Pen Tool/Anchor Point Help

I often draw/trace things using the Pen Tool. I start with an anchor point (A) then click to make another (B), then I drag the first handle away from the anchor point in order to make a bezier curve. The problem comes when I need to continue the path to another anchor point (C) after the curve. If I don't move the "dragged" handle, then it warps the continued path to the next anchor point (C). What I have been doing to remedy this frustration is switching to the Direct Selection Tool then moving the "dragged" handle over top of the previous anchor point (B). Please tell me there is an easier/faster way to do this...
Many thanks in advance!

Have you studied the manual?
Illustrator Help | Drawing with the Pen, Pencil, orFlare tool
There are also plenty of tutorials on how to use the pen tool.
If you know all this and still need help, please post a screenshot of the situation.

Similar Messages

Pen tool anchor points

Hello,
Is there a short cut on Mac or a way to add 1 handle to an anchor point that already has a handle - other than using the convert anchor tool?
When I use the convert anchor point tool, it resets the previous curve that I had already drawn, and I have to draw out the 2 handles to make the curve I had already made.
It would be much easier if one could just pull out 1 handle from an anchor point in order to tweak the curve or line.
Thanks

Here’s another trick if it is imperative to move only one handle:
With Smart Guides turned on, drag ruler guides to intersect at the handles.
With the Line tool draw a line between those intersections.
Scale that line with the scale tool and Shift held down. It will get longer at both ends.
Convert the line to a guide (Cmd/Ctrl+5).
Now you can drag one handle along the new guide and the opposite sector won’t move.

Brush tool anchor points are gone does some one now how to put them back?

Brush tool anchor points are gone does some one now how to put them back?

Press the H key to hide/show the anchor points. The brush tool needs to be active when you do this.

Pen Tool: Anchor Below Nib

I've been practicing with the pen tool using three different source texts (K.Eismann, CS3 Classroom, Web) and I've altered the pen setup that now the anchor points are setting at the base of the nib instead of at the point of the nib. The pen and options are correct and I've checked CS4 cursor preferences. Futzing doesn't work either; never does, only wastes time.
Please help to correct the Pen (My) behavior.
Your aid has always been direct and true; thanks for past rewards.
Chrlz_B

Futzing
—Verb phrase
3.
futz with or around with, to handle or deal with, esp. idly, reluctantly, or as a time-consuming task: I spent all day futzing with those file folders.
After two days, this problem has been solved and after 22 hours of pen practice I find I need more practice. Believe it or not, Restarting Photoshop cured the Anchor problem.
Chrlz_B

Illustrator CS5 Rotate Tool Anchor Point Bug

Summary:
I can reproduce this bug consistently, every single time. I am unable to set a new anchor point for the rotate tool in Illustrator CS5.
Steps to reproduce the bug:
1. Create a new shape, doesn't matter what
2. Press R or just select the rotate tool
3. Alt-Click to pick up the anchor point and drag to a new posiiton
4. Let the mouse go- at this point the anchor stays locked to the cursor even if I click and am only able to unlock it from the cursor if I click on a new tool, but without getting to choose a new anchor point.
Also I tried this with a Intuos 2 tablet and pen with the same results. I have an NVidia Quadro FX 3500 card installed with the latest driver as well.
I'm not sure if this issue is related, but also in After Effects CS5 if I press 0 to start doing a preview and then click away say on Firefox, then click back to After Effects, I am unable to click around inside After Effects to get the render to stop. It makes me wait until the whole comp is pushed into a ram preview before it unlocks itself.
Any ideas?

