Operation Manual

76
USING ILLUSTRATOR
Drawing
Last updated 11/8/2011
2 Choose Select > Object > Stray Points.
3 Choose Edit > Cut or Edit > Clear commands, or press Delete or Backspace on the keyboard.
Disable or temporarily override automatic Pen tool switching
You can temporarily override or disable automatic switching to the Add Anchor Point tool or Delete Anchor Point
tool.
• To temporarily override switching, hold down Shift as you position the Pen tool over the selected path or an anchor
point. This is useful when you want to start a new path on top of an existing path. To prevent Shift from
constraining the Pen tool, release Shift before you release the mouse button.
• To disable switching, choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > General
(Mac
OS), and select Disable Auto Add/Delete.
Smooth and simplify paths
You can smooth the appearance of paths as well as simplify paths by removing excess anchor points.
More Help topics
“Drawing tool gallery” on page 19
“Keys for editing shapes” on page 482
“Select paths, segments, and anchor points” on page 71
Smooth paths
1 Select the object.
2 Select the Smooth tool .
3 Drag the tool along the length of the path segment you want to smooth out.
4 Continue smoothing until the stroke or path is the desired smoothness.
Using the Smooth tool
A. Original path B. Dragging across path with the Smooth tool C. Result
5 To change the amount of smoothing, double-click the Smooth tool and set the following options:
Fidelity Controls how far you have to move your mouse or stylus before Illustrator adds a new anchor point to the
path. For example, a Fidelity value of 2.5 means that tool movements of less than 2.5 pixels aren’t registered. Fidelity
can range from 0.5 to 20 pixels; the higher the value, the smoother and less complex the path.
Smoothness Controls the amount of smoothing that Illustrator applies when you use the tool. Smoothness can
range from 0% to 100%; the higher the value, the smoother the path.
A B C