Illustrator - Pen Tool for Beginners - Master the pen tool

[@evelynwald9132]

I will never become fully proficient at Illustrator because I don’t get to use it as much, but in all the time I have been using Illustrator, I never saw those little symbols by the pen tool, I’ve watched a ton of other pen tool videos and yours was the first one I saw that pointed out those little symbols (that I didn’t really notice before) and what they do! Thank you for your video’s, they are extremely helpful.

[@HelenBradley]

Thank you Evelyn!

[@muldoon67]

For a newbie the Pen tool is difficult. My suggestion and the way I work now is is just to use straight lines with sharp angles where a curve (max curve radius) should be. Then come back afterwards and pull out the curve handles (with the Anchor Point Tool - Shift + C). It does away with all the over thinking about how curves work and where to place your next anchor. I can can get the basic shape down in seconds. I quite often find that just by going back afterwards with the rounded corners tool I can quite often get the job done.

[@HelenBradley]

That's a great way to start with the Pen tool David - that way you get the lines in place and then you can start to move them into position. Thanks for weighing in on this video.

[@surfacegraphy1731]

Dear Helen Bradley, hi, I always like to watch good classes of Pen Tool. Their basic lessons are excellent. As the concept is the same, these lessons can be applied in Photoshop. CONGRATULATIONS. Thanks. Gracias, M. From Brazil, Rio de Janeiro, Rio

[@HelenBradley]

De nada. Estoy feliz de que hayas disfrutado de esta clase. You are welcome. I am glad that you enjoyed this class.

[@alphanumericskeptic]

Helen you are a great teacher! Thank you!

[@HelenBradley]

Oh thank you!

[@GreenCatQueen]

The Pen tool is hard, but thanks for explaining it very well.

[@HelenBradley]

It can be tricky but it’s worth persevering and learning to use it.

[@adonisdavid7623]

this is a good ass video, very easy to understand video .. thanks alot

[@HelenBradley]

Thank you! Glad to hear it is a good ass video - I like to make those ;)

[@bely21sh]

I'm new at using Illustrator and I'm trying to separate lines from a drawing I made by hand and turned it into a Vector. My question is, how do I separate the lines so I can work with different parts of the drawing individually??

[@HelenBradley]

I am not 100% sure I understand your question. However, when you expand a traced image - which I am thinking is what you did - the shapes are all grouped together which makes it hard to get to individual shapes. You can use the Group Selection tool which shares a toolbar position with the Direct Selection tool or you can select everything and choose Object > Ungroup to ungroup the objects so you can select them. Does this help?

[@GreenCatQueen]

I'm stuck at 15:21. My toolbar doesn't have the "Convert selected anchor points to smooth" button. Where else is it hidden? Thanks.

[@HelenBradley]

What version of Illustrator are you using? It should be there. Just make sure you have the correct tool selected - in this case the Direct Selection tool (white arrow).

[@GreenCatQueen]

@@HelenBradley Got it! Thank you. I must have been using the wrong selection tool or something. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong, but I've got it working now. I've got the current 2021 Illustrator CC. Thanks for your help.

[@HelenBradley]

Great to hear!

[@onuohaudeagha1255]

I hate the pen tool. I've consumed tons of video on it but always find the part of using the ALT/option key very difficult.

[@HelenBradley]

It is tricky. But, you know? Practice will help. Even 5-10 minutes a day and you will be surprised how quickly your skills build up. Also watch the shape of your cursor, it tells you a lot about what you are about to do. If the Alt key is about to duplicate something it will show as a double arrow - if you see this happening and don't want to duplicate the anchor then stop and start over.

[@onuohaudeagha1255]

@@HelenBradley thanks, Helen. I've now learnt the pen tool, but my problem remains how to use the ALT feature when drawing a curve. The actions of creating, breaking and releasing handles at that point. Do I hold ALT and SHIFT together? If yes, then, which one do I release first...and WHEN?

[@muismizan]

Hai helen I'm not understand in minute 17:09

[@HelenBradley]

Great question. At 17:09 I show you how to break the handles apart so you can move one and not the other. To do so, you need to hold the Alt (Option key on a Mac) at the correct time. If you get it wrong you make a copy of the handle (and mess up your design), if you get the timing right then you get to break the handles apart. It might be a good idea to create a curved line in new Illustrator document and look at that part of the video again. Practice selecting an anchor point and use the Alt (Option) key as you drag on a handle to break the connection between the handles so they move independently of each other. Let me know if you run into difficulties?

[@GreenCatQueen]

So basically using the Pen tool is like digital sewing.

[@HelenBradley]

That’s certainly one way of looking at it!