Using Anchor Point Tool to change direction of Curve

Question

When making curves with the Pen tool, I am not completely clear on when you want to press alt/option to click on a Handle point to change its direction. It seems that dragging out from the handle point changes how the curve is created, though is this something that can only be done with the Anchor Point Tool? Is there anything unique about what it is doing or is it just another way of creating curves with the Pen? If you do not use the Convert Anchor point tool, can you simply use the Direct Select Tool to adjust your points, handles, afterwards to come up with the same result?

Thanks in advance.

rcraighead · Accepted Answer

The Anchor Point Tool toggles an anchor point between "corner" and "smooth". While it is not the ONLY way to convert point, it is usually the most convenient. The only other way I know of is to use the "Anchor Point" options in the Options Bar.The Anchor Point Tool is especially useful for converting a point "on-the-fly" while drawing the the Pen tool, by holding Option/Alt before letting up on a Direction Point. Another nifty "on-the-fly" feature is the ability to reposition the anchor point, while dragging out a direction line, by holding "Space Bar" and dragging.Read more here.How to edit and reshape paths in Illustrator

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