Adding and deleting anchor points, Add or delete anchor points, Find and delete stray anchor points – Adobe Illustrator CS4 User Manual
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USING ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR CS4
Drawing
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.
Adding and deleting anchor points
Adding anchor points can give you more control over a path, or it can extend an open path. However, it’s a good idea
not to add more points than necessary. A path with fewer points is easier to edit, display, and print. You can reduce
the complexity of a path by deleting unnecessary points. Adding and deleting anchor points works similarly in Adobe
applications.
The Tools panel contains three tools for adding or deleting points: the Pen tool
, the Add Anchor Point tool
, and
the Delete Anchor Point tool
. In addition, the Control panel has a Remove Selected Anchor Points button
By default, the Pen tool changes to the Add Anchor Point tool as you position it over a selected path, or to the Delete
Anchor Point tool as you position it over an anchor point.
Note: Don’t use the Delete and Backspace keys or the Edit > Cut and Edit > Clear commands to delete anchor points:
these keys and commands delete the point and the line segments that connect to that point.
See also
Select paths, segments, and anchor points
Add or delete anchor points
1
Select the path you want to modify.
2
To add an anchor point, select the Pen tool or the Add Anchor Point tool, position the pointer over the path
segment, and click.
3
To delete an anchor point, do either of the following:
•
Select the point with the Direct Selection tool and click Remove Selected Anchor Points
in the Control panel.
•
Select the Pen tool or the Delete Anchor Point tool, position the pointer over the anchor point, and click.
Find and delete stray anchor points
Stray anchor points are individual points that are not connected to other anchor points. It is a good practice to find
and delete stray anchor points.
1
Deselect all objects.
2
Choose Select > Object > Stray Points.
3
Choose Edit > Cut or Edit > Clear commands, or press Delete or Backspace on the keyboard.