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meganw23115735
Participant
October 3, 2019
Question

Unable to use Pen tool in Illustrator 2019 on macOS

  • October 3, 2019
  • 4 replies
  • 679 views

I must have hit some kind of unknown keyboard short cut, my pen tool stopped working. I was using it fine, then switched to use another tool/do something else (I'm not completely sure when it happened). But I clicked back on the tool to use and all it's doing is giving me anchor points, no paths connecting them! I tried restarting Illustrator, then restarted my computer, then reset illustrator preferences... nothing works!!

 

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4 replies

Srishti Bali
Community Manager
Srishti BaliCommunity Manager
Community Manager
October 5, 2019

Hi there,

 

Thanks for reaching out. I am hopeful that the issue is resolved by now by the suggestions shared above. If not, I would request if you can share the information asked by Ton along with following details:

  • Few screenshots or a small video of the issue.
  • Is there any Graphic tablet like Wacom connected to your machine?
  • Does the same thing happen of new documents as well?

 

We’re here to help, just need more info.

 

Regards,

Srishti

 

 

M
meganw23115735Author
Participant
October 6, 2019
Unfortunately it’s on my work computer, so I don’t have access to it right now to take videos or screenshots. But it is only in the one file, when I open a new file the pen tool works normal, but if I switch back to the other file, it only produces anchors points.
Srishti Bali
Community Manager
Srishti BaliCommunity Manager
Community Manager
October 9, 2019
Thanks for sharing your observations. Will it be possible to share the file with us? If yes, please upload it to creative cloud and share the download link. we can try troubleshooting it at our end.
Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Ton FrederiksCommunity Expert
Community Expert
October 4, 2019

Is some path visible in Outline Preview? Ctrl/Cmd Y?

And do your objects have a stroke applied?

M
meganw23115735Author
Participant
October 6, 2019

Path is not visible in outline mode, only the anchor points.

richp56937758
richp56937758
Participant
October 4, 2019

control H for windows

command H for Mac

to show/hide edges.

    M
    meganw23115735Author
    Participant
    October 6, 2019
    I think I tried this, but I will try again and see if it resolves the issue, thank you.
    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 3, 2019

    You cannot break the pen tool just by clicking somewhere or changing to a different tool.

    Which device are you using to input? a mouse? Standard or something special?

    M
    meganw23115735Author
    Participant
    October 3, 2019
    I realize I didn’t actually break it, but I must have hit some key or something the causes this issue - as I wasn’t using it when it started to malfunction. I am using the latest CC version on a Mac desktop computer - with a mouse.
    Monika Gause
    Community Expert
    Monika GauseCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    October 4, 2019
    What happens when you assign a stroke to your path? https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/stroke-object.html
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