Illustrator CS4 For Dummies- P4

Illustrator CS4 For Dummies- P4: Adobe Illustrator is the gold standard for creating exciting, color-rich artwork for print, the Web, or even mobile devices. Whether you’re stepping up to Illustrator CS4 or tackling Illustrator for the first time, you’ll find Illustrator CS4 For Dummies is the perfect partner. This full-color guide gives you the scoop on the newest tools, tips on color control and path editing, ways to organize graphics, and how to get your work into print or on the Web.
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Illustrator CS4 For Dummies- P4 Chapter 6: Selecting and Editing Paths 131Use the Illustrator Convert Anchor Point tool (which looks like an acuteangle, and is located in the same slot as the Pen tool) to change a point fromone type into another. (For more about the types of anchor points and theirusual behaviors, see Chapters 2 and 7.) To use the Convert Anchor Pointtool, put it on a point and click. What you do next determines the resultingpoint type: ✓ To get a straight-corner anchor point: Click an anchor point and release to change it into a straight corner point with no direction points. This is a quick-retract method of point conversion. ✓ To get a smooth anchor point: Click an anchor point and drag it to change it into a smooth point with two linked direction points. ✓ To get a curved-corner anchor point: Click a direction point and drag. It moves independently of the opposite direction point. ✓ To create a combination-corner anchor point from a smooth point or a curved-corner anchor point: Click one of the direction points and drag it into the anchor point (leaving one direction point for the curved side of the point).You can also quickly toggle back and forth between corner and smoothpoints by clicking the appropriate button in the upper left of the Controlpanel docked at the top of the work area. Click the corner-looking one tochange the selected point(s) to a corner point, and click the curved-lookingone to change the selected points(s) to a smooth point.Adding and subtracting points (path math)Illustrator has two tools that are used specifically for adding points to a pathor for removing them. The Add Anchor Point tool adds points, and the DeleteAnchor Point tool removes points. Both tools are located in the same slot asthe Pen tool.When you add an anchor point (or even several anchor points) with the AddAnchor Point tool, the path doesn’t change shape (as shown in Figure 6-12),but you can then move the point or points with the Direct Selection tool orconvert them to other types of points by using the Convert Anchor Pointtool.When you remove a point with the Delete Anchor Point tool, the path canchange shape — slightly or dramatically, depending on the shape. Figure 6-13shows what happens in two different circumstances.132 Part II: Drawing and Coloring Your Artwork Figure 6-12: (Left) Original path. (Right) Unchanged shape with new anchor points added to three of the star’s arms. Figure 6-13: (Left) Original path. (Right) Removing two anchor points to create two different shapes. Okay, have a squint at Figure 6-13 for a moment. (Ow, that’s gotta hurt. Not that hard.) You can probably tell immediately which anchor points were zapped with the Delete Anchor Point tool to change the image on the left into the upper- and lower-right images. In each case, only one point was removed. Powerful creatures, those anchor points. 7 Wielding the Mighty Pen ToolIn This Chapter▶ Using the Pen tool to create the four types of anchor points▶ Drawing straight lines with the Pen tool▶ Exploring the differences between open and closed paths▶ Drawing smooth-curved lines with the Pen tool▶ Making a seamless transition between curved and straight lines▶ Drawing basic shapes with the Pen tool B ack in medieval times (circa 1982), straight and smooth-curved lines were drawn with elegant handheld implements, such as a Rapidograph pen (an unwieldy, blotch-making tool), a ruler, and a French Curve. If you never had to use these torturous instruments, consider yourself lucky. With a Rapidograph pen, you got bumpy globs of ink and huge splotches that goosh onto the page each time you paused or changed direction. Today, if you need a straight line or a curved one — or even if you want the appearance of bumpy globs of ink — use the Illustrator Pen tool. This tool is a bit intimidating at first, but after you grasp a few concepts, you’ll be drawing floor plans, customizing logos, and feeling really sorry for people who don’t have Illustrator. Unlike its handheld, inky counterpart, the Pen tool is not intuitive. You can’t just pick it up and doodle; its functionality is far from obvious. This tool is unlike any drawing instrument in the world. But locked within the Pen tool are secrets and powers beyond those of mere physical ink. The Pen tool is a metaphysical doorway to the heavens of artistic exaltation; after you master the path of the Pen tool, all the riches of Illustrator can be yours. (You might even be unfazed by such hokey metaphors.)134 Part II: Drawing and Coloring Your Artwork Performing with the Pen, the Path, and the Anchor Points No, this section isn’t a retro look at obscure rock bands; it’s about telling Illustrator where to go — that is, by creating the paths Illustrator relies on to create shapes and objects. Paths are instructions that tell your computer how to arrange straight- and curved-line segments onscreen. Each path is made up of anchor points (dots that appear on-screen). Between every two anchor points is the portion of the path called a line segment. The Pen tool is probably as close as you ever get to calling up paths with the PostScript language — unless you’re an Adobe programming geek (in which case, the ...