Pen tool - How do I stop it guessing what I'll do next?

I'm using the pen tool to cut out a shape - it's a Russian doll. I can do the first curve, but when I click my next point, Photoshop puts in a line that is already curved. I don't want an already curved line, I want a straight line that I can manipulate myself. How do I stop PS trying to guess what I'm about to do?
All help greatly received.
Thanks,
Pete

ok if i understand you correctly...
what you want to do is after you make your curve hold down the apple symbol and click on top of the last point of the cuvre that you made to "finalize it"
then you should be able to continue making your cuvres as you want them and not having photoshop do it automaticaly...
on a mac hold down: apple symbol
on PC i think its control? or alt? or windows symbol? (sorry i dont have photoshop on the pc next to me, just test each one if on a pc)
hope this helps!
-Steve

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Using the pen tool, how best should I build or construct this image?

Hello,
I'm trying to recreate a certain image with the pen tool.
I have already tried using Live Trace using the "Simple Trace" setting. Live Trace did a pretty good job but not with enough accuracy or fidelity to the original image as I would like.
I am pretty rusty with Illustrator now, but I remember from past lessons that the basic idea is that artwork in Illustrator is divided into layers, objects, and elements within objects. But one of the biggest principles with Ilustrator is the order these layers, objects, and elements are stacked. Elements are stacked to create an object. Objects are often stacked, each object on its own layer, to create the entire piece of artwork.
Also, the lower an element, object, or layer is in a stacking order, the further towards the back it appears in the image.
Also, the higher an element, object, or layer is in a stacking order, the closer to the front it appears in the image.
So, in Illustrator, you don't so much draw or paint a piece of artwork, but, instead, creating artwork in Illustrator is more a matter of building it or constructing it.
So, with all that said, below I have an object I would like to create with the pen tool. It is a fleuron. It is at least fairly complex.I am not sure how to build it or construct its parts. What would come first, second, third? What would be on the bottom layer, middle layer, top layer, etc.?
I know there is no one way to reproduce this object with the pen tool. Whatever way you would use or would like to share is fine. I guess, more specifically, I'm not afraid of rigor and working hard, but I'm also not necessarily looking for rigor. Instead, what I am looking to do is work smartly and efficiently. I'm looking for what might commonly be considered "best practice."
So, how would you advise I approach the object below? How should I build or construct it?
Thanks! : )

