To see the tools I’m speaking of, click on the Pen Tool in Illustrator and hold the left mouse button down. You’ll see the Pen Tool, Add Anchor Point, Delete Anchor Point, and Convert Anchor Point. In addition to these tools, there is another complementary tool. The second tool on the toolbar is a white arrow named the Direct Selection Tool. This will also be used to help your work.

First, the Pen Tool is responsible for creating points and creating curves as you work. The problem is that many of us can’t see how many points we need, where we need them, and how the curve needs to bend as we work. That’s why these tools are helpful – if we don’t get what we need at first, we can use them to clean up the mess and realize our vision of the picture.

The Add Anchor Point Tool is simple enough – if, as you’re creating your graphic, you realize that you need a point somewhere you did not initially draw it, you can add the point later. This is very helpful because if you don’t have a point to work with, you can’t bend at that spot. See the example below for pointers.

The Delete Anchor Point Tool should be self-explanatory, but many people question the need for it. The reason you would remove anchor points is this: as you’re working, the more anchor points you have – the more potential you have for lines bending, stretching, and skewing. If you don’t need the power of a point in a given spot, you really don’t want an extra point sitting there. It makes your life more complicated. The animation below shows how removing an anchor point can resolve an issue.

Now we get to the fun tools. A common problem I’ve had to deal with over the years is my inability to get curves right the first time. The Convert Anchor Point Tool and Direct Selection Tool allow me to change a curve many times over, including creating curves that the Pen Tool by itself can’t create. Let’s start with the Convert Anchor Point Tool.

The Convert tool allows us to create a curve where there wasn’t one in the first place. In the example below, I actually create a straight line out, then back. Afterward, using the Convert Anchor Point Tool, I create a curve by clicking on one of the end points and pulling out; then clicking the other end point and pulling out.

The Direct Selection Tool allows me to click any point and do one of two things – either change an existing curve, or move the point altogether. Simply click on one of the extended poles coming from a point and drag it back and forth to see the change of the curve, or click directly on a point to shift that point. It is extremely valuable when you realize, for example, that a dog’s snout is far too long!

Finally, if you return to the Convert Anchor Point Tool – it also allows you to create a curve that is different on either side of the point. If you want a wave instead of an arc, that’s how you do it.

Stick Around

In the next installment of this tutorial, I’ll show how to use the Pen Tool to create some very interesting characters.

Until then, please feel free to check out our classes in Adobe Illustrator to give you more experience with these tools.

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Pen Tool Basics

The Pen tool is otherwise known as the Bezier curve tool. The Bezier curve was invented to draw smooth, curved car lines for the automotive industry, and now has been used for any curved drawing in digital format. The basic idea is that a computer would prefer the ’shortest path between two points’ – drawing a straight line – instead of an arc of some kind. What came about was a system of points with an added component – direction and velocity. With direction and velocity, a computer connects points the same way a car driving quickly would – long, sweeping curves.

To draw with the pen tool, not only click to draw a point, but also hold the mouse button down and drag. This will add the directional component to the points.

With this tool at your disposal, you can draw nearly anything you can imagine – you just need to know how to make it work for you.

Click and Drag – Where?

The idea of click-and-drag with the point is to give the line that ‘leaves’ that point a direction to go. If I click and drag up, like the image above, the line wants to leave the point going up. Then, when drawing the second point, dragging up means two things – the line ‘leaving’ the point goes up, but also, the line entering the point comes in from the bottom. That’s why the animation above has an S-curve. The line leaves the point at the left going up, and goes into the point at the right from the bottom. The line must bend in the middle to make that happen.

Basic Drawings: The S-Curve

To draw a basic S-curve, the line must leave the first point in a single direction, and enter the second point from the opposite angle. This necessitates the S-bend in the middle of the line.

Basic Drawings: The Horseshoe

Drawing a horseshoe, a single bend, can be done two different ways. Possibility #1 – create 2 points, and have the line that leaves both points go in opposite directions. Possibility #2 – create 3 points, and only bend the point in the middle.

Stick Around

In our next installation, I’m going to discuss how to make the pen tool a little more user-friendly. When I was starting to get the hang of things, using the complimentary tools to the pen really helped ease the transition.

To learn more about the Pen tool and Bezier curves, try out our classes in Adobe Flash, Illustrator, and Photoshop. You’ll see it in action until it becomes second nature!

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