Adobe Illustrator CS4 - Manual (Page 71)

64 USING ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR CS4
Drawing
The first anchor point appears, and the Pen tool pointer changes to an arrowhead. (In Photoshop, the pointer changes
only after you’ve started dragging.)
3 Drag to set the slope of the curve segment you’re creating, and then release the mouse button.
In general, extend the direction line about one third of the distance to the next anchor point you plan to draw. (You
can adjust one or both sides of the direction line later.)
Hold down the Shift key to constrain the tool to multiples of 45°.
Drawing the first point in a curve
A. Positioning Pen tool B. Starting to drag (mouse button pressed) C. Dragging to extend direction lines
4 Position the Pen tool where you want the curve segment to end, and do one of the following:
• To create a C-shaped curve, drag in a direction opposite to the previous direction line. Then release the mouse
button.
Drawing the second point in a curve
A. Starting to drag second smooth point B. Dragging away from previous direction line, creating a C curve C. Result after releasing mouse
button
• To create an S-shaped curve, drag in the same direction as the previous direction line. Then release the mouse
button.
Drawing an S curve
A. Starting to drag new smooth point B. Dragging in same direction as previous direction line, creating an S curve C. Result after releasing
mouse button
(Photoshop only) To change the direction of the curve sharply, release the mouse button, and then Alt-drag
(Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) the direction point in the direction of the curve. Release the Alt (Windows) or
Option (Mac OS) key and the mouse button, reposition the pointer where you want the segment to end, and drag in the
opposite direction to complete the curve segment.
A B C
A B C
A B C