Pen Tool – Adobe Illustrator – Quick Tip

ADOBE ILLUSTRATOR – PEN TOOL TIP – QUICK TIP

Using the pen tool in Adobe Illustrator is one of the predominant ways of creating shapes. You can make very complex shapes and designs using this very popular tool. It’s possible to make rigid and straight lines and also smooth curved lines. It’s also possible to create shapes with both rigid and curved lines.

This quick tip shows you a fast and effective way to transition between curved lines to straight lines without having to access the menu.

Before creating a curve, the pen tool will work on a direct point to point system, however, once a curve has been drawn, Illustrator will automatically try and bend the next line you draw. This is very handy when you’re on a roll and creating nice curvey shapes, but not so good when you want to quickly switch to a straight line.

1. When drawing a curved line Illustrator will allow you to choose the direction and curve of the line.

2.  After drawing a curved line, Illustrator will automatically assume your next line will be a curve as well.

3. To stop the next line being a curve, simply click again on the point you just drew using the pen tool.

4. This will create a corner point, and your next line will now be straight.

5. If you then at a later point wish to make your corner a curve, select the anchor and convert the point to a curve.

We use these techniques on a daily basis to help speed up our 2D Animation and Graphic Design process. This ensures that we can provide a high-quality production and output in a super-fast time.

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