Using the pen tool

[KaossKid]

I am knew to Illustrator, and every time I try to draw using the pen tool it creates effects I am not wanting, it won't let me us select normal pen!! Help!! I don't want an elipse tool I want a pen!

[KaossKid]

"new" not "knew" typo sorry

[LorraineinKalispell]

It's not you, it's the new pen tool. It ABSOLUTELY SUCKS. The old pen tool worked just fine but some committee of morons at Adobe decided to "improve" it so that now it's absolutely miserable to work with. I've been using Adobe products since they were first released (yeah, I'm old) and each time they come out with an "improved" version, I hold my breath to see what they've f'ed up next. But this is THE WORST of all the botches they've ever done. I can only hope enough people complain that they go back to the old version but I'm not hopeful.

[Monika Gause]

Before posting wrong information into every available thread, please tell us what exactly you are seeing that you don't like.

[mjbelt]

Try using the Curvature Pen Tool.

Draw straight lines and smooth curves with precision and ease |

[Kurt Gold]

Which version of Illustrator are you using? Please explain in detail what you do not want to achieve in general with the Pen tool. What are you doing and what do you get?

mjbelt,

your screenshot is taken in Photoshop, not in Illustrator.

[KaossKid]

As far as I can tell I am using the most current version. When I click on the Pen Tool it turns my Apple Pencil into a tool that draws weird lines based on geometric circles I am assuming, this is NOT what I want out of a pen tool, I want it to simply act as a real pen, one that draws and shows only what I draw. I find this is a total creativity crusher, every time I try to use this app I find it to be full of effects but rarely does it act like just a pencil, pen or brush when I select any of those options, it makes me want to scream!

[KaossKid]

I did not post a screen shot.

[Jacob Bugge]

KaossKid,

Appearance (palette)>New Art has Basic Appearance.

[KaossKid]

???

[KaossKid]

Actually found that and it is already set at that.

[KaossKid]

I figured it out people, the ctual pen is not under  or in the Pen Tool, it is in the one below it and you have to go into it to choose pencil. I have to say I love Adobe but they should hire real artists to help them design this tuff because only geeks get that many objects can be wrapped within one object,, and although it might be a real treasure hunt for geeks to program this way it is nothing but hell for real artists trying to use these products. A tool should be clear and easy to use, one should not have to hunt for the most basic of functions related to a tag name for an option.

[Monika Gause]

KaossKid  schrieb

but hell for real artists trying to use these products.

It's supposed that for a mighty tool such as Illustrator you read the documentation. When painting with acrylic for the first time you don't expect to get it onto the canvas correctly either. You have to learn to master the tools first. You have to learn which paintbruch does which kind of stroke. It's the same with software.

Here's how you can adjust the toolbar to your needs:

How to work with tools in Illustrator

[KaossKid]

Yeah I get that, but if your a programmer creating for artists you need to think "how can I get the artist creating right away?" The answer is quite simple, if the tag on an option says "Pen" then it SHOULD act like a real pen simply and easily as the main default. To use the option of a real pen by having to go to the "Shaper" tool tag instead of the "Pen Tool" tag is not logical. Just sayin'..

[KaossKid]

If you are a programmer you need to think like the people you are working for, not yourself or people like you. I love javascript, it is such a wonderful programming tool compared to Basic when it comes to programming, and it is that way because it's entire design is created with the mental process of the developer in mind. Creative art apps for creating should do the same, they should speak to the artist; not the developer.

[Monika Gause]

KaossKid  schrieb

Yeah I get that, but if your a programmer creating for artists you need to think "how can I get the artist creating right away?" The answer is quite simple, if the tag on an option says "Pen" then it SHOULD act like a real pen simply and easily as the main default.

The pen tool has been existing for 30 years in all kinds of different software (including even Photoshop nd the likes). Good luck changing its behaviour.

[KaossKid]

"The pen tool has been existing for 30 years in all kinds of different software (including even Photoshop and the likes). Good luck changing its behaviour." One who sees no more room for growth logic and progress is one who is on the road to decay no doubt.

[jane-e · Accepted solution]

KaossKid  wrote

One who sees no more room for growth logic and progress is one who is on the road to decay no doubt.

