Illustrator’s usage of paths and anchor points is one of the core concepts that makes it such a precious tool for designers. Graphic designers appreciate the control pathways and anchor points provided over objects.
It’s critical to comprehend how anchor points function in a path if you want to improve and professionalize the appearance of your designs. You must learn how to pick anchor points and use them to your advantage.
My name is Aly, I have been using Adobe Illustrator for over five years, and working with anchor points is part of my daily work routine. In this article, I will show you how to use and edit anchor points in Adobe Illustrator.
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Key Takeaways
- To move an anchor point in Illustrator, you must first grasp what a path is. Any line you create in Illustrator using the Pen tool, the Pencil tool, or another drawing feature is known as a path. Illustrator has included a variety of anchor points along the course.
- The default anchor points will be shown when you click on a path. These common anchor points may be used to alter the line and change its direction or turn it into an arc.
- Anchor points can only be added to a path, if you try to add to something other you will get an error message.
How to Add and Delete Anchor Points in Adobe Illustrator
Adding or removing anchor points from an existing path is the best technique to change pathways or the shape of your artwork. Here’s a small practice.
Step 1: Create a path. Choose the Pen Tool from the toolbar.
Step 2: Click on the artboard in multiple spots to create a line with multiple anchor points.
Step 3: Now to add an anchor point, keep the pen tool selected and click on the area where there is a path (any area between two points). As you can see, I have added two new anchor points.
Step 4: To delete an anchor point, simply go up to the top menu to click and select Remove Anchor Point and then click on any points that you added to the path.
How to Move Anchor Points in Adobe Illustrator
You can move the anchor points using the Direct Selection Tool (keyboard shortcut A).
Step 1: Choose the Direct Selection Tool from the toolbar.
Step 2: Click on the anchor point you wish to move. Once you have selected it, click and drag it to where you would now like it to be.
You will also see a little curve symbol next to the anchor point as you hover your cursor over it. This means you can click and drag to curve your edge point as I did below.
How to Join Anchor Points in Adobe Illustrator
Besides repositioning anchor points, you can also use the Direct Selection Tool to join anchor points. Here’s how you can do it.
Step 1: Choose the Direct Selection Tool from the toolbar.
Step 2: Click on one anchor point and drag it to another anchor point where you want to connect them.
For example, first I clicked on the ending point of the path.
Then I clicked on the starting point to connect them.
Final Thoughts
It’s really that simple! Learning how to edit anchor points in Illustrator is a fairly simple process and also very useful! You can create stunning designs by knowing how to edit anchor points in a path, text, or object!
Any questions about editing anchor points in Adobe Illustrator? Leave a comment and let me know.
