Drawing 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 a 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.