Adobe Illustrator CC 2015 - Manual (Page 105)

100
Drawing
Last updated 6/5/2015
A Selecting and joining coincident endpoints B Selecting and joining noncoincident endpoints
Note: In Illustrator CS5, only corner joins are used to join open paths.
Join two or more paths
Illustrator CS5 provides the option to join two or more open paths. To join one or more open paths, use the Selection
tool to select the open paths and click Object > Path > Join. You can also use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+J (Windows)
or Cmd+J (Mac).
When anchor points are not overlapping, Illustrator adds a line segment to bridge the paths to join. While joining more
than two paths, Illustrator first looks for and joins the paths that have end points stationed closest to each other. This
process is repeated until all paths are joined. If you select only one path to join, it is converted into a closed path.
Note: In this process, you may lose complex aspects of your art styles.
The output path has the appearance of the topmost path in the selection.
The join option only results in a corner join regardless of whether you select anchor points to join or the entire path.
However, for overlapping anchor points, if you want the option to select a smooth or corner join, then use
Ctrl+Shift+Alt+J (Windows) or Cmd+Shift+Option+J (Mac OS).
Move or nudge anchor points or segments using the keyboard
1 Select the anchor point or path segment.
Note: In Photoshop, you can move only anchor points in this manner.
2 Click or hold down any of the arrow keys on the keyboard to move 1 pixel at a time in the direction of the arrow.
Hold down the Shift key in addition to the arrow key to move 10 pixels at a time.
Note: In Illustrator and InDesign, you can change the distance of a nudge by changing the Keyboard Increment preference.
When you change the default increment, holding down Shift nudges 10 times the specified distance.
Stretch parts of a path without distorting its overall shape
1 Select the entire path.
2 Select the Reshape tool (located under the Scale tool ).
3 Position the cursor over the anchor point or path segment that you want to act as a focal point (that is, a point that
pulls selected path segments), and click.
If you click a path segment, a highlighted anchor point with a square around it is added to the path.
4 Shift-click more anchor points or path segments to act as focal points. You can highlight an unlimited number of
anchor points or path segments.
5 Drag the highlighted anchor points to adjust the path.