Illustrator: Add Anchor Point

[samram3404849]

I am not able to find an option through which we can add an anchor point to our drawing.

[Title edited for clarity by moderator. Was “illustrator”.

[Monika Gause]

Please show what exactly you want to add where.

There are several possibilities depending on the nature of the drawing and what exactly you want to do.

[samram3404849]

there is an option whether to add or subtract an anchor point to our drawing so while using adobe illustrator cc 2019 i am not able to find that option of adding an anchor point

[samram3404849]

so there is a bar tool on our left hand side where there is an option named as pen tool so when we expand that we should be getting the option  of adding or subtracting an anchor point to our possible drawing .......i am not able to find that.....is it clear now ?

[Monika Gause]

So you cann't find the add anchor point tool?

The toolbar has an advanced state which you can get here: Window > Tools > Advanced

If it already is advanced, but the tool still can't be found, click on the 3 dots at the bottom of the toolbar to pull up the menu and from it's menu select "Reset"

How to work with tools in Illustrator

You should be able to just click on any selected path with the "normal" pen tool to add a point.

[Doug A Roberts]

Try Window > Toolbars > Advanced

It may be set to basic if you are a first-time user.

[Aggareth]

thanku so much ❤

[JETalmage]

So to rephrase: You're saying that the Add AnchorPoint Tool and Delete AnchorPoint Tool are absent from the Pen Tool icon.

Unless it has changed since CS6, you can invoke those tools by tapping the + and - keys, respectively (as explained in the documentation).

JET

[Doug A Roberts]

That hasn't changed, thankfully.

[Bobby Henderson]

In Adobe Illustrator I'm used to adding anchor points to a path simply by using the pen tool. The dedicated "add anchor points" tool is a bit redundant for what the pen tool can do on its own. The pen tool has a few keyboard short cuts that make it fairly easy to modify paths while they're still in progress of being drawn. You can re-position points, adjust anchor point handles, convert anchor points to smooth or corner points, add or subtract points from the paths while you're still drawing the path. The function doesn't work quite as smoothly as it does in Photoshop. If you go back to try to adjust existing points on the path Illustrator is prone to throwing down a new path segment wherever you click. Mastering these keyboard shortcuts can speed up certain tasks.

I would still like it if Adobe at least had an add anchor point button on the tool bar. CorelDRAW has such a function in its tool set. If you click the "+" button it will place a new "node" halfway between the selected anchor point and the next one. If you select multiple points it will place multiple new points after the selected ones. It can be kind of helpful for certain technical drawing tasks.

Astute Graphics' PathScribe plug-in for Illustrator can perform the same functions (and more).

[barbara_a]

As Monika and Doug said, you can access all tools in the tools panel by choosing Window > Toolbars > Advanced.

Another way to access all tools is to click the 3 dots at the bottom of the tools panel, then choose

Then choose Advanced from the flyout menu that appears.

If you press and hold on the Pen tool in the toolbar, you should see the add and delete anchor point tools.

By the way, the add and delete anchor point tools can do their job whether or not a path is selected. To add or delete anchor points using the Pen tool itself, the path must be selected.

[lambiloon]

Hi the best way is use pen tool and take it close to drawing then you see auto option to add points check video...Thanks.