Adding and Deleting Anchor Points
If you want to add detail to an existing path, you'll need to add anchor points that give you more precise control over a portion of the path . Perhaps you've drawn the profile of a face and you want to add detail to the lips. Or maybe you've written your name longhand and you need to add a flourish that your original attempt lacks. In both cases, you could add smooth or corner points and then manipulate the curves associated with those points by moving them or manipulating their direction lines. (The next section explains how to move anchor points and manipulate direction lines.)
On the other hand, maybe you've created a path that's more complicated than necessary. Perhaps you drew a hand with six fingers instead of five or a camel with one too many humps. In these instances, you need to simplify the path by removing anchor points. InDesign lets you add and delete as many anchor points as you want.
| Tip ‚ | You should always try to use as few anchor points as possible in the paths you create. The fewer points a path has, the less likely it is to cause printing problems. |
| Note ‚ | When you want to modify the shape of a path, you should begin by selecting it with the Direct Selection tool rather than the Selection tool. If you select a path with the Selection tool, the path's bounding box is displayed with eight moveable handles. In this situation, you can modify the bounding box (thereby resizing the path), but you can't modify the path itself. |
To add an anchor point:
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Select the path by clicking on it with the Direct Selection tool.
You can also select multiple paths and then modify them one at a time.
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Select the Pen tool, the Add Anchor Point tool, or the Delete Anchor Point tool.
You can use any of these tools to add and delete anchor points. If the Type tool is not selected, you can select the Pen tool by pressing P, the Add Anchor Point tool by pressing =, and the Delete Anchor Point tool by pressing - (hyphen).
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Move the Pen pointer over the selected path at the point where you want to add an anchor point.
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Click and release the mouse button.
A new anchor point is created where you click. If the Delete Anchor Point tool is selected, you must hold down the z or Ctrl key to add an anchor point. If you click on a straight segment between two corner points, a corner point is created. If you click on a curved segment between two smooth points or between a smooth point and a corner point, a smooth point is created. You can also click, drag, and then release the mouse button if you want to adjust the direction line of the point you create. Figure 27-2 shows a before and after example of a path to which a smooth anchor point is added.
Figure 27-2: The original path (left) is modified by adding a smooth point (second from left). Dragging the smooth point (third from left) produced the final shape (right).
After you add an anchor point, you can hold down the z or Ctrl key or switch to the Direct Selection tool and drag it or either of its direction handles to adjust the adjoining segments.
| Tip ‚ | Whenever you're working on a path, you can hold down the z or Ctrl key and then click and drag any element of the path ‚ an anchor point, a direction line, or the entire path. |
To delete an anchor point:
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Select the path by clicking on it with the Direct Selection tool.
You can also select multiple paths and then modify them one at a time.
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Select the Pen tool, the Add Anchor Point tool, or the Delete Anchor Point tool.
You can use any of these tools to add and delete anchor points. If the Type tool is not selected, you can select the Pen tool by pressing P, the Add Anchor Point tool by pressing =, and the Delete Anchor Point tool by pressing - (hyphen) on the main keyboard or on the numeric keypad.
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Move the pointer over the anchor point that you want to delete, and then click.
If the Add Anchor Point tool is selected, you must hold down the z or Ctrl key to delete an anchor point. Figure 27-3 shows a before and after example of a path from which an anchor point has been deleted.
Figure 27-3: The curved segment of the original path (left) is removed by deleting the smooth anchor point (center) with the Delete Anchor Point tool. The resulting path is shown on the right.
