Drawing with the Pen and Pencil Tools - Adobe Illustrator CC - page 221

1 . To draw a straight line, click twice with the Pen tool ( ). The first click sets the
starting anchor point, and the second click sets the ending anchor point of the line. To
constrain the straight line vertically, horizontally, or along a 45° diagonal, press the
Shift key as you click to create the second anchor point with the Pen tool.
2 . To draw a curved line with the Pen tool, click to create the starting anchor point, drag
to set the direction of the curve, and then click to end the curve.
3 . To draw a corner point on a curved line, press the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS)
key and drag the direction handle on the endpoint of the curve to change the direction of
the path. Continue dragging to draw the next curved segment on the path.
4 . To convert a smooth point on a curve to a corner point, use the Direct Selection tool (
) to select the anchor point, and then use the Convert Anchor Point tool ( ) to drag a
direction handle to change the direction. Another method is to choose a point or points
with the Direct Selection tool and then click the Convert Selected Anchor Points To
Corner button ( ) in the Control panel.
5 . To edit a segment on a curved line, select the Direct Selection tool and drag the
segment to move it, or drag a direction handle on an anchor point to adjust the length
and shape of the segment.
6 . To change the way the Pencil tool ( ) works, double-click the Pencil tool in the
Tools panel to open the Pencil Tool Options dialog box. There you can change the
smoothness, fidelity, and other options.