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bonitah71150400
Participating Frequently
November 24, 2020
Question

pen tool layer problems in app on macbook pro

  • November 24, 2020
  • 3 replies
  • 1271 views

I have a lot of experience with illustrator but new to using the app version - long story. So, I am trying to create a new illustration and I set up several layers, each to be the recipient of various aspects of the drawing. The end result is a compilation of layers to form a complex drawing. I have been doing this for years without issue until now.

 

Problem:  I make multiple layers so I can easily change one path without affecting another... that is critical in making complex drawings. But the pen is taking action on anchors NOT in the layer in which I am working!! I have to overlap paths and if an anchor needs to sit on a line of a shape on another layer the pen adds that anchor to the other layer instead of the one I am working in! It has also removed anchors from layer 2 when I am working in layer 3 etc. I checked and double-checked... I am definitely working in the layer I want... I have the layer selected... but as soon as I click to add an anchor (to a spot which is on the same coordinates as an existing line that line is not in the active layer) poof! It either adds or removes an anchor to the wrong path. This has crippled my ability to work. If there is a setting that needs to be turned on or off please someone tell me.... and if so WHY is the safer way not the default? 

I am losing my mind along with my money. I needed designs shipped a week ago and I can't because of this problem.

 

I am using a new macbook pro 10.14.5

 

 

This topic has been closed for replies.

3 replies

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
Community Expert
November 29, 2020

It is hard to replicate your problem, so a video recording may show your problem.

On a Mac, the QuickTime Player can make a screen recording.

Ashutosh_Mishra
Ashutosh_Mishra
Inspiring
November 28, 2020

Hi there,

 

Sorry to hear about your experience. In addition to what Monika has suggested, please try checking out this help article(https://helpx.adobe.com/in/illustrator/using/drawing-pen-curvature-or-pencil.html) to know how to work with Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator. Hope it helps.

 

Regards,

Ashutosh

B
bonitah71150400Author
Participating Frequently
November 29, 2020

I've been using AI for over 15 yrs and I have never had this issue. But sure, ok, maybe I have never heard of how the pen tool works. Ok. I am new to the app version because I saw no reason to rent what I own but I am temporarily stuck with the app version. There is something fundamentally different about how the pen tool functions in the app version because it never switched my choice of layers before. Needing to lock the layer every time adds unnecessary extra steps.  All anyone is doing is telling me how my problem doesn't exist or basically tell me I don't know how to use the tools I've been using almost 2 decades. If you cannot say something with specific details on how to address the issue, why are you even answering? So I am done. This is pointless. 

    G
    gamu_mac
    Inspiring
    March 15, 2024

    I agree with bonitah71150400. I cannnot use the pen tool on a layer. A pencil with a crossmark shows up instead. I know how to use a layer and I know how to use the pen tool and have also done that for years. That's all that needs to be said. I will say that I have a Macbook Pro and I am using the 2024 version of Illustrator.

    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    November 25, 2020

    Can you perhaps show something?

    B
    bonitah71150400Author
    Participating Frequently
    November 25, 2020
    unless I had a video screen capture I am not sure what I could show. What I know is that a layer ought to remain separate from other layers - meaning that using the pen tool, or any other, in one selected layer ought not affect the other layers. Clicking the pen tool on a layer above an existing line shouldn't cause changes to a line in a different layer. That is sort of the entire point of layers. So, atm I cannot trace over any vector drawing and I cannot draw anything that isn't a continuous line.
    S
    sunpreetx
    Participant
    November 25, 2020

    Is this on Apple Silicon?

     

    You can create a video capture using cmd+shift+5

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