Draw with the Pen tool

Select the Pen tool.

Position the Pen tool where you want the straight segment to begin, and click to define the first anchor point (do not drag).

Click again where you want the segment to end (Shift-click to constrain the angle of the segment to a multiple of 45°).

Continue clicking to set anchor points for additional straight segments.

The last anchor point you add always appears as a solid square, indicating that it is selected. Previously defined anchor points become hollow, and deselected, as you add more anchor points.

Complete the path by doing one of the following:

• To close the path, position the Pen tool over the first (hollow) anchor point. A small circle appears next to the Pen tool pointer  when it is positioned correctly. Click or drag to close the path.

• To leave the path open, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) anywhere away from all objects.

  To leave the path open, you can also select a different tool, or choose Select > Deselect in Illustrator or Edit >Deselect All in InDesign. In InDesign or Illustrator, you can also simply press Enter or Return to leave the path open.

Select the Pen tool.

Position the Pen tool where you want the curve to begin, and hold down the mouse button.

The first anchor point appears, and the Pen tool pointer changes to an arrowhead. (In Photoshop, the pointer changes only after you’ve started dragging.)

Drag to set the slope of the curve segment you’re creating, and then release the mouse button.

In general, extend the direction line about one third of the distance to the next anchor point you plan to draw. (You can adjust one or both sides of the direction line later.)

Hold down the Shift key to constrain the tool to multiples of 45°.

Position the Pen tool where you want the curve segment to end, and do one of the following:

• To create a C‑shaped curve, drag in a direction opposite to the previous direction line. Then release the mouse button.

A.Starting to drag second smooth pointB.Dragging away from previous direction line, creating a C curveC.Result after releasing mouse button

• To create an S‑shaped curve, drag in the same direction as the previous direction line. Then release the mouse button.

A.Starting to drag new smooth pointB.Dragging in same direction as previous direction line, creating an S curveC.Result after releasing mouse button

Continue dragging the Pen tool from different locations to create a series of smooth curves. Note that you are placing anchor points at the beginning and end of each curve, not at the tip of the curve.

Complete the path by doing one of the following:

• To close the path, position the Pen tool over the first (hollow) anchor point. A small circle appears next to the Pen tool pointer  when it is positioned correctly. Click or drag to close the path.

• To leave the path open, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) anywhere away from all objects.

  To leave the path open, you can also select a different tool, or choose Select > Deselect in Illustrator or Edit >Deselect All in InDesign.

After you click to create an anchor point, keep the mouse button pressed down, hold down the spacebar, and drag to reposition the anchor point.

To close a path, position the Pen tool over the first (hollow) anchor point. A small circle appears next to the Pen tool pointer  when it is positioned correctly. Click or drag to close the path.

To leave a path open, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (Mac OS) anywhere away from all objects.

Using the Pen tool, click corner points in two locations to create a straight segment.

Position the Pen tool over the selected endpoint. In Illustrator and InDesign, a convert-point icon appears next to the Pen tool when it is positioned correctly (In Photoshop, a small diagonal line, or slash, appears next to the Pen tool). To set the slope of the curved segment you’ll create next, click the anchor point, and drag the direction line that appears.

Position the pen where you want the next anchor point; then click (and drag, if desired) the new anchor point to complete the curve.

Using the Pen tool, drag to create the first smooth point of the curved segment, and release the mouse button.

Reposition the Pen tool where you want the curved segment to end, drag to complete the curve, and release the mouse button.

Position the Pen tool over the selected endpoint. A convert-point icon appears next to the Pen tool when it is positioned correctly. Click the anchor point to convert the smooth point to a corner point.

Reposition the Pen tool where you want the straight segment to end, and click to complete the straight segment.

Using the Pen tool, drag to create the first smooth point of a curved segment.

Reposition the Pen tool and drag to create a curve with a second smooth point; then press and hold Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and drag the direction line toward its opposing end to set the slope of the next curve. Release the key and the mouse button.

This process converts the smooth point to a corner point by splitting the direction lines.

Reposition the Pen tool where you want the second curved segment to end, and drag a new smooth point to complete the second curved segment.