Hi,

At its core, the way that paths work is math, and that part may be difficult, if not impossible, to change. I have been using Bézier curves in CorelDRAW, QuarkXPress, and Adobe products for 30 years, and the math part does not change.

The Illustrator team has introduced many new ways over the years to use the Bézier curves that does make it easier for new users as yourself. One is that if you have a straight line (line tool, rectangle, etc.), you can use the Pen tool with Option (Alt) and drag the line itself to add a curve. Some of the new ways of working with the Pen tool that the Illustrator team has introduced are only in Illustrator right now. I have hopes that they get added to Photoshop soon. Road to decay? Personally, I don’t see it, not in Illustrator.

Certainly start with the Pencil tool if you like it. But if you are going to be serious about using Illustrator, Bézier curves are at its core, so you might add them to your list of things to learn.

We are users like yourself. This is a user forum. There is a second forum for feature requests, which is what you have, so you might want to post here:

Adobe Illustrator Feedback

As users, we can’t change the program. We can only tell you how it works.

Cheers,

Jane

[KaossKid]

Hey, I did not mean using Illustrator is decay, I meant not wanting to keep expanding creates decay. I hear you, and I get that totally, but I come from the world of painting, not computing so wrapping my head around this can be rather confusing as I think like an artist; not a graphic desktop publisher or designer. Keep learning, keep growing, thanks for this feedback, it gets me to understand it better honestly!

[jane-e]

Illustrator has done even more things to make it easier, such as being able to align points and distribute points that other packages can’t do. There are just too many to mention in one thread, especially when I’m speaking into my phone while waiting in line.

Have fun, and ask again when you have questions!

Jane

[jane-e]

KaossKid  wrote

The answer is quite simple, if the tag on an option says "Pen" then it SHOULD act like a real pen simply and easily as the main default.

Hi Kaoss,

The Pen tool for drawing curves is named after Pierre Bézier, who popularized them in the 1960s when he worked for the Renault car company. He died in 1999. In recent years, Adobe has added other methods to draw in Illustrator for newbies, but if they changed or took aways the Pen tool, those of us who use it daily would be unable to work. There is a learning curve, but once you learn it, you don’t look back.

You will probably be happier and work faster if you take a little time to learn Illustrator fundamentals. Otherwise it‘s like putting on skis for the first time at the top of the slope and then blaming the skis when they don’t work and you fall down.

Here are two courses that you might like:

This course by Mordy Golding came out in 2011, but it is still valid and it shows how to draw without the Pen tool.

Illustrator: Drawing without the Pen Tool

Or try the Essential Course with Tony Harmer

Illustrator CC 2019 Essential Training

And come back here to ask questions. This is a user forum and we don’t work for Adobe, but we can help when you get stuck.

Best,

Jane

[twinbrush]

No, but I think the point that @kaosskid is trying to make (using your acrylic painting analogy), is that the blue paint shouldn't be in a jar, under the easle and marked as 'red chalk'; or changed so that its no longer the paint you were used to, this is now powdered pigment....theres a new learnign curve you'll have to master. ..Instead of just keeping it the way it was. Adobe have an uncanny knack of 'updating' software and for the most part it involves moving tools and shortcuts around, or altering the behavior of tools (for little reason other than they need to justify changing sometihng to charge us for a subscription), so that all the familiarity people have gained over years of use is then rendered meaningless. 

Yeah I guess users should read the documentation, but the developers should also be designing and updating the software based on user needs, not what they 'think' the users might like, ya know?  

Not ranting at you, just venting my frustration that, having used Adobe's software since way back in the late 90's, this wohle CC suite is a joke.  Currently getting to grips with affinity and waving goodbye to adobe. Light at the end of Adobe's self-created tunnel.

[Doug A Roberts]

What do you think has changed about the pen tool?

[CitrusBookBindery]

As others have pointed out to you - the pen tool has existed for like 30 years. It's entire intent is bezier curves - this is a vector program, which means everything you do has a mathematical origin, even if raster effects are applied over it.

You are screaming at the devs for not making it do what YOU want it to do...but it does exactly what it is SUPPOSED to do.  You can still draw naturally - the pencil tool is right underneath. PENCILS for sketching, PENS for precision? In any case, any one of thousands of youtube videos will show you how this works if you werent shown in an educational environment, but dont expect the behaviour to change any time soon.