Illustrator

Adding and deleting anchor points

Adding anchor points can give you more control over a path, or it can extend an open path. However, it’s a good idea not to add more points than necessary. A path with fewer points is easier to edit, display, and print. You can reduce the complexity of a path by deleting unnecessary points. Adding and deleting anchor points works similarly in Adobe applications.

The Tools panel contains three tools for adding or deleting points: the Pen tool , the Add Anchor Point tool , and the Delete Anchor Point tool . In addition, the Control panel has a Remove Selected Anchor Points button 

By default, the Pen tool changes to the Add Anchor Point tool as you position it over a selected path, or to the Delete Anchor Point tool as you position it over an anchor point.

Note: Don’t use the Delete, Backspace, and Clear keys or the Edit > Cut and Edit > Clear commands to delete anchor points: these keys and commands delete the point and the line segments that connect to that point.

Add or delete anchor points

  1. Select the path you want to modify.
  2. To add an anchor point, select the Pen tool or the Add Anchor Point tool, position the pointer over the path segment, and click.
  3. To delete an anchor point, do either of the following:

    • Select the point with the Direct Selection tool and click Remove Selected Anchor Points  in the Control panel.

    • Select the Pen tool or the Delete Anchor Point tool, position the pointer over the anchor point, and click.

Find and delete stray anchor points

Stray anchor points are individual points that are not connected to other anchor points. It is a good practice to find and delete stray anchor points.

  1. Deselect all objects.
  2. Choose Select > Object > Stray Points.
  3. Choose Edit > Cut or Edit > Clear commands, or press Delete or Backspace on the keyboard.

Disable or temporarily override automatic Pen tool switching

You can temporarily override or disable automatic switching to the Add Anchor Point tool or Delete Anchor Point tool.

  • To temporarily override switching, hold down Shift as you position the Pen tool over the selected path or an anchor point. This is useful when you want to start a new path on top of an existing path. To prevent Shift from constraining the Pen tool, release Shift before you release the mouse button.
  • To disable switching, choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > General (Mac OS), and select Disable Auto Add/Delete.