In this movie we'll go ahead and close out our path outline and also show you how to insert and remove points from the interior of a path using the Pen tool. I've saved my new path outline as Eight spikes on top.ai, and notice my path is still active. I'm just going to go ahead and click down here let's say, and then click in a few other random locations to add some more anchor points. And finally, I'll arrive at the first point in my path outline, and notice when I do that I get a little circle next to my pen tool cursor, which tells me that I'm going to close that path.
So, as soon as I click on that first point, the path is closed, I get an asterisk next to my pen tool once again, telling me that if I click again, like so, then I'm going to end up drawing a new path outline. And I'll just go ahead and close that one as well, then I'll press the backspace key a couple of times, by the way, in order to get rid of this path. So, the first time I press the Backspace key, I get rid of just the selected anchor point, and I also end up with an open path outline. I want you to notice this because we'll be contrasting that to the way we remove points using the Pen tool.
With this anchor point selected, if I press Backspace or Delete, then I end up not only deleting that anchor point, but also its two neighboring segments. So where I used to have five segments a moment ago, I now have just three segments left. Notice Illustrator goes ahead and selects all the anchor point this time, so if I press Backspace or Delete a second time, I'll go ahead and get rid of the entire path. Let's say I want to modify this path outline right here. Notice I'm sort of hovering my cursor over various anchor points and over the segments, and I'm not seeing anything change, I still have an asterisk next to my pen.
But if I press the Ctrl key or the Command key on the Mac, in order to get my White Arrow tool, and I click somewhere on the path outline to at least partially select it, then notice if I hover over a segment, I see little plus sign next to my cursor and if I hover over an existing anchor point, I see a little minus sign. Now the great thing about this feature is that if I click on an anchor point with a Pen tool cursor, then I go ahead and remove that anchor point, but I do not create a hole in the path, so I do not get rid of the neighboring segments, and the neighboring anchor points are connected by new segment.
If I go ahead and click on an existing segment-- not an anchor point, but rather a segment-- I'll see a plus sign, and that tells me that I'm going to add an anchor point as I just did, then I can Ctrl-drag it to a new location--that would be a Command-drag on the Mac. Now let's go ahead and integrate this free- form polygon into the illustration. I'm going to press the V key to switch back to Black Arrow tool, and I'll click on this path outline in order to select it, and then I'll go up to the View menu and choose a Preview command in order to switch back to the Preview mode.
This layer is called face, because we're actually going to put the face and lips on this layer. The spikes go on this layer right here called teeth and spikes, so I'll go ahead and turn that layer on, so I can see it, and now I'll press Ctrl+X, or Command+X on the Mac, in order to cut the spikes to the clipboard, and I'm going to send the spikes behind this shape right here, so I'll go ahead and click on it in order to select it--and by the way, this path, if I were to press Ctrl+Y, or Command+ Y in the Mac to switch back to the Outline mode, represents this kind of blood layer or something that's along these spikes.
So, what we want to do is put that redness into the bottom of the spikes and here is how we'll do that, I'll press Ctrl+Y, or Command+Y on the Mac, to switch back to the Preview mode. I'll go up to the Edit menu and choose the Paste in Back command, or I will press Ctrl+B, or Command+B on the Mac, in order to paste those spikes in back of that shape. Now I'll go and grab that shape, and we need to cut it, so I'll click on it to select it, and then I'll press Ctrl+X, or Command+X on the Mac, and now I'll click on the spikes once again, let's switch the Drawing mode to draw inside like so, and then I can go up to the Edit menu and choose Paste in Place or press Ctrl+Shift+V, or Command+Shift+V on the Mac, and that goes ahead and paste that redness into the spikes, and now I'll just switch back to the Draw a Normal mode, in order to avoid placing any more objects into this path.
Now the last thing I need to do is give the spikes a thicker stroke, so I'll go ahead and click on the spikes to select them, and I want to change the stroke to 2 points. Now right now Illustrator is behaving as if I have mixed attributes, which I guess technically I do, because one of the shapes is filled with red and it has no stroke, and the other is filled with white and it has a black stroke, but in fact, if I go ahead and click this down pointing arrow ahead next to stroke up here in the Control panel and I change the Line Weight to 2 points, that only affects the spikes, and it doesn't affect the redness inside.
So, that's how you drawn and edit free-form polygons using the Pen tool inside of Illustrator. In the next movie I'll show you how to draw a primitive spline curve.
Author
Released
6/1/2012This installment covers subjects such as working with shapes and closed paths, including painting, grouping, and coloring, and placing and adjusting type. Deke shows you how to select fonts, create hanging indents, and tweak the kerning and leading of your text. Additional chapters cover drawing and editing paths (and their points) and moving and transforming objects in your artwork.
- Rotating and duplicating objects
- Grouping and stacking
- Erasing and painting selected paths
- Using the Shape Builder tool
- Reflecting across an angled axis
- Simulating beveled edges
- Creating a network of interlocking paths
- Placing and flowing text
- Creating page margins
- Adjusting type size
- Creating and applying paragraph styles
- Using the Glyphs panel
- Inserting and removing anchor points
Skill Level Beginner
Duration
Views
Q: I'm following along with Chapter 5 movie, "Creating compound paths." Why can't I get the second shape to compound properly? The Object menu doesn't seem to work.
A: This problem is due to a bug in Illustrator that has developed since this movie was recorded. To work around it, click off the Object menu (or press the Escape key); take another action, such as opening and closing the drawing layer; and revisit the Object menu.
Related Courses
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Deke's Techniques
with Deke McClelland155h 18m Intermediate
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Introduction
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Welcome to One-on-One2m 13s
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1. Making a Document
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Creating a new document4m 50s
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Advanced document controls4m 43s
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Modifying your document3m 6s
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Saving changes6m 4s
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2. Working with Artboards
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Auto-arranging artboards3m 25s
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Artboards and rulers4m 35s
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3. Getting Around
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Panels and workspaces5m 17s
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Cycling through screen modes3m 25s
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4. Making Line Art
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Meet the line tools2m 8s
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Creating custom guides4m 13s
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Adjusting control handles4m 35s
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Using the Spiral tool3m 29s
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Tracing existing spirals5m 2s
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Now, we draw39s
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5. Drawing Geometric Shapes
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Meet the shape tools2m 8s
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Using the Ellipse tool6m 33s
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Creating compound paths7m 5s
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Drawing a multi-point star7m 28s
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Drawing rounded rectangles7m 35s
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Reflecting across an axis5m 29s
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Using the Flare tool6m 25s
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6. Tracing an Image
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Opening an image to embed it3m 49s
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Auto-tracing and resolution5m 48s
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Adjusting layer previews3m 3s
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Flipping and fusing shapes5m 54s
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7. Scaling and Rotating
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Creating a tracing template4m 50s
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Dragging and duplicating2m 55s
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Using the Scale tool6m 50s
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Using the Rotate tool5m 6s
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Rotating and duplicating5m 52s
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The realm of transformations1m 24s
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8. Painting Freeform Shapes
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Using the Shape Builder tool6m 16s
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Simulating beveled edges7m 34s
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The best tools for painting1m 12s
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9. Working with Type
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Creating page margins6m 1s
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Placing and flowing text5m 39s
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Working with point text4m 53s
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Redefining paragraph styles6m 16s
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Using the Glyphs panel8m 37s
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Spell-checking your text4m 41s
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10. Using the Pen Tool
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Faking simple spline curves6m 49s
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Conclusion
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See ya46s
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Video: Inserting and removing anchor points