The Convert Anchor Point is a path-editing tool that’s hidden under all the Pen tools in the Tool palette. It’s used to convert a Curved Point into Corner Point as well as turning a Corner Point into a Curved Point by clicking on the Anchor Point and dragging out Handles. You can also click on a Handle and drag to unlock the two Handles from each other to make two Curves meet at a corner. Next to the Pen tool itself, the Convert Anchor Point tool is one of the most important tools in Illustrator. You may ask, “Is there a way to temporarily switch to the Convert Anchor Point tool to edit an Anchor point as you’re drawing with the Pen tool?” Absolutely! While working with your Pen tool, hold down the Option key (Alt on PC) to temporarily switch to the Convert Anchor tool. When you stop pressing the key, you’re ready to continue drawing with the Pen.
Tip provided by Jeff Witchel, Certified Adobe® Training Provider.
Author: jeff witchel
Jeff Witchel graduated from Pratt Institute in 1973 with a B.F.A. (Cum Laude) in Advertising Design and Visual Communications. He has been an award-winning advertising art director, writer, designer, illustrator, and TV producer ever since.
Before starting his own advertising agency in New Jersey, Jeff built his career at top New York ad agencies such as Young & Rubicam, Grey Advertising, and Wells, Rich, Greene. Over the years, he has created award-winning work for many clients including AT&T, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Jell-O Pudding, The Plaza Hotel, and Pfizer. His many prestigious awards include N.Y. Art Directors Club Gold Award, One Show Gold Award, N.J. Art Directors Club Award, multiple Andy Awards, Graphis Annual, numerous readership awards, plus an Emmy Award nomination.
Jeff is a self-taught computer artist with over 19 years of experience. His initial introduction to the computer was with PageMaker, but he switched to Quark 1.0 when it was first introduced in 1987. Having arrived on the desktop publishing scene so early, Jeff became the “go to” guy for answers when others started getting into computer graphics.
As an Adobe Certified Expert, he’s provided online support for Adobe and is now an Adobe Certified Training Provider for both Adobe Illustrator CS2 and Adobe InDesign CS2. Jeff is one of just a handful of Adobe Certified Instructors in the New York metropolitan area. He also is a Quark Certified Expert in QuarkXPress 6 as well as a master of Adobe Photoshop and related applications. He counts among his training clients ad agencies, design studios, magazines, illustrators, and photographers in New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland.
