I want one handle out from a anchor point, dragging the other back in and trying to place it onto the anchor point still affects the outgoing curve, its not technically gone, its like brushing dirt under the carpet, well below Adobes prowess for tools., a free photo editor might do so. By now in the evolution of Pshop such an essential thing should be possible, how is it done ?
reading a solution of 'with pen tool selected hold alt and click the handle', all I get is a > tool and it doesnt delete handle.
Maybe I didn’t understand anything. But I will try. Select the Conver Point Tool.Remove the handles if they are by clicking on a point.Hold "Alt" and use the "Conver Point Tool" to create just one handle of your choice.
A path handle can't be deleted. The only thing that can be done is use the convert point tool to break the link with the other handle and move it to the same position as the anchor point. I use scripts all the time with paths and when I read how a path is constructed, the left and right handles are always there, just the same location as the anchor, if the anchor point is a corner.
oh well its zoom right in and place onto anchor point then, a bit archaic but as its dealing with pixels rather than vector graphics where enlargement up would reveal the 'cheat', I guess its that or nothing. Has it always been this way ?
So are you saying that if I click on a smooth anchor point with a Convert Point tool, thereby "deleting" both handles and turning it into a corner, that those handles are not really deleted?
If so, then it's a semantic issue. While technically those handle points may still be there, they are being ignored by pointer interactions so they are deleted in practice.
Likewise, dragging a handle onto an anchor point is not the same as using a shortcut to "delete" it. When I drag a handle onto an anchor point it's A) impossible to do so precisely, and B) click-dragging on that anchor point with the direct selection tool will cause the handle, not the point, to be dragged, because the handle is sitting on top of the anchor. That's not the case when deleting with handle with the shortcuts Nika describes.
Chuck's answer is correct, in that you can't simply delete a path handle, only an anchor point. You can drag the handle back into the anchor point with the convert point tool, which essentially removes the handle. That is what you are doing when you use the alt key and get the > tool.
It's always been like this, and for the longest time it was really hard to see the paths, and the anchor points, as you mention. But that has significantly improved with current version of Photoshop. If you were a creative cloud member with the current version, this would be less painful.
If Adobe were to offer a non subscription mode then I would upgrade, I have no subs progs and will resist as long as poss, I like to own things and not be held to ransom, once one goes subs mode you HAVE TO PAY EVEN IF YOU HAVE NO MONEY, else you cant continue at all. There are months I am skint. Also I use a number of progs, may go months not using some, so end up paying for services unused, which I wont do, so if they all went subs I would be out of action financially as subs soon add up. Every subs company assume its your main prog.
so many community proffesional replies and I could not get any correct answer for that qusetion, if you just want only left or right handle for your anchor point this is how you can do it.
Could someone please explain how "hold alt and move" (in the video) produces just one handle? I would really like to know, but there's no way I can make that happen. Holding alt loads the Convert Point tool, and we all agree what that does - it either drags out two handles, or it deletes both.
EDIT: Ah...now I get it: If you select the the Convert Point tool in the toolbar, and then hold alt, it will drag out one handle.
I'm used to just having the pen tool selected in the toolbar, and load the convert point tool with the alt key, and direct select tool with the control key. Then it won't work.
Still, this "two fingers on the keyboard" technique, without needing to go to the toolbar, is so fast and efficient that I'm not ready to give it up. Even though I can see the use of just dragging out a single handle.
The only thing about the alt-hold and move, it's one side specific:
with a path that has both anchor points extened, holding the alt (win) and clicking on the anchor will return the right handle to the anchor. If both handles are at the anchor point, holding the alt and moving from the anchor will extend the right handle. So you have to kind of think about what you want to do to get the proper side to return to the anchor or move without moving the other handle. Not very intutive.
I agree with Chuck. It's nice to know that this is possible, but in practical work it's too much. It breaks the flow, slows things down rather than speed up.
I don't have any problem "parking" a handle. In practice you don't need to move it fully back to the anchor, just make sure it's flush with the outgoing path, close to the anchor. That's much easier to hit, and accomplishes exactly the same thing as removing the handle altogether.
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