I too experience this problem and was hoping to find a solution. I've tried reverting to early Wacom Driver versions with no success. I find that if you "break the connection" between the pen and the tablet then the rotate point will drop and the rotate dialog will appear. I've found that this only works reliably when lifting the pen straight up off of the tablet til it loses signal. Not ideal for precision work. You'll notice that the rotate point drops when you move over to the menus, so I'm guessing it has something to do with the "drawing area."
My system specs for comparison.
Intuos 3
Windows 7 x64
Wacom driver v. 615-3a
Illustrator CS5 15.0.1
Nvidia GeForce 9800 GTX+ Driver Version 258.96
Core i7 920 Processor
12Gb DDR3 Ram

Photoshop Pen Tool: Welding Points?

I am working with Photoshop CS3 and I have 3 paths that were on different layers until I moved them all to 1 layer. I can select all of the paths with the Path Selection Tool and "Combine" them into 1 path... but this doesn't do what I need it to. I need to be able to take 2 nodes (or "anchor points") and weld them together as 1 anchor point. I noticed that combining the paths (even when placing the nodes right on top of each other) does not turn 2 nodes into 1. They are still 2 nodes on top of each other. I went to delete anchor points around these 2 nodes and that is when I noticed they weren't "welded" together. I know that in Cinema 4D you can "weld" points together and it works perfectly for what I need in C4D but I need this to work in Photoshop. Is there a way?

Sure, here you go:
The last three steps in the History panel will look like this:

Pixelated Pen Tool Diagonal. Help? Thx!

In Illustrator/CS6, I've drawn a diagonal line with my pen tool and then changed the stroke to 14. The line looks pixelated. Onscreen. Immediately...before I export it to any other type of file.
In Preferences: I have "Anti-aliased Artwork" checked.
Under Rasterize I've tried a few settings, including 300dpi.
I've tried what older posts recommend, to no avail:
Opt+Cmd+Y
Simplify Path
Under Effects>Rasterize...make sure it's 300dpi.
I checked Appearances: I only have stroke marked there...nothing else funky going on that panel
I had to laugh when older posts suggested the person with the pixelated lines was just nit-picky. I'm nit-picky too! And so is my client, who just wants a straight, clean diagonal line.
The odd thing is that I've exported this pixelated line as an svg...scaled it and printed it 6-feet tall...and it looked great. But onscreen - in my .ai file and in the various forms you can export it to for web use - it looks rough.
Here's a screen shot, but it's hard to tell from it unless you zoom in. It is not hard to tell on my .ai file, though.
Help? Thanks!

Your monitor has to use pixels to display anything. No matter how straight and precise the vector path is, the screen will always show pixels. The greater the pixel density of your monitor the less noticable pixel edges are. Until there's some massive innovation in display technology, this is merely how things work. You should trust that vector is vector and will be output as smooth, straight paths. You could always upgrade to a 4k display if it bothers you that much. It won't remove the issue entirely, but will greatly improve the pixel display of the monitor.

Indesign CS5 Rotate Tool Anchor Point Bug

When rotating any object using either the rotate tool or 'Rotate 90 Clockwise/Anti Clockwise' the Anchor point defaults to the top left hand corner of the object frame. I would expect the Default Anchor point to be the center of any object that is placed on the work area.
Each time I want to rotate an object I have to move the ancor point to the centre of the object.
Is this a known issue?
Using CS5 with most recent updates on Intel Mac but also noticed same error on Win based systems in our office.
Thanks
Nathaniel

Ahh, I forgot to check that! Yes it has worked, although it's a little strange to be defaulted to top left point on all of our machines!
Thank you
Nathaniel

Pen tool control points too small

Is there any way to make it easier to select control points for the pen tool? It's really frustrating trying to edit paths since I keep missing the control point which deselects the whole path.
Ideally I'd like to be able to increase the size of the control points themselves, but alternatively is there a 'snap to control point' option or something so I don't have to precisely click on a 1x1 pixel dot? It'd even be good if the size of the control points increase as I zoom in, but I can't see how to do that either. I'm using CS3.
Thanks,
Sam

Sam,
View>Smart Guides may be your friends: they tell you where you are.

