When a path is in edit mode and you point to an anchor point with a
Selection tool, the pointer becomes a crosshair. When you point to a
segment, the pointer becomes a gray arrowhead.
You can select points in more than one path. When you move any
selected point, all points in the selection move the same way. (If all
the points in a path are selected and you drag one, the entire path
moves.) This also works for segments belonging to separate paths.
To select anchor points and segments: With the path object in
edit mode, click an anchor point or segment to select it. To select
multiple points or segments, use either the Direct edit selection tool
or the Selection tool to drag a selection box around them or Shift-
click each point or segment.
To select all anchor points: With the path object in edit mode,
choose Select All in the Edit menu.
To select parts of separate paths: Place the paths in edit
mode, and Shift-click the point or segments.
When an anchor point is selected, it changes from a solid to hollow
square. If the anchor point has tangent lines, they appear when the
anchor point is selected. All tangent lines that affect the segments that
touch the selected anchor point also appear. When you select a seg-
ment, the anchor point at each end is selected.
Adding and deleting points and segments
If a segments anchor points are too far apart for you to adjust the
shape as needed, you can add more. If you create or add more anchor
points than you need, you can delete unnecessary ones.
Keep in mind that the more points on a path, the more complex and
system resource-intensive it becomes. In particular, too many anchor
points can cause printing problems. Its best to use the fewest possi-
ble anchor points placed as far apart as possible to create a path.
To add an anchor point: With an object in edit mode, Ctrl-
click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) a segment to which you want to
add an anchor point. In the path Context menu, choose Add Point.
You can also Option-click (Mac) or Ctrl-click (Windows) a segment
to add a point.
To delete an anchor point: With an object in edit mode, Ctrl-
click (Mac) or right-click (Windows) the point you want to delete. In
Tip
The Selection tools are
explained in Selection tools,
page 9.82 and Selecting
objects with selection tools,
page 16.247.
You can use the Selection tool to
select multiple anchor points.