User Guide

Chapter 4: Drawing And Vector Effects
Path editing shortcuts
To do this Shortcut
Add an anchor point Ctrl-click path
Delete an anchor point Ctrl+Shift-click anchor point
Change the length of the tangent lines on both
sides of a smooth anchor point at the same time
Ctrl-drag tangent line handle
Constrain tangent line to 45-degree increments Shift-drag tangent line handle
Move tangent line segment independently
(change anchor point from smooth to cusp)
Tab-drag tangent line handle
Align tangent line segments (change corner point
with two tangent lines to smooth point)
Tab-drag tangent line handle
Add tangent line to an anchor point Tab-drag an anchor point
Delete an anchor point’s tangent lines Tab-click the anchor point or endpoint
Close an open path Alt-click an endpoint
Reshape a segment without changing the tangent
line angles
Press Tab and drag the segment
Reshape A segment and adjacent segments Press Alt and drag a segment
Converting objects and text to paths
Some vector objects have specialized properties and unique edit modes instead of the standard path
edit mode; e.g., you cannot directly edit the path segments of dynamic objects, concentric circles,
grids, multigons, spirals, and objects modified by the Envelope or Extrude commands; however, you
can convert these objects to paths so you can edit them the same as any other vector object.
If you create paths from a specialized vector object, the new shape does not have the same unique
editing capabilities as the original; e.g., if you convert a Multigon star object to paths, you can no
longer use the edit handles that let you adjust the depth and twirl of the points. Similarly, placed
dynamic objects are no longer linked to their parent objects in the Symbol Library palette after you
convert them to paths.
You can also convert text so you can reshape characters as vector objects. This has the benefit of
making the characters independent of their fonts; the font is no longer required to view and print the
characters properly. However, once you convert text to paths, you can no longer perform text
operations, such as editing, spell-checking, and formatting, on the text. Also, characters with
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