Editing Paths: Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator
Lesson 3 from: Adobe Illustrator CC: Drawing & EditingBrian Wood
Editing Paths: Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator
Lesson 3 from: Adobe Illustrator CC: Drawing & EditingBrian Wood
Lesson Info
3. Editing Paths: Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator
Lessons
Select Like a Pro: Layers, Groups, & Other Unique Tools
34:16 2Edit Paths Like a Pro in Adobe Illustrator
08:40 3Editing Paths: Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator
03:31 4Creating & Applying Brushes to Artwork in Adobe Illustrator
18:20 5Editing Paths: Knife & Scissor Tool in Adobe Illustrator
03:08 6Editing Paths: Join Tool in Adobe Illustrator
10:44 7Editing Paths: Isolation Mode in Adobe Illustrator
02:09 8Pen Tool Shortcuts in Adobe Illustrator
16:43Lesson Info
Editing Paths: Pen Tool in Adobe Illustrator
We have a lot of tools that we can work with, right? And today we're gonna focus a little bit more on the Pen Tool. We're gonna dive into that in just a few minutes here. But what I'd like you to do is come to the Pen Tool, and click and hold down on the Pen Tool, and you're gonna see that we've got a series of tools under here. If we're trying to edit paths, these can be really useful, okay? We have the Pen Tool itself, which is used for drawing and editing, we have the Add Anchor Point and the Delete Anchor Point. Now these are exactly what they sound like. If you have a point in a path and you wanna get rid of it, select it, the Delete Anchor Point path tool right there, hover over the point, click and you're done, it's gone, okay? So it's kinda easy to use. Add Anchor Point allows us to go out and add anchor points. This Anchor Point Tool, I use this thing all the time, okay? The Anchor Point Tool allows you to go to an anchor point, and do the same thing as those buttons up there,...
by converting it from a corner to a smooth, okay? Tell you what, why don't you go to the Pen Tool here, select the Pen Tool. When we edit with the Direct Selection, the white arrow, you're basically kinda messin' with the points that are already there. That's one of the ideas with that tool, okay? So we can edit the points that are there. What if we decide, I need some more, or I need to get rid of something, I need to clean this up a little bit, for instance? If you take the Pen Tool out here with a path that you select, that's what it's gotta be, hover over the path and you're gonna see we get a little plus. That means we can add an anchor point somewhere. So if for instance if I decide that I wanna put a point right here so I can reshape the path, I can click to add an anchor point. Now the issue, or the thing with the Pen Tool is, once you do that, my first instinct, I just put a new point out there, I'm like, "Oh great I wanna go move it", right? Well, I got the Pen Tool selected, I hover over it, what's it gonna make me do, what's it gonna have me do right now? It's gonna wanna delete it, you see a minus sign, right? So as we're working right now, without holding any keys down, this is all it's gonna do. This is the combination of things that we're gonna use a lot, okay? I'm gonna use the Pen Tool to edit paths if I want to. Why don't you go ahead and hold the command key down. Now, it's control on Windows, okay? So if you hold the command key down you are temporarily getting to the last selection tool you selected. Everybody tells me that if you hold that key down, you go right to the white arrow, I hear that. That's not true. If I had the black arrow selected, as the selection tool, it would go to the selection tool, okay? So it's whatever was last selected. So if we have the Pen Tool and we add a point, and we're like, "Oh I'm gonna edit now", hold down the command key, you can click-drag, you can adjust the handles if you want to, you can do different things like that. I can then let go of the command key and I'm still on the Pen Tool, I can then start to edit further. So if I want to, I'm like, "Oh I don't want this point right here", I can hover over it, see a minus, click and I've got it gone. Once again, command key, go back, start to edit, adjust the curves, kinda work with it a little bit, start to work with this thing and see what it looks like, let go of the command and I've got my shape. People always ask me though, "Why don't you show me how to draw first", okay? One of the things that I do more of, I think, is editing. I do a lot of editing. I create shapes, but I spend tons of time editing. So understanding these different techniques is super important, it really, really is. Now we do have other tools we can work with, like I said before. When we go through the Pen Tool, I'm gonna introduce more of these tools, and more techniques and more shortcuts for working, okay?
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Ratings and Reviews
Jody Boyle
Brian has solved some of the mysteries of the Illustrator tools for me with lots of great tips and useful examples. I have an Illustrator assignment due in a few days and this is really going to make it a lot easier! A fantastic course.
Sharnika Blacker
I LOVE this class! I have been using Illustrator for years just muddling my way through the use of the tools. In this class, Brian has shown how to use tools, features and shortcuts that are going to make my work better, easier and quicker. I'm a very happy student today :)
Cindy Graham
Brian Wood is the absolute Master Guru of Illustrator. He's great at teaching Illustrator. I've worked with Illustrator for a few things, and now I'm not scared of it anymore. I know how to use the power of it. Thanks!
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