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About paths


    A path is made up of one or more straight or curved segments. The beginning and end of each segment is marked by anchor points, which work like pins holding wire in place. You change the shape of a path by editing its anchor points. You can control curves by dragging the direction points at the end of direction lines that appear at anchor points.

    A path is either open, like an arc, or closed, like a circle. For an open path, the starting and ending anchor points for the path are called endpoints.

    Illustration of components of a path with these callouts: A. Selected (solid) endpoint B. Selected anchor point C. Curved path segment D. Direction line E. Direction point
    Components of a path A. Selected (solid) endpoint B. Selected anchor point C. Curved path segment D. Direction line E. Direction point

    Paths can have two kinds of anchor points--corner points and smooth points. At a corner point, a path abruptly changes direction. At a smooth point, path segments are connected as a continuous curve. You can draw a path using any combination of corner and smooth points. If you draw the wrong kind of point, you can always change it.

    Illustration of points on a path with these callouts: A. Four corner points B. Four smooth points C. Combination of corner and smooth points
    Points on a path A. Four corner points B. Four smooth points C. Combination of corner and smooth points

    A corner point can connect any two straight or curved segments, while a smooth point always connects two curved segments.

    A corner point can connect both straight segments and curved segments.
    A corner point can connect both straight segments and curved segments.