Subtitles section Play video
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Hi there! This is The Jared Wilcurt, and this is going to be a comprehensive tutorial covering the
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Pen Tool in Illustrator. It's also going to cover the selection tool and the direct selection tool
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(the black and white arrows). These are the three most commonly used
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tools in Illustrator and
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we're going to go over
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every single thing that you can do with them. All of the different versions
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of the pen tool and
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how it affects anchor points,
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handles, and segments; along with each one of the tools uses with the modifier
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keys (control/alt/shift)
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So, we're going to go in to all of these.
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This file we're looking at is available for free in the description to
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download. It's going to go over all the stuff i'm going over with you here.
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It's all written out and explains it all as a nice little shortcut to
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explain every last aspect of it.
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I'll go over the layers here real quick. In the layers we have a tracing pad,
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which is so you can practice on these images here. You can draw over them
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with the pen tool.
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Below that we have the examples which are these shapes here. If I disable them
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you'll see. Those are the examples. We have the text, obviously.
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And then the images in the background. So
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in this case I'm going to uncheck the examples for this demonstration.
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I'm going to zoom in to the very start, here.
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So, we're starting off with the bare essentials.
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Don't skip this video just yet! This part is going to be super super
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simple.
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But we have to start with the basics first, right?
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So, select the pen tool, it's the 5th option in the here in the tools box.
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Click once to create an anchor point.
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Click once again to create a second anchor point and these two will be
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connected by a segment.
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If I click and drag, then I'll pull-out handles
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and the further I pull them out the more curved
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my new segment will be.
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The closer I have them to the original anchor points that I clicked
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the sharper it will be; the more it will be a straight line.
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So I'll put this out some.
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If i hover over the original point that I left
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my cursor changes to have
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a circle,
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instead of just the pen tool. So, I'll hover over it
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and it turns into a circle.
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Which means this will close the path if I click on this anchor point. So I will do so;
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and now I have a closed path.
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That is the basic functionality of the pen tool. How to create a shape just by clicking
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in different sections and using the handles that come out to create
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these curved shapes, these bezier curves.
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And how to connect back your path to make it a closed path
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The most primary function for the selection tool
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is to deselect objects that are already selected by clicking on the artboard,
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or to
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click and drag those objects around (to move them).
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And that is the most basic functions of them.
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Let's go to the next section.
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The inside of a shape this called the fill (that's what this green section is).
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The outside edge of it is called the stroke,
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that's the blue section there.
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You can use the selection tool to select a shape,
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and when you do
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it's colors will be adjustable here in the tool box.
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There are several other places you can adjust them as well, but this is a quick
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way of doing so.
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There's little arrow here as well that will swap them, so it swaps the fill and the
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stroke colors. Or you can just double-click on them and change their
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color
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like so. Double-click on the box here in the tools section.
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You can also adjust the stroke width.
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Here on the side I've got the stroke
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panel pulled up, you can also find that under window and stroke if you don't see
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that
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and I'm gonna change this from 18pt to 4pt.
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And it's going to be adjusted because that object was selected when i changed
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that.
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We'll go in to the next section.
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You can click and hold the pen tool icon,
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which is here and the toll box. Click and hold on that
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and it will pull out your different options. You've got
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the Add Anchor Point tool,
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the Delete Anchor Point tool, and the Convert Anchor Point tool. So there's different versions
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of the Pen Tool that you can use that have different functionalities. If I click
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this little Tear Off button here, then I get it
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like so, and I like to keep it up here in this top corner. I basically have it up
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there all the time, because
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the Pen Tool is so useful in Illustrator.
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So far we've been using just the Pen Tool on its own, I'm gonna switch over to the
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Add Anchor Point tool.
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And I'm going to click
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anywhere on a path.
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In this case you see that there is an anchor here
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and hear and this is a segment between a metallic reports
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click click anywhere in their i can create a new anchor point
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there's also a delete agricultural if i use that but i can remove anchor points
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like this one here there's also the convert anchor point two
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with its elected i can click on a an anchor point that has handles
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quick not once we remove its handles
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and now this which was rounded as a sharp point 'cause the handles have been
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removed
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i can also
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click on a single individual handle
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to remove just yet while the other hand on an anchor point
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is still
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uh... it still visible and uh... at its original position
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you can also click and drag out from anchor point to create new handles that
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will move in tandem with one another
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and you can't click and drag a single handle to convert it to be moved
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independently from the other
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i'm going to do so at this shaped by clicking on the our border with he
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selection tool
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uh... with this little when i click on a ship it selects every anchor point and
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that shape so i can move the shape
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as one individual object
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the
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direct selection told the white arrow on the other hand
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allows you to select individual anchor points and to just them on their own
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so i can select a single anchor point
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and relocated
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like so click and drag it to a different position
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you can also hold on the shift key
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to select multiple anchor points
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some sort of a large shift and click on malt liquor points
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and i can move those together
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while the rest of the anchor points
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are stationary
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the drexler talking also click and drag out the window an any anchor point
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inside that window become selected to allow you to control
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what is selected ups
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if you select a single
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uh... anchor point with handles like this one
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you can click
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either handle and if they are in line with another
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you can move in both at the same time in tandem
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on anchor points where the handles are now in a straight line you can move the
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handles independently wakes up
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and finally
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uh... you can also click on a segment on it's gone
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and move a single segment
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costume exceptions that was the basics
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this exception will cover and use of the modifier keeps
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you can choose the selection tool the black arrow
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and while clicking and reading the shape of people dont all tool see the cursor
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changes to have
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uh... a black on top of white shake you can release it
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annual create copy
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putting dragging while holding on all critic opic if you click and drag while
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holding and shift it moves your object
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in a straight line at forty-five uh... degree increments
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this is useful if you wanna move something directly
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to a genocide
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you can also combine these two people down
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shifts
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to constrain
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and hold on all to the same time and let go
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annual create copy directly in line with the original
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this can be very useful for a number of of things
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uh... finally within the selection tool selected you can hold on control and it
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will temporarily give you access to
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the direct slept well
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are released the control key and still using the selection too
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but if i hold a control again my white arrow instead
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and so you have access to some of the uses of the white arrow
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uh... very quickly by just hole in the control key
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they're using the directs electro
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all the white arrow
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with the drug sexual on an anchor point you can click and drag in anger point
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and hold them alts
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and create copy of what you're dragging out the only
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banker point in the segments that are connected to it
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now if i were to
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move this
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elsewhere you'll see that created
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as shape
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based off of what i pulled out
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from an anchor point the original one stays intact
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at crazy duplicate only of the anchor point in the two segments that on either
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side of it
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well down shifts just like before while cooking dragging
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and moves that forty five degree increments
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and holding down the control key switches back to the black arrow
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temporarily so i can select
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the entire object the oldest tanker points oregon's click off of that
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to remove
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the selection and i have because he's modifier keys with the direct such a
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toll on handles
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so it looks like they single anchor point and just the tamils like this one
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here i called on the holtz ki
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mike researchers have a plus side and i are going to
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than this
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single uh... anchor part of the single handle
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uh... independently
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of the other handle
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holding us shift wall dragging it
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will constrain it
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to be at forty five degree angle ps
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and finally will use the control
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this was back to the pencil here
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and if you hold out of control wheel temporarily have the selection told the
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white arrow people dont bolts
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built over really have the
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convert anchor points tool
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thatcher's bozell i've now you will have these tools within their ability to
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uh... use modifier keys because you're already in a different or using modifier
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q
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if you try it out and getting an error sound
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with potential
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like before you can draw anchor points and pull the handles out
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hold down shift will point handles out he'll be constrained at forty five
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degree angle ts
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wall drawings of what the pencil
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you if you put the anchor point the wrong position
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if you're still clicking and dragging out the the handles
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you can hold the space bar to reposition that point
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this is extremely useful specially for tracing something and you ask the lake
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uh... click your anchor point
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down the wrong place you can hold on a space part repositioning
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to be on top of the correct area of the image
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this franchise missing from the pencil in photoshop
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and i think it actually hampers at quite a bit
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as i said it it can be extremely useful particularly when
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uh... went racing or something but just in general it's very helpful would be
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able to quickly reposition it
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on the fly wire drawing something in making a shape
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i'm relieved that shit
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and the next thing is if you click and drag
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as you point out the handles
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if you hold down alts
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you can is uh...
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changed in the uh... the forward facing handle independently
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of the the previous one
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this is really good if you're trying to make corner
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for example
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and then click and drag on a new area
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uh... as your as your clicking and reading
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wherever in the backward spacing
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uh... i handle is izzat whenever you hold on the old key
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that is where it will stay so they tell you i don't know if you're really close
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in the clothes were quietly for
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annually for
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but the moment i hold on the old ski that backwards facing handle
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is going to be
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uh... stock where her was that
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and i can change the fourth facing handled put in whatever position i like
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now this path is selected
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this segment here
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from this anchor pointed to the same point has nothing between them is just
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the segment
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if i put my control over and a little plus sign next the cursor it lets you
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use
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the adp inc repair point tool
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uh... on the segment