As for the simple graphic itself, this is what I would end up with:
One Group containing:
One red-filled, unstroked Compound Path consisting of three subpaths.
One white-filled, unstroked Compound Path consisting of 18 subpaths.
The reason I would compound the red paths and the white paths is simply so I could apply to them different fills with one move, should I want to.
The reason the two Compund Paths would be grouped is simply so the whole graphic can, when finished, be moved, rotated, scaled, flipped, skewed (i.e.; transformed) as if it were a single object. (Which it would be; a Group is a logical object, just as a "set" is a logical object.)
As for how I would actaully draw the graphic:
First I would roughly evaluate it to get an idea of what I want to end up with in terms of clean, tidy, paths (as already describe above.)
Second, I mentally devise a "plan of attack" by which to achieve that; just studying the shapes a little more deeply for anything that can be exploited to minimize the work:
Are there any repetitive elements of the shape that can be accomplished by duplication, moving, scaling?
Is there any symmetry that can be accomplished by duplication and flopping?
Is there any simple geometry that can be accomplished with basic shape prmitives (whole or partial ellipses, rectangles, polygons)?
Third, I always try to also consider whether the process of drawing the current graphic and/or portions of it might be of future use to me, and if so, can I exploit other software features to save me time and effort later. For example, consider a single one of the ess-shaped "coils" of the middle tapered "spiral" grouped together with its white highlight. Such a graphic, colored in black and white and stored as an ArtBrush with its Colorization set to Hues & Tints would let me stretch and scale that basic shape along other-shaped paths. Similarly stored as a PatternBrush, it might do multi-duty for many things suggestive of coils, like rope or jewelry chains.
Then I just start drawing the necessary paths, using my default Graphic Style (.25 black stroke, no fill). As I proceed, I store (as Brushes, Symbols, etc.) any intermediate things that I think I might find useful later. For the graphic at hand, I then optimize the paths I've drawn by combining them (cutting, joining, path operations) into the fewest, cleanest, and simplest paths necessary to define the shapes. I then store the finished graphic as a Symbol, Brush, etc. if I think it might be of use later.
Regarding Layers, Groups, etc., etc:
It sounds like you (like many beginning AI users) are way over-thinking the matter of stacking order. Yes, it's good to use some sensible amount of organization as your illustrations and designs become more elaborate, but you don't have to fret so much over it. The principles are very very simply.
Layer really don't even enter into my mind when creating such a graphic, because the paths of which it consists are all going to be grouped, and all the contents of a Group have to exist on the same Layer anyway. Multiple Layers would only come into play when this whole graphic is used as one element in the overall page layout. For example, suppose several instances of this object will exist on a page layout to serve as dividers between ads or stories arranged in columns in a page layout. I may choose--if it makes organizational sense to me--to put all the copies of this object on a Layer dedicated to them. The Layer on which they reside may or may not include other graphics; it's just a question of what makes organizational sense and editing convenience to me while I'm working the file. For example, having the copies of this graphic on a separate Layer would allow me to lock that Layer to avoid accidently selecting the graphics when I'm editing text objects that I've organized on another Layer.
Don't think of Layers as some oppressive "right or wrong" thing that you have to decide upon at the start of every little thing you draw. It's nothing but an organizational convenience that is driven almost entirely by common sense. The mechanics of it are really very very simple in principle.
Look: Everything you create or import in an Illustrator document is an object. Just like sheets of paper in a tablet, each of those objects (each path, text object, raster image) is going to reside somewhere in the z-order (think front to back) of the document's object stack. You can't do anything to prevent that. It's the way the program works. The file is basically just a list of things that the output device has to draw. Being a list, it has a first object, a second object, and so on. Objects higher in that list are nearer the "front"; objects lower are nearer the "back." Normally, objects in front obscure objects behind them, wherever they "overlap."
Now, considering that what you have is just a list of objects, as that list grows and grows, doesn't it eventually just make sense to be able to "bracket" or "label" contiguous portions (contiguous is key here) of that list for organizational and manipulative purposes? That's all Groups and Layers are; brackets around sections of the list.
Consider that an Illustrator file (like most computer files you create) is really just a text file. So suppose you have written a technical manual in a word processing program. Would you write that manual as one big, honkin' text string, or would you "bunch together" contiguous portions of the story under some labeling scheme of subheads? After that, wouldn't you similarly "bunch together" contiguous subhead sections as chapters?
So you can think of Groups as "subheads," and Layers as "chapters" in your Illustrator document's list of objects.
Sure; if you're working on a page layout document, sometimes it makes sense to go ahead and set up some of this structure at the start (just as when writing a book, it makes sense to start with an outline). So you might go ahead and define a Layer for printer marks, another for the diecut, another for text, another for images, another for background fills.
The very next designer might decide to structure the very same project a little differently. He might, for example, decide there's no reason not to keep the text objects on the same layer with the raster images. There's no hard & fast right & wrong her. You do what makes sense for the project at hand.
Now in this context, back to your simple graphic: I don't need a PrinterMarks Layer, a DieCut Layer, or a TextObjects Layer to draw this graphic. I just need the default Layer 1. For convenience, I may want to add a TraceThisStuff Layer onto which I put the original raster image, just so I can conveniently isolate it (lock it, dim it, etc.) while drawing the paths on Layer 1. On the other hand, I can really just as easily leave the raster image that I want to trace on Layer 1 and reduce its opacity and lock/unlock it at the object level. It's up to me.
But for that matter, revisit my "third level" of evaluation described above. In reality, I would very likely not even start drawing this graphic in the document for which it is intended. I would just as likely open an existing JET_Dingbats.ai or a JET_Ornaments.ai or CustomerName_StyleGraphics.ai file or template, draw the graphic there and when done, just copy it and paste it into the current document file. That's how you, over time, build yourself a reasonably organized "personal library" of re-usable resources that save you countless hours of repetitive work in the future.
JET

PEN TOOL: How to draw a "crescent moon" shape ?

