How to Draw a Straight Line Between Two Points in Illustrator Using the Brush Tool?

[G Pevlin]

Hello folks,

I'm sure this must have an obvious answer, but I can't find it anywhere!

In Photoshop, when you use the Brush tool and you click one point, hold shift, and then click another point, a straight line is drawn at whatever angle is between those two points. This doesn't seem to work in Illustrator. I've tried holding shift as I brush, but that only draws perfectly horizontal or vertical lines.

How can I draw a straight line between two points using the simple Brush tool in Illustrator?

Thanks!

[Monika Gause]

Just draw a line with any tool and then apply a brush stroke

[Barbara Ash · Accepted solution]

With the Pencil tool you can hold down Alt or Option and drag to create a straight line at any angle, but not with the Brush tool. You can use the Pencil tool or the Pen tool or drag with the Line tool to create a straight line. Then apply any brush to the path.

[G Pevlin]

Thanks, Barbara!

[Barbara Ash]

You're welcome, G Pevlin! Does that answer your question?

[floamdaddy]

What is the rationale for not allowing the brush tool to possess that feature? What about Option for the eyedropper? I could go on. On the surface there's an Adobe ecosystem but really it's just completely independently developed apps that have very little to do with one another in terms of UI and chaotically interact with one another. So if you're a photoshop pro you jump on Illustrator and you have to google the most basic functions, or from premiere to after effects, etc. Totally whacky. Integration!

[Monika Gause]

So if you're a photoshop pro you jump on Illustrator and you have to google the most basic functions,

By @floamdaddy

All those long term Illustrator users might object to the fact that they have to unlearn everything in order to please the "photoshop pros".

[floamdaddy]

Great take. It's not about unlearning. My yearning/suggestion with all adobe apps is their relevant counterparts have more crossover integration with tool, functions, commands. Not an either/or but an additional. Adobe knows their users are often utilizing multiple applications to achieve an end result. This obviously goes back to their completely independent development, decades ago. If they wanted to make them a little easier to cross train on, they could. In Premiere, for example, they could theoretically have video tracks which could be reordered, sort of like layers in Photoshop or audio tracks in Audition. I’m sure there was some initial reason that didn't get implemented but there certainly cannot be an impassable barrier to adding that functionality that a TON of users have asked for. Each entity is going to have its discrete mechanisms and such but having some really obvious shared functions mapped to similar familiar commands would be helpful. You wouldn't have the 'save' command be different from app to app, would you? Stretching for the point. 

[gokuln12026592]

So you are telling me it is 2021 and there is no way to draw a straight line with a  brush in illustrator ???????????

[Doug A Roberts]

Not as the OP described, no.

If you want to draw a straight line and apply a brush, use one of the options described above.

[jodmcc49]

I'm using Illustrator 25.4.1 on Mojave and by holding the Shift while using the Paintbrush tool will draw a straight line.

jodmcc49

[Ton Frederiks]

Or create a graphic style of a line with the brush and use the Pen or Line tool to draw straight lines with the style. 

[Doug A Roberts]

Or with the pencil tool!

[Ton Frederiks]

Yes, the pencil tool, but only with constrained angles.

[Doug A Roberts]

As Barbara mentioned, holding alt and dragging produces arbitrary angles.

[Ton Frederiks]

Ah, missed that one 😞