Pen tool automatically adding points

I recently got a new computer and reloaded all of the Adobe software (CC).
Here is the issue: When I am using the pen tool, I will try to put a point in place and pull out the curve handles. <click and drag, then release mouse button> But if I hold the mouse button down for more than just a second, it will act as if I've let the mouse button go and have depressed the button again. I want to put down one point and drag the curve to where I want it but it has placed that point, dragged it part way, placed another point and I'm now dragging THAT point's curve handle. It really messes up the shape.
Also, when I am trying to create the lines, the guide line is seemingly trying to snap to some kind of grid.
I want to be able to place my points and drag the curves where I want them and also, I am really not a fan of ANY snap to functions. I would like them all gone. Can anyone help me solve these?

CHeck your mouse. Check if a different moseu works better.
For all the snap functions, take a look at
- the View menu
- the Preferences for Pen and Anchor point
- the preferences for smart guides
- smart guides themselves
Also you might want to check "Align to pixel grid"
All of these functions and options are documented well in the manual and in these forums. Just use your favorite search engine.

Points added with pen tool before clicking mouse

Has anyone else had a problem with the Illustrator pen tool adding points before you've even clicked the mouse? If so are there any solutions to this problem? I've had to quit and start again because this wastes so much time. Is this bug? I've also had a problem where Illustrator will sometimes freeze when I open the program with the icon but won't if I open the program by opening an illustrator file. Thanks!

steve fairbairn wrote:
How charming that Illy is now feminine – I had never thought of her that way.
It explains a few quirks (sorry girls)
Steve.
She always was. Up to 10 you could even enjoy her image while working with her. And before anyone objects: forensic experts can tell you straight away that she is not Venus: among other things, the length of her neck (Illy) is only 80% of hers (Venus).

Pen tool Drawing & Bucket Filling Problem

Hello, i am a newbie and novoice/new learner to flash CS4
I come across a problem when i follow the book "classroom in a book series" the Flash CS4 one (Red cover book) Chapter 2
Q.1
I try to draw straight lines or curves but i found i still cannot manage how to use PEN TOOL
How can i draw straight line? Also how can i draw absolute vertical or horizontal line with some special combination key like CTRL or SHIFT
i tried guessing SHIFT or CTRL while using PEN TOOL but no help
How can i draw curve?
i know it depends somehow on whether i hold my click for a new anchor point???
Any tutorial which is clear and easy for new comer for fully understanding for PEN TOOL.(Currently i try reading pdf reference from ADOBE Web site and google search but did not make myself understand.)
Q.2
I cannot use bucket filling a shape draw by PEN TOOL(i already search google sites but cannot find one with satisfied causes for this FILLING Problems)
like the image shown below(Please click to enlarge this PRINTSCREEN)
Tools i used are PEN TOOL drawing a shape first then a BUCKET for filling color.
Many thanks to any of your help!!!!!

Reply to 2nd floor post
Thank You for your answer and your appreciation.
but.....i am so sorry to have a further question NOW!
i follow your link and learn some technique which is supposed to work well:
http://www.recipester.org/Recipe:Fill_a_flash_shape_with_gap_33956508
However,i go there and did a experiment MYSELF.
first i draw an oval with black color stroke and no color for its fill.
then i use an eraser tool to make that little gap!
Q.3 (A NEW QUESTION)
however i cannot fill the oval with even very SMALL GAP like this jpeg shown below:(PLEASE click below to ENLARGE it)
I then find i cannot use bucket fill AGAIN...
For the first question, i try to use the pen tool for 6 hours practicing....and reading the official manual i find there are multiple modes of pen tool
so COMPLEX!! which is not mentioned in my red cover book from Adobe Press.(the book i mentioned in 1st post maybe have some more explaination later?)
I generally can click or drag to make some straight or curve now like 3rd floor reply.(Subselection tool is helpful when adjusting the curve or line)
AGAIN Thank You so much!!!!!

