tool to make a beaver (school assignment), it all end up in one layer. I want to have a new path-layer from every line with the pen tool, so I can remove lines in the layer panel too. At the moment it's one layer that have a picture of a beaver and I can't see the individual lines I've drawn. When I used CS5 recently I didn't have this problem.
Is it a setting I can change or does it have something to do with the news in CS6?

If you want to see a "layer" for every object change the Layer Panel display by choosing Panel Options from the Layer Panel Menu. In the lower section of the panel options window, make certain Groups and Objects are both checked. You'll then see a "layer" for each object.
I am quoting "layer" here because technically they aren't layers. They look like layers and are in the Layer Panel, but they don't exactly allow the options which actual Layers allow. You will be able to select and move the objects in the panel this way however.

Lost bezier handle on closing path with pen tool

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