Hey guys..
I'm in the process of teaching myself the "scary" pen tool once and for all! ...and I've been doing my own tracing exercises lately, and THOUGHT I was kicking some real butt. I thought there was no shape I couldn't conquer!
Only, I recently ran into a simple "crescent moon" shape. And I'm a bit stumped.
I can do it pretty easily with 3 points: 2 on the tips, converted to corners, and then one on either the inside or outside curve.
But, based on the 'ol "put the points at the END of your curve "rule" (as opposed to the middle), part of me thinks I should be able to do this with just 2 points.
Right?
I'm sure this is a simple thing... but the best I can get is a "half circle" shape, with one straight side and one curved side.
Am I over-thinking this?
Thanks in advance!
e

Ed,
A basic (and important) aspect of drawing with the Pen:
You're in the process of drawing a path. You clickDrag to create the end of a new curved segment. As you drag, you watch the curvature of the segment preceding the anchorPoint you are now placing. As you drag, you don't worry about the shape of the
next segment, which doesn't exist yet.
When the curvature of the preceding segment is as you want, you stop dragging BUT DO NOT MOUSEUP. Just stop dragging. You want the next segment to
not begin tangent to the one you just completed; you want a "cusp". Press and hold the Alt key and continue to drag. Now the outgoing handle moves independently of incoming handle, allowing you to position the first handle of the next segment as desired, without disturbing the last handle of the previous segment.
Practice that a kazillion times, until you can do it without thinking. You'll find that it prevents your having to continually switch tools to "convert" points and adjust handles.
That and a few similar "momentary" keyboard modifiers are essential to drawing with the Pen efficiently. The goal is to avoid the necessity to revisit the Toolbox while drawing paths and thereby making "hard" tool switches out of the Pen tool, because doing so breaks the Pen's ability to resume drawing where it left off, after you make an adjustment to an earlier part of the path.
One of the basic disadvantages of Illustrator's path manipulation interface is its inability to pull one retracted handle out of an anchorPoint without disturbing the other.
You can draw your crescent using two anchorPoints thusly:
1. At the top point of the crescent, ClickDrag diagonally downleft. Mouseup.
2. At the bottom point of the crescent, ClickDrag diagonally downright. DO NOT MOUSEUP.
3. Press and hold Alt. Continue to drag to a position upleft from the bottom anchorPoint. Mouseup. Continue to hold Alt.
4. At the top point of the crescent, ClickDrag upright. (Because you are holding Alt, the ClickDrag at the starting point will not wreck the pre-existing curve handle of the first segment.)
(There are, of couse, easier/quicker/more accurate ways to draw a crescent. It is tedious to maintain circular roundness of curves approaching 180 degrees of arc with just two anchorPoints.)
JET

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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
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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
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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!!!!!

The Pen Tool

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Hi Eyelene,
When you create a path with the pen tool it can appear closed but in order to make a selection area out of it you must:
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I am writting a document in Spanish and the Mac Book Pro changes the words to English how do I stop this since I want to write in Spanish

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Hi,
I am trying to draw a nice curvy BOW using the pen tool.
How can i draw a nice curvy stroke using pen tool with thickness control.
Can any one help me ?
steve

Steve,
I am trying to draw a nice curvy BOW using the pen tool.How can i draw a nice curvy stroke using pen tool with thickness control.
Can any one help me ?
You may draw the spine of the bow with the Pen Tool and apply a custom made Artbrush to it; the Artbrush should be a fill no stroke shape reflecting the relative thickness along the relative length (the thickness (height) of the brushed path will be the thickness of the brushed stroke at 1pt Stroke Weight, and the length of the shape is arbitrary, so it can be set to 8, 10, 100, or whatever, because the brush strtches to the length of the path).
And you may draw half the bow, reflect (Object>Transform>Reflect) and distribute (Align>Distribute), and join the halves.

Pen tool - How do I stop it guessing what I'll do next?

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