Selecting path / anchor point

Hi guys!
I am just browsing around the trial Ai CS5 version and there is something, which I do not really understand...
When I use Selection Tool {V}, it works pretty fine, but when using Direct Selection Tool {A}, I can not select the path or anchor points. When I hover over them, the underlying path or anchor point highlights, but after click, nothing happens. When I move mouse out of the clicked object, the highlight simply disappears. There must be some kind of bug, because in the Layers Panel, there is the selection highlighted and after hitting arrow keys, the points, which I selected are moving - depending on which arrow I am actually pressing.
So in the nutshell: When I am trying to select single point or just path, the selection is not visible, but the points are still visible.
Thank you for your help!

You are welcome, Christian.
It happens to many.
I believe it may be caused by the fact that H is surrounded by other keys used with Ctrl/Cmd; a mishit may go unnoticed (I wonder whether this term will pass the nanny filter) when the right key is hit afterwards.

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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?

Is it possible to select multiple anchor points in CS6?

Hi,
I'm trying to select multiple anchor points of shapes across different layers by dragging over them, but nothing is getting selected.
I use CC at work, and I've done it there, but I use CS6 at home and can't seem to do it.
Thanks!

I doN'T think it is possible to work on two different path at once. I think you would need to merge the two shape layers and work on the resultant merged path. You can target more then one shape layer and select some of the path and change them however the stay separate path and all the point the the selected shape layers are highlighted
CS6 top CC bottom note the difference is the path palettes CS6 shows no paths in the path palette when more then a single shape layer is targeted where CC shows all path involved as separate paths.

In Flash CS4, how do you select multiple anchor points across separate layers?

I am talking about anchor points on a line, not a keyframe. They are also called "handles". I can select the anchor points as "white" quickly, but I can't get them to be "solid"without doing it layer by layer, which is tedious. What I want is way to select lines that are in different layers and get the points I selected in a way similar to the regular selection tool or free transform tool. I have been trying to do this all day and I can't find a good way to do this, and I would appreciate any help.
Here is an image of what I'm trying to do, but more easily. The lines are on separate layers, but when I select them with the subselection tool I have to go layer by layer selecting the points. I'm trying to look for a very quick way of doing it. When I do select all with the subselection tool on, the anchor points are only "white" and not "solid" as shown below.

Now you're post was a while ago and I still need a solution, but I have to say this. I didn't mean to be rude to you; it’s just that it doesn’t answer my question I specified in the original post. I know your intentions are good, but it frustrates me when someone doesn’t fully read a post and offers a solution, it sometimes gives a false impression that the problem is taken care of. Example of being "helpful": http://forums.adobe.com/message/2540277 Yes I know there is a “Yes, my question has been answered,” but you know they don’t always select it, and other people know that as well. But you are right; I should probably act a little bit nicer and reiterate what I’ve already said before, I’ll probably get more help from it. It just seems to be a simple feature that seems to be needed to be in the program. I didn't mean it takes forever to move, it takes forever to select multiple anchor points across, let's say 10 layers, so that's 10 different lines on 10 layers. You have to select each layer and then select the anchor points. If there is an away to select anchor points across all layers in one go please tell me. Maybe I was wrong, but I could’ve sworn I’ve seen ideas that were posted on here get taken into Adobe as a suggestion, but yes I submitted it as a suggestion to Adobe, but I wanted to confirm that there was no way of doing it first since it seems kind unbelievable because the regular selection tool works across multiple layers.

PS CC - how do I select individual anchor points of a shape?

In PS CS 6 it used to be possible to draw a shape, like a rectangle, and then use the direct selection tool to select and move one corne of the rectangle. However, in PS CC this does not work anymore. When I try to use the direct selection tool, all anchor points remain selected and so I can't move a single point, just all of them at once. What might I be doing wrong? Did something change in the CC version?
Thanks!

I seem to be able to use the Direct Selection tool to edit points, e.g., on a rectangular shape, to select one only and move it around.
When I select the shape layer then choose the Direct Selection tool (white arrow), the path shows.
When I click on the path all the points show, with "hollow" handles.
When I click on only one point it turns black, then I can move it with another click and drag. In fact, just one click, hold until the point turns black, then drag seems to work.
Of course, you've got to be VERY accurate where you click.
And Trevor, I seem to be able to drag a box around several points, then move them. What am I doing right, accidentally or on purpose? Is there some kind of bug being invoked in certain documents maybe that I'm not seeing in my testing here?
-Noel

Direct selection - moving anchor points with keyboard arrow keys

Hi,
I am using Illustrator CC. I just used the image trace tool to create a vector version of my company logo. It worked pretty well, but I am now just trying to clean it up a bit. I have a few anchor points that I just want to nudge up or down in the smallest increment possible.
I think it would be easier for me to do this using the keyboard arrow keys rather than using the mouse, but the arrow keys cause my selected anchor point to jump by way too large of a distance. I checked to make sure Smart Guides, Snap to Grid, and Snap to Point are all turned off. I can't think of anything else to do.
Can anyone tell me what controls how far the keyboard arrow keys will move an anchor point, and how I can set this to the smallest possible distance?
Thanks in advance,
Paul

Under Preferences (Command-K on Mac), on the first screen there is Keyboard Increment. This is the amount the arrow keys will move selected content, such as anchor points.
I usually keep this at "0.005 in", but when doing things that need extreme accuracy, I change it to "0.0002 in", which on my screen (2560 x 1600) is one pixel at AI's 6400% magnification.

Adjusting multiple anchor points of a path

In CS5, and in various documentation it doesn't appear possible to be a way to move multiple anchor points (as it is, in Photoshop). If this is the case... are you kidding me? Even Photoshop can do this.
Quite frankly, on my return to Illustrator, it's, as expected, Adobe has pulled a fast one with their suite of software. What was broken years ago is still broken today.
Photoshop needs the ability to add gradients to shapes, path brushing, symbols, ie the functionality of Illustrator needs to be placed into Photoshop.

Are you saying that if you use the direct select tool and hold down the shift key and select several anchor points you can't move them with the arrow keys?
I certainly can without any problem? It maybe that the increment that they are being moved at is smaller than you would prefer and you can change that in the Preferences.
Also unlike photoshop if you select multiple points in AI you can than drag one of them and the other selected points will move as well.
If you need more support for manipulateing path look at the Astute plug in Vectorscribe.

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.

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;
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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);
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Moving one specific anchor point?

I'm really frustrated right now because I can't figure out how to move only one anchor point in CS. Let's say I have a closed path of points and I want to move only ONE of them (NOT the whole path), how do I do that? I can add and delete points or curve lines, but I can't actually MOVE a point. In Photoshop you just select your point, hold down Ctrl and drag your point. This doesn't work in CS.
Please help and thanks!!

Select the anchor point with the Direct Selection Tool (white arrow). This will allow you to move that selection only. After you use the Direct Selection Tool and are using the pen tool, etc. you can access it again by holding down the control key.

Angry anchor points!

Suddenly, when I select an anchor point with my direct selection tool, I can't move to the precise point where I want. The point seems to jump to a random spot.
I've looked at my preferences, and can't find anything that I may have done to start this. It was working normally an hour ago...
Adriana

Perhaps you turned on snap to pixel or snap to grid? see View menu

How do I get arms in both directions on an anchor point?

When I draw a line I usually only get one line on the anchor point to adjust the shape. How can I get two arms, one on each side of the anchor point, so that I can adjust the line on both sides of the anchor point?

Hi Wade,
Thank you so much for that video. I get it.
Just for the sake of clarity, here's what's important:
When you select an anchor point for the purpose of adjusting the shape
of the curve of a line on either side of that anchor point, it is
essential that you are IN THE PEN TOOL, AND that you hold down the
option key BEFORE you select the point. Then you will get TWO
direction lines on either side of the anchor point that you can use to
reshape the line.
One of the reason's it is so confusing is that you can edit a line
simply by clicking an anchor point with the direct selection tool.
It's the two added steps of 1) having to switch to the pen tool and 2)
having to hold down the option key that makes it such an arcane
process to get both the direction lines on either side of the anchor
point.
I have never seen this particular point discussed in any illustrator
book.
Thank you so much for your help.
Best,
Allen

Move Graphic to Flash with Anchor Points

I created a graphic in Illustrator CS5 that I want to use in Flash CS5. How do I move the graphic to Flash and preserve the anchor points of the graphic so I can use them in Flash? I have used the Import to Library function in Flash but once the graphic has been imported the anchor points are gone.
Here is some background in case I'm trying to do it incorrectly. I have a speech bubble I created in Illustrator. Now I need to use this speech bubble in a Flash animation but the bubble will need to resize according to how much text will be placed in it. I can't just change the width and height of the bubble because that will make certain parts like the edges to big. I need the bubble to "grow". In Illustrator I can do this by select certain anchor points and moving them without effecting other points. But in Flash I'm not sure how to accomplish this.

Thanks for the reply. I just did some reading on 9 Slice and that is actually what I need. Unfortunately it is not working correctly in Flash CS5 with my Illustrator graphic.
I setup 9 Slice in Illustrator and it works great in Illustrator. I can resize my graphic and only the parts I want resize. Then I saved the Illustrator file and tried importing it into Flash CS5 and I see the 9 Slice lines but when I resize the graphic 9 Slice is not working. I tried creating a simple box in Flash with curved edges and 9 Slice worked with it.
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How to display each anchor point number or label?

Hello AI Community,..
in an earlier Illustrator CS version, i was able to display any Paths' anchor point Numbers or label. But in CS6 with both "Anchor/Path Labels" enabled in Prefs. > Smart Guide section and in View > Smart Guides, no Point Numbers are displayed.
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Thanks Kurt,..
just got in, checked and saw Measurment Labels, Anchor/Path Labels, Alignment Guides and Obj,Highlighting are all on. I also realized their working properly as "Anchor" and "Path" text labels display whenever moused over.
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Checked all menus i could find without luck.
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Jeff

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Video of it here:
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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.

Selecting path / anchor point

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