Pull out deleted handle without disturbing active

[LoneLeon]

So at the anchor point i have 1 handle deleted and the other one i pulled out very far, is there a way to pull out deleted one without need to reposition the active one?

[Monika Gause]

You could use the anchor point tool and drag on the right path segment slightly. this will give you the handle. It will also move the opposite handle slightly, but that will happen anyway.

[Jacob Bugge]

LoneLeon,

With Smart Guides being your friends, you can start by ClickDragging with the Line Segment Tool from the active Handle into the Anchor Point.

This will give you a guide line you can use to restore the active Handle accurately whatever you do: you can just end up by deselecting (click an empty spot) with the Direct Selection Tool, then select the segment with the active Handle (by clicking it), then ClickDrag the Handle from its current position to the end Anchor Point of the guide line, which you can delete afterwards.

[LoneLeon]

That's half solution, but thanks. Never thought of that

[Jacob Bugge]

LoneLeon,

To give a full solution, I worked on a demonstration of how to add a new Handle at another angle while keeping the active Handle thereby creating a corner Anchor Point between the two curved segments.

But based on a reinterpretation of your question to mean that you actually wish to recreate the original opposite Handle, which is much simpler, with the added option of changing the new curvature, and recreating a smooth Anchor Point, here is a full solution, Smart Guides being your friends, telling when you are within snapping distance:

1) This is just a crude sample with a deleted Handle at the bottom corner;

2) ClickDrag with the Line Segment Tool from the active Handle into the Anchor Point to create a guide line shown in red;

3) With the (normal) Selection Tool Alt/OptionClickDrag the guide line by its Handle end Anchor Point to snap to its Anchor Point end (Smart Guides say anchor); holding Alt/Option creates a copy guide line shown in blue;

4) With the Convert Anchor Point Tool ClickDrag the from the Anchor Point along the blue guide line to snap to its end, or if this creates reversed Handles along the red guide line to snap to its end instead, this depends on the direction of the path; either way, this will restore the active Handle and recreate the deleted Handle, in other words bring you back to where you started;

5) If you wish to have a different curvature/Handle length for the restored Handle, deselect (click an empty spot) with the Direct Selection Tool, then select the segment with the recreated deleted Handle (by clicking it), then ClickDrag the Handle from its current position along the blue guide line to the position that gives the desired curvature/Handle length shown in yellow (Smart Guides say path); if you wish to make it longer instead, start by extending the blue guide line using the Transform panel;

6) This just shows the paths created in 4) and 5) without the guide lines for easy comparison with 1).

Click to get closer, Click again to get closer still

[Monika Gause]

Considering all these steps I would do it like that:

https://youtu.be/jxH8tB4VDlU 

[LoneLeon]

Thanks, i guess it's maximum that is possible to do without distracting other things.
Althought it wont work for situation I needed when I have layers on top of each other and i need to edit only one corner of anchor.
 But thanks anyway, I'll use your technique for other things

[Jacob Bugge]

For my part you are welcome, Leon.

[Jacob Bugge]

LoneLeon,

Edit: This post has been edited, with some corrections and additions.

As mentioned, the (original) guideline made with the Line Segment Tool ensures full accuracy of the original active Handle whatever you do, so without disturbing/repositioning the active Handle as you requested.

And as you said it is only half a solution.

If you really wish to  create a corner Anchor Point between the two curved segments (my first thought), I agree with Monika that

"You could use the anchor point tool and drag on the right path segment slightly. this will give you the handle. It will also move the opposite handle slightly, but that will happen anyway."

except for the underlined bits, which I find crucial

Actually, as it can be seen in the video, the use of the anchor point tool to drag on the path segment with the deleted Handle will create a new Handle and at the same time change the existing Handle at the other end of that segment to a possibly significant degree (as directly shown in the video) rather than slightly so that it is necessary to try to get it back to something like its original length and direction (as also directly shown in the video), so in any case the the Handle at the other end is and will remain disturbed, unless you make a guideline that you can restore it by.

In addition, as it can also be seen in the video, the use of the anchor point tool to drag on the path segment with the deleted Handle will also slightly change the active Handle on the segment on the other side of the ailing Anchor Point, so this Handle is and will remain disturbed too, unless you make a guideline that you can restore it by.

Instead, it is possible to do it with an easy full and fully accurate solution, as described in my next post.

This is one of the countless cases where I find it worth using a customized fully accurate solution, which may even be quite easy as in this case as shown in my next post, slightly elaborate as in the smooth Anchor Point case as shown in my previous post, or more elaborate as in yet other cases of many different kinds; the same applies to more carefully created/customized artwork in general.

This approach is quite different to the use of standard/new feature/one click solutions, which are efficient for more loosely created artwork and can be used from an early user level, but these can sacrifice accuracy as well as more carefully created/customized artwork in general.

But if you actually wish to recreate the original opposite Handle, with the added option of changing the new curvature, and recreating a smooth Anchor Point (my second thought), I believe it is easier to apply one full solution as the one I described than to use a combination which I believe will have to inlude three guidlines, so something like:

A) Establishing the guideline from the original active Handle with the Line Segment Tool,

B) Establishing a second guideline on the other side forming a continuation to keep a smooth Anchor Point,

C) Establishing the guideline from the Handle at the opposite end of the segment mentioned in B) with the Line Segment Tool,

D) Establishing the new Handle/curvature as shown in the video, only guided by the second guideline,

E) Accurately reestablishing the original Handle at the opposite end of the segment by ClickDragging it to the end of the guideline from C).

F) Accurately reestablishing the original active Handle by ClickDragging it to the end of the guideline from A).

As it appears, there is a fundamental difference between a corner Anchor Point and a smooth Anchor Point between the curved segments, and corresponding differences in possible ways to realize them.

The reason for my second thought was the underlined parts of your wording:

"So at the anchor point i have 1 handle deleted and the other one i pulled out very far, is there a way to pull out deleted one without need to reposition the active one?"

The deleted Handle was obviously created when you created the path originally, and the Anchor Point can only have been smooth originally, in other words with Handles in exact opposite directions, unless you pressed the Alt/Option key while dragging out the Handle.

[Jacob Bugge]

LoneLeon,

Apologizing for being so slow, here is an easy full and fully accurate solution if you really wish to create a corner Anchor Point between the two curved segments (my first thought), see also my editing in the previous post.

Actually, it is much simpler than the full and fully accurate solution for a smooth Anchor Point if you actually wish to recreate the original opposite Handle (my second thought), which was presented further above.

This easy corner Anchor Point solution inherently leaves the original active Handle be exactly as it is, so there is no need for any guide line(s).

The exact way depends on the direction of the path, so here it is shown in two versions which work for opposite path directions, the first one for the case where the deleted Handle comes after the active one, the second one for the case where the deleted Handle comes first; the difference is the simple step 2+) and the optional simple step 3+):

1) This is just the same crude sample with a deleted Handle at the bottom corner as the first case, and also at the top left corner as the second case;

2) Cut the corner Anchor Point where you wish to recreate the deleted Handle (bottom for the first case, top left for the second case; this changes the path from closed to open with coinciding end Anchor Points, and you can see the cut when looking close;

2+) In the second case Click the (topmost of the) coinciding end Anchor Points with the Pen Tool; this will reverse the path direction so you can work in the way case as in the first case;

3) ClickDrag the (topmost of the) coinciding end Anchor Points with the Convert Anchor Point Tool to (re)create the desired curvature/Handle;

3+) In the second case, if you wish to restore the original path direction, Click the (topmost of the) coinciding end Anchor Points with the Pen Tool; this will rerestore the original path direction;

4) Close the path with Ctrl/Cmd+J; regardless of version you can (deselect and) ClickDrag over the coinciding end Anchor Points with the Direct Selection Tool to select them, and you can see that the cut is gone when looking close.

In this sample, the path was drawn clockwise, so the leftmost straight segment comes after the curved one at the bottom and before the curved one at the top.

If you are unsure about the case/path direction, you can just go from step 2) to step 3), and if your ClickDragging changes the wrong segment, just Ctrl/Cmd+Z (hold Ctrl/Cmd and press Z) to Undo and apply step 2+) before step 3).

Click to get closer, Click again wherever relevant to get closer still