Buzz
Utilizing the Pen Tool, we can place anchor points on the artboard, connecting them to form straight lines, line segments, or curves. Refer to this Mytour article to explore the art of drawing straight lines in Adobe Illustrator.
1. Drawing Straight Lines in Adobe Illustrator
Note: In this guide, Mytour demonstrates on Adobe Illustrator CS5, but you can apply these steps to all Illustrator versions for drawing straight lines.
Follow the steps below to draw straight lines in Adobe Illustrator:
Step 1: Select the Pen Tool from the toolbox or press key P. If you click and hold the Pen Tool for about 1 second, other hidden Pen Tool variations will appear on the screen.
In the first selection of the Pen Tool, a small x icon will appear next to the cursor. This x icon indicates that we are about to start drawing a new path.
An important note is to observe the small icons displayed next to the Pen Tool cursor, as these icons affect how the Pen Tool operates.
Step 2: