Learn what each Illustrator draw tool does best.
As you work on Illustrator, use draw tools like Pen, Rectangle, Paintbrush, Line Segment, and more to perform various tasks like draw squares and rectangles, freehand lines, grids, and anchor points.
Pen (P)
Draw straight and curved lines to create objects
Curvature
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Anchor Point (+)
Add anchor points to paths
Line Segment
Draw individual straight line segments
Rectangle (M)
Draw squares and rectangles
Elipse (L)
Draw circles and ovals
Polygon
Draw regular, multi-sided shapes
Paintbrush (B)
Draw freehand and calligraphic lines
Pencil (N)
Draw and edit freehand lines
Watch this XX-second animation to learn more about working with these draw tools as you master how to draw and edit line segments, shapes and calligraphic lines.
Additional draw tools
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Add Anchor Point (+) adds anchor points to paths |
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Delete anchor points (-) deletes anchor points from paths |
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Arc draws individual concave or convex curve segments |
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Rectangular Grid draws rectangular grids |
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Polar Grid draws circular chart grids |
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Star helps draw stars |
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Flare creates lens-flare or solar-flare-like effects |
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Blob (Shift-B) draws paths that automatically expand |
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Path Eraser erases paths and anchor points from the object |
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Smooth helps smoothen Bezier paths |
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Slice Selection selects web slices |
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Perspective Grid allows creating and rendering artwork in perspective |
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Slice divides artwork into separate web images |
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Symbol Sizer resizes symbol instances |
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Symbol Scruncher moves symbol instances closer together or farther apart |
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Symbol Shifter moves symbol instances and change stacking order |
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Symbol Spinner rotates symbol instances |
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Symbol Screener applies opacity to symbol instances |
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Symbol Styler applies the selected style to symbol instances |
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Symbol Spray (Shift+S) places multiple symbol instances as a set on the artboard |
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Perspective Selection brings objects, text, and moves them perpendicular to its current direction |
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Bar Graph creates graphs that are similar to column graphs, but positions the bars horizontally instead of vertically |
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Line Graph creates graphs that use points to represent one or more sets of values |
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Column Graph (J) creates graphs that compare values using vertical columns |
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Scatter Graph creates graphs that are similar to line graphs, but emphasizes totals as well as changes in values |
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Pie Graph creates circular graphs whose wedges represent the relative percentages of the values compared |
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Radar Graph creates graphs that compare sets of values at given points in time or in particular categories, and is displayed in a circular format |
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Stacked Bar Graph creates graphs that are similar to stacked column graphs, but stacks the bars horizontally instead of vertically |
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Stacked Column Graph creates graphs that stack the columns on top of one another, instead of side by side |
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Area Graph |
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Join |
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Shaper |
Here's a handy reference of all the keyboard shortcuts to get your work done faster.
What's next?
Now that you've gotten started drawing and editing shapes and lines with Draw tools, take a step forward and learn what you can do with Modify tools.
Share your creations
Drop in your creations and questions in the Adobe Illustrator Community. We'd love to hear from you.