Creating a bell-shapped (Gaussian) curve with the Pen Tool

Hello everyone,
I'm trying to create a bell-shaped (Gaussian) curve in Photoshop CS3, using the Pen Tool, however apparently I am not good enough with it... I can create a curve that resembles a simple parabola - like this one http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_BhBX8ycVeL4/SIHhJYmDCgI/AAAAAAAAA-g/2Dc_Tf1Kz5c/s400/400px-Para bola.svg.png only upside-down; however I can't figure out how to further go from here in order to add the extra inflexions on the sides that make the parabola into a Gaussian curve, that would look something like this: http://naturalcureinsomnia.com/img/Bell-Curve.gif
Can anyone help? Thanks in advance!

Art,
Correct me if I'm wrong---I believe you want a schematic Gaussian curve rather than a mathematically precise one.
If so, set up two horizontal guide lines, one running through the desired apex and the other through the curve's baseline. Add three vertical guides, one through the apex and the other two equally spaced on the left and right sides of the guide through the apex.
Let point A be at the intersection of the left vertical with the baseline, point B be the apex, and point C be the intersection of the right vertical with the baseline.
With the pen tool at point A, drag horizontally to the right a fraction of the distance to the central guide. Release the mouse, move the pen tool to point B and drag horizontally to the right about the same distance or until the left half of the curve looks Gaussian. Release the mouse, place the pen tool at point C and drag horizontally rightward until the right half of the Gaussian curve matches the left.
To close the curve, release the mouse and click at a point on the baseline well beyond point C, connect from below with a path of any shape to a point on the baseline well to the left of point A, and then close to point A. Stroke the path, delete the path, and erase all but the Gaussian part.
Experiment with the ABC positions and the drag lengths until you get a decent curve. Should you want a precise curve it would be better to use one of the freeware curve programs out there. But if you want a bit of precision with the pen tool, that's possible by calculating one or two intermediate points between A and B and symmetrically between B and C and then dragging the pen so that curve comes reasonably close to passing through them.

Fill shape drawn with pen tool

There are three posts dealing with this issue and each time the person who posted the problem said they figured it out but did not say what they did. Here is the problem:
I draw a shape with the pen tool in Flash CS4. I made sure the shape was closed. But, I cannot fill the shape no matter what. Paint bucket tool does not work. Whatever I do, I get the red diagonal line on the fill color. I can fill a shape with the rectangle or oval tools but not the pen tool.
Please help. Thanks.

Thanks for your help. I tried what you suggested but the union selection was grayed out. I was in the drawing object mode. But after fooling with it for a bit the following worked (I'm still not sure why):
I double clicked on the object with the selection tool.
I then selected a fill color in the property panel and it filled in.
However, I cannot replicate this. I tried drawing another shape with the pen tool and cannot fill it in. I tried converting it to a symbol and that did not work either. I must have done something to the original shape that allowed me to fill it in last time I fooled with it.

How do I fix my Pen Tool/Delete Anchor Point Tool in Illustrator?

Problem One - I'm trying to change the form of my shape, and all of a sudden my Delete Anchor Point Tool isn't working. I'm clicking (and zoomed in A LOT) and it's not clicking on or deleting any of my anchor points.
Problem Two - I'm not sure if it's just the slow speed of my work computer, but I'm trying to trace a shape in a photo that I have locked in the background, and when I click my pen tool it makes the point like 2 to 5 pixels away from where I'm clicking, so I can't precisely trace the shape that I would like to.
Any tips and help on this ASAP would be great! Getting stuck like this is throwing off my productivity and it's very frustrating!
Thank you!

The problem was Google Chrome browser! As soon as I quit Chrome my pen tool started working again. I didn't even need to restart Fireworks. I wonder if it is a conflict with one of my plugins/add ons. Most likely.
UPDATE - I did narrow it down to one specific Google Chrome extension. It was "Google Play Music"

Pen Tool/Anchor Point Help

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