![]() Well, in this latest illustrator update, using the Pencil tool, you can now draw curves more accurately with options to extend paths, draw straight lines, and close paths.ĭouble-clicking the Pencil tool in the Tools panel has always allowed you to edit the tool options. The Pencil tool drew more freeform paths and was difficult to combine straight and curved segments. There have been so many times that I jumped straight to the Pen tool to draw a path that may contain straight lines and curves, ignoring the Pencil tool. Note: The Convert Anchor Point tool, now called the Anchor Point tool, also has the new Reshape Segment cursor appear when you position the pointer over a selected path.Ĭheck out this video to see how to work with path segment reshaping. Reshape a segment with the Direct Selection tool Like the Pen tool, you can also press the Shift key after you begin dragging to constrain the handles in a perpendicular direction. This allows you to drag the segment unconstrained. If you edit a path with the Direct Selection tool, unless it’s a straight segment (end corner points), the Reshape Segment cursor appears when you position the pointer over a selected path segment. ![]() Tip: You can also hold down the Shift key as you drag to constrain the movement. When the pointer changes to the Reshape Segment cursor (see the following figure), drag the segment to reshape it, unconstrained. ![]() With the Pen tool and a path selected, hold down the Option (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows) and position the pointer over a path segment (between two anchor points). Let’s take a look at what we mean by improvements in “path segment reshaping.” Suppose you’re drawing a path with the Pen tool and need to make a change to a path you’ve already drawn. But actually, with the new methods for editing path segments you’ll soon see, I find myself actually using it in my everyday work to save bits of time here and there. How dare they muck with something that works well enough for me not to have quit the program years ago. When I first heard that how we edit path segments is getting added functionality I immediately went on the defensive. Live Corners options in the Control panelĬheck out this video on Live Corners to seem them in action. You can also access the Live Corners options in the Control panel when corner points are selected with the Direct Selection tool. Tip: If you Option (Mac OS) or Alt (Windows) click on the Live Corners widget, you can cycle through the three corner options (rounded, invert rounded, chamfered). The dialog box contains a third option called “Rounding.” The Rounding value can be relative (more natural radius based on the angle of the segments) or absolute (a consistent radius) and refers to the radius of the corner. You can also double-click a Live Corners widget to modify the corner options in the Corners dialog box. You can then drag the Live Corners widget that appears, to easily round the corners (by default). With the Direct Selection tool selected, you can select a series of anchor points on one or more paths. With a path that has corner points (take a square, for instance). Sort of like how InDesign does it, you can now either drag to edit corner points or do it numerically in a dialog box. This lets you round selected corners, or change the corner to one of three different types (rounded, inverted round, or chamfered). Live CornersĪt last! We know have a visual method for editing the corner points on an open or closed path, called Live Corners. ![]() I’ve even included links to some videos I created for the larger feature updates, that go into a little more depth. In this article, we’ll explore the most interesting of these new and improved features in this newest release of Illustrator CC 17.1. There are even enhancements to age-old features and tools like the Pencil and Pen tools, and how we edit paths, among a variety of other enhancements. We now can finally round the corners on our paths easily and even create custom panels for tools we use all the time. ![]() In my opinion, there are some pretty useful updates to Illustrator CC 17.1 (January 2014). ![]()
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