Draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil 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).

Notes:

• The first segment you draw will not be visible until you click a second anchor point. 
• If direction lines appear, you’ve accidentally dragged the Pen tool; choose Edit > Undo, and click again.

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 (macOS) anywhere away from all objects.
• To leave the path open, you can also select a different tool, or choose Select > Deselect. 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.

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.

• To create an S‑shaped curve, drag in the same direction as the previous direction line. Then release the 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 (macOS) anywhere away from all objects.
• To leave the path open, you can also select a different tool, or choose Select > Deselect.

 

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.

Complete a path in one of the following ways:

• 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 (macOS) 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, a convert-point icon appears next to the Pen tool when it is positioned correctly. 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 (macOS) 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.

While using the pen tool, press the Alt / Option key.

When you hover the pointer over a path segment, the cursor changes to the Reshape Segment cursor.

Dragging a segment will reshape the path segment

To continue drawing with the Pen tool, release the Alt / Option key.

To create a semi-circular segment hold the Shift key while reshaping a segment. Holding the Shift modifier constrains the handles to a perpendicular direction, and ensures that the handles are of equal length.

Select the Curvature tool ().

Drop two points on the artboard, and then view the rubber band preview display the shape of the resulting path depending on where you hover your mouse.

Note: Rubber-banding is turned on by default in the tool. To turn it off, use preference setting: Preferences > Selection & Anchor Display > Enable Rubber Band.

Use the mouse to drop a point or tap to create a smooth point. To create a corner point, double-click or press the Alt key while clicking or tapping.

You can perform several actions:

• Option (macOS) / Alt (Windows) + click to continue adding points to an existing path or shape.
• Double-click or double-tap a point to toggle the point between smooth or corner points.
• Click a point or tap it and then drag the point to move it.
• Click or tap a point and press Delete to delete the point. The curve is maintained.
• Press the Esc key to stop drawing.
  

Using the Pen tool or the Curvature tool, click once on the artboard to draw a smooth point, and drag the mouse to create the handles as required.

Note: When you draw a smooth point, the opposite handles are always equal and paired. Press Command / Ctrl while dragging the handles of a smooth point, to create handles that are unequal in length (pairing remains intact).

Release the mouse button. When you move the mouse pointer across the artboard, a path is displayed indicating what will be drawn if you choose to drop an anchor point at the location of the mouse pointer.  

When the preview displayed is the path that you wanted to draw, click the location, and Illustrator draws the path as previewed.

Open the Preferences dialog (Ctrl + K)

Browse to the Selection and Anchor Display tab

Select or clear the desired option(s):

• Enable Rubber Band for Pen Tool
  
• Enable Rubber Band for Curvature Tool
  

Click and hold the Shaper tool (). Select the Pencil tool .

Position the tool where you want the path to begin, and drag to draw a path. The Pencil tool () displays a small x to indicate drawing a freeform path.

As you drag, a dotted line follows the pointer. Anchor points appear at both ends of the path and at various points along it. The path takes on the current stroke and fill attributes, and remains selected by default.

Select the Pencil tool ().

Position the tool where you want the path to begin, and start dragging to draw a path.

After you’ve begun dragging, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS). The Pencil tool displays a small circle () to indicate that you’re creating a closed path.

When the path is the size and shape you want, release the mouse button (but not the Alt or Option key). After the path closes, release the Alt or Option key.

You don’t have to position the cursor over the starting point of the path in order to create a closed path; if you release the mouse button in some other location, the Pencil tool will close the shape by creating the shortest possible line back to the original point.

Select an existing path.

Select the Pencil tool ().

Position the pencil tip on an endpoint of the path.

You can tell you’re close enough to the endpoint when the small x next to the pencil tip disappears.

Drag to continue the path.

Select both paths (Shift-click or drag around the two with the Selection tool).

Select the Pencil tool ().

Position the pointer where you want to begin from one path, and start dragging toward the other path. The Pencil tool displays a small merge symbol () to indicate you’re adding to the existing path.

Drag onto the endpoint of the other path and release the mouse button.

Select the path you want to change.

Position the Pencil tool on or near the path to redraw.

You can tell you’re close enough to the path when the small x disappears from the tool.

Drag the tool until the path is the desired shape.