Handle Point Conversion with the Pen Tool in Illustrator
Lesson 2 from: Pen Tool in IllustratorJason Hoppe
Handle Point Conversion with the Pen Tool in Illustrator
Lesson 2 from: Pen Tool in IllustratorJason Hoppe
Lesson Info
2. Handle Point Conversion with the Pen Tool in Illustrator
Lessons
Overview of the Pen Tool in Illustrator
06:51 2Handle Point Conversion with the Pen Tool in Illustrator
07:06 3Creating Curves with the Pen Tool in Illustrator
11:27 4Convert Anchor Point Tool with the Pen Tool in Illustrator
10:40 5Tracing an Object with the Pen Tool in Illustrator
12:33 6Using the Curvature Pen Tool in Illustrator
07:30 7Pencil Tool in Illustrator
07:48 8Join Tool in Illustrator
06:49Lesson Info
Handle Point Conversion with the Pen Tool in Illustrator
I'm gonna jump over to the preferences here and under the preferences I've been to go in and I'm going to go to my preferences. And I want to show you how I can actually set my selection and anchor point. This is going to be important because I can dial in a little bit extra help here. What? I'm trying to do my handles. And when I'm trying to do my points by default, you can see that I have my highlight anchors on mouse over. So when I do that, I can actually see how they look. And now I can go in and I can set the way. My displays We're going to work with my point being larger, small and the way my handles we're going to look with larger and grab handles here by default. I've got the set to be my corner points on my curve points to look basically like this. If you've never seen this before, these all look pretty much the same. But this actually controls the size, the point, and then these control the actual little handles of the poll handles that we get. I can also enable the rubber b...
and for the pen and the curvature tools and I can also show handles when multiple anchors air selected. These are all things that we're gonna readdress because thes air all things that people actually have issues with. So I just want to bring that up because we're gonna come back and visit this right here, so you'll notice when I hover over these things. One of my preferences make a handle bigger when I hover over them or the points that something had set in my preference. So I go on in, I've drawn my shape. I can take my direct selection tool and Aiken directly edit by shape. Now, this doesn't mean that I have Teoh draw something with a pen tool to be able to go in and edit my shapes Here. This is for any shape. If I use an existing shape in my shapes panel, all my different shapes, I can always use my direct selection tool. Click off my object, go in and directly select a line segment or a point doesn't have to be drawn with a pen. Tool certainly can, but we're gonna intermix the pen tool with shapes that we draw and then also edit shapes that are right here in our tool panel, where we can draw any shape and edit those with the pen tool. So one of the preferences that was set up using the pen tool here is the rubber band effect on the rubber band is when I actually see the line coming out of the point as I'm drawing in older versions. You didn't see that we could turn that on, and this is the rubber band effect, and I see what it is that I'm doing. If I want to draw in a straight line using my pen tool here, I can always hold down my shift key and you can see when I have my shift key held down. I get my point. And then there's my rubber band and we hold down my shift key that's going to go ahead and constrained to be horizontal. Or if I'm going in and I'm doing something 45 degree angle or if I want to do something vertical, I can hold down my shift key, and this allows me to draw a horizontal vertical or a 45 degree angle without trying to guess by angles there so simple and easy. I click and is going to give me points. I hold down my shift key that's going to constrain the horizontal or vertical ward, a 45 degree angle. And then I get my entire shape. Now with this shape, I would like to go with it, and I would like to do some editing. So I'm going to select my object to go on with my pen tool, and I have my add anchor point and my subtract anchor point tools. I actually don't need to select these ever because when I'm working with a path, if I have the pen to will select it in my path active here, I can hover over any point in my path and depending on where hover over. If I hover over a line segment that has no point, I'm going to get my pen tool and you'll see in the lower right hand corner of the pen tool. I see a plus. My path is active. I see the plus. I can collect on any point, and that's going to allow me to add a point along that line segment and the other active point on my path. If I hover over with a pen tool, I will see a minus that allows me to click on it. And that will take that point away. And that will also give me a closed path. If I started off of the closed path so I can add a point to any place that I want to. I can take any existing point away without having to change any mode of the pen to a whatsoever. This does the automatic convert right here. Now. I also would like to go in, and I would like to move my points as I go. I've done this. I've added the point. I would like to pull this point up. Now if I hold down my command key, I see that I go back to my selection tool, which only allows me to edit the entire shape overall. So I'm gonna jump back to my direct selection tool directly select just at one point in the making edit that one particular point. I could go back to my pen tool I can take at other points along that path. But now what's interesting is when I hold down my command key. It doesn't. Giving my selection tool. It gives me my direct selection tool. Well, how did it know what tool I wanted? I did want the direct selection tool when I held down my command key. How did it now? Well, it didn't know it all came down to you choosing which tool if I last used the selection tool and then I go to the pen tool and I do something with this, I hold down my command key, and I will get the last used selection tool, which, in this case, waas by selection tool. If I switch over to the direct selection tool, then go over to my pen tool whenever I hold down my command key. That is going be the last tool that a used and therefore it's going to be the last tool that I get so out of habit. When I use the pen tool, I click on the direct selection tool. Then the pen tool that sets me up for the last two will use. Now hold down the command key and I get your X axis direct access to the direct selection tool. And now I can access that just by holding down the command G. Don't stop what I'm doing. Switch tools. I hold that down. I get direct editing and I'm ready to rock and roll. So there's by shape. I can move around any line segment with a direct selection tool. I can click on any point I can manipulate those points. But I would also like to go in here, and I'm going to get rid of one of these line segments because I would like to have an open path instead. Very simple. I'm gonna have my direct selection tool. I'm gonna click on that path that I would like to remove. I can either click and drag over it or just simply click on it. Hit my delete key, and it's going to then delete just that path. You'll notice. Once I delete that path, it's now gone into full selection mode, every single one of my points selected. If I delete again, the whole thing is going to disappear because every single point has selected. I couldn't hold down my command chain. Click off that and be able to go back in and select my points and my line segments here Independent and I now have unopened shape
Ratings and Reviews
MikeD
This tool is a bit in the ..., however Jason's inimitable style and affable character makes the class a delight to watch. I *MUST* learn to use the Pen and Pencil tool because I can't draw; not at all, not even a little bit. I say this literally, there are modest people and there are people who should be more modest and there are people who are poor at drawing, there are all colors and flavors and I say hands down, I cannot draw, write or even make an approximation of a straight line (literally, not an exaggeration) and my hand will not do what my eye and brain tell it. I can see where I want something to go and can't make my hand do it, I can't even trace something on tracing paper - the lines go every which way and this is something mastered by a six-year-old. So when I say I *MUST* use these tools, it's because I have no alternatives. Jason's class has been a Godsend because I can actually make plausible sketches, drawings and convey ideas through the use of these tools. I highly recommend this class if you want to learn how to get started using this tool. It's even fun once you learn a little bit about it.
Adrian Chorlton
Great course used as revision on using the tools. Well presented, interesting, waffle free. Be useful if there was a section on closing and opening paths
Fuzzy Piglet
I would consider myself as an intermediate illustrator user, having been around it for many years but only needing to use a minimal amount of the software. I also an advanced photoshop user with around 22-23 years experience so Ive made my share of clipping paths etc. This course provides all the technical information about the tools, paths, points and handles and Jason presents it in a very easy to understand way. I learned a few things from it but its also good to know the 'hows and whys' which is not something you might learn from a user manual or even necessarily from experience. Well worth the cost!
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