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Intermediate |
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Shortcuts
And Pointers For The Pen
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Pen Tips
Pen Tip No. 1
In Adobe® Illustrator®, always click the Direct Selection
tool before clicking and drawing with the Pen Tool.
First click the Direct Selection Tool
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Then click the Pen Tool
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The reason for this is to make sure that when the Ctrl key (Windows®)
is pressed (or Command key for Macintosh®), that the next selected
tool is the Direct Selection Tool instead of a different, unintended
selection tool. While actively making or modifying a path using
the pen, pressing Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Macintosh) will
activate the last selection tool used. It is more likely that
you will make adjustments to anchor points and control handles
while you are drawing than it is that you will move the entire
path.
Pen Tip No. 2
Tear off the pen tools in Adobe Illustrator and let it float
as its own palette on the workspace.
To do this simply grab the Pen Tool button on the Tool Palette
and drag it away from it. Keep it near your drawing.
Pen Tip No. 3
You can make a simulated connector
point in Adobe Illustrator using the following technique:
In Illustrator 8 First, click
View > Snap To Point
This provides a means to snap points and and control handles
on top of other points. This step is not necessary in Illustrator
7 because "Snap To Point" is the default.
| 1. Drag the first
point |
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| 2. Drag a second point |
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| 3. Click to place a third
point |
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| 4. Grab the handle of the
second point and drag it over the third point. |
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| 5. When the solid arrowhead
cursor changes into a hollow one, the handle is on top
of the point. Release the mouse button. |
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| 6. At this time you can now
change the direction of the first curve going into the
second point. No matter how you adjust it, there will
always be a smooth transition into the straight line segment. |
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| 7. To reshape the curve, drag
the control handle of the first point. |
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| 8. When the desired shape
is attained, release the mouse button. |
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The theory behind this tip is by laying the control handle on
top of the third point (the far point in the straight line segment),
it is assured that the curve going into the second point will
be at a tangent to the straight segment. In Adobe Photoshop®,
although there is no provision for snapping a handle over a
point, you could drag a handle over a point and come close to
it.
Pen Tip No. 4
Although Deneba Canvas™ doesn't have a connector point,
it does have an arc tool which places both ends of an open arc
so the tangents are at right angles. This makes it easy to create
the same effect as a connector point.
To create this effect, first drag out an arc.
Next double-click the arc to place it in edit mode.
Select the point you wish to connect the tangent straight section.
Either drag a marquee around it or click it.
This is what the point looks like when it is selected.
Next select the Curve tool. Press Ctrl-Shift (Windows) or Command-Shift
(Mac) and click to place the endpoint of the straight section.
The tangent line of the point that connects the straight segment
to the curved segment can be pulled using Shift-Drag to constrain
its movement.
Pen Tip No. 5
Sometimes you may want a point with only one control handle.
In Deneba Canvas™ 5 and 6, Macromedia® FreeHand® 8 and
CorelDRAW® 8 there are provisions for making one-handled anchor
points. In Adobe Illustrator, however, you have to drag
the handle over its anchor point to get rid of it:
| 1. The center point has two
handles. Let's get rid of one of them. |
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| 2. Drag a handle back into
the point. |
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| 3. When the handle is over
the point, the cursor changes from a solid arrowhead to
a hollow one. Release the mouse button. |
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| 4. Now you have a one-handled
anchor point. |
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Pen Tip No. 6
Many times you will want to close an open path (Photoshop
users click
here for complete instructions). Sometimes it happens that
you simply get lost while drawing a path and you find yourself
no longer adding points to the path. To restart a path (append
to a path) in Adobe Illustrator, Macromedia FreeHand or CorelDRAW,
the technique is basically the same.
1. Position the pen (for CorelDRAW users the Bezier Tool or
the Freehand Tool) over an end point in the path you want to
restart. When you first click the tool and before positioning
the cursor over the end point in the path, the cursor will appear
as follows:
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Adobe Illustrator
7 / 8 |
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Adobe Photoshop
5 |
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Macromedia
FreeHand 8 |
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CorelDRAW 8
- Freehand Tool |
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CorelDRAW 8
- Bezier Tool |
2. Except for CorelDRAW while using the Bezier Tool, when you
are over the point, the cursor will change to let you know that
the next click will append to the path:
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Adobe Illustrator
7 / 8 |
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Adobe Photoshop
5 |
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Macromedia
FreeHand 8 |
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CorelDRAW
8 - Freehand Tool |
3. That is your cue that the next click will append to the path.
Click once to restart adding line segments to the path.
4. When you are ready to close the path simply position the
cursor over the other end point of the path. When the cursor
is over the point it will change to let you know that the next
click will close the path:
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Adobe Illustrator
7 / 8 |
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Adobe Photoshop
5 |
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Macromedia
FreeHand 8 |
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CorelDRAW
8 - Freehand Tool |
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CorelDRAW
8 - Bezier Tool |
5. Click once to close the path.
Deneba Canvas™
With Deneba Canvas, restarting or closing an open path is very
straightforward. To restart (append to) an open path, simply
put the path into edit mode (double-click using the Selection
tool), then select the endpoint you wish to resume adding segments
to, (click to select it) then select the Curve tool and resume
with the next point. When you want to close the path, when the
cursor changes to a small crosshair, (below). This means the
pointer is directly over an anchor point. The next click (or
drag) closes the path:
To close an open path without adding points, put the path into
edit mode, then click one of the endpoints with the Curve tool.
A new segment will be added joining the endpoints.
Pen Tip No. 7
Here's an undocumented tip for Deneba Canvas. Sometimes
you may want to change the angle of a tangent line without changing
its length. To do this, select an anchor point and position
the mouse pointer just to the right or left until the cursor
changes into a hollow arrowhead:
When it does, click and drag the tangent line to change its
angle...
The angle of the handle will change, but not its length.
Click Here To Continue...
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| Environmentally
Responsible |
Printing |
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