Rounding / straightening paths around anchor points

[media kat]

I am drawing a path with the Pen tool and see that when selecting anchor points with the Direct Selection tool that little target icons will display. When I drag the target icon it seems to either round the anchor that path around the anchor point or make it into a hard edge.

1. Is using this option just another way of dragging on handles?

2. When experimenting with it, sometimes it seemed to affect just the anchor point nearest it and sometimes it affected all of the anchor points on the path. How do you get it to do a single anchor vs. all of the ones on the path?

Thanks!

[Doug A Roberts · Accepted solution]

1. It creates a 'live' corner, the radius of which can be edited in the Transform panel (and elsewhere).

2. If you select the entire object (i.e. all anchor points are selected), all will be edited at once. If you select a single or several individual anchor points with the direct selection tool, just those will be edited.

[media kat]

I just looked up the tool I was thinking of; the Anchor Point Tool. Do thee 'live' corners function differently than using the Anchor Point tool?

Thanks!

[Doug A Roberts]

Yes, it creates rounded corners with a specific circular radius. The anchor point tool allows you to edit corners in ways that do not necessarily have a circular radius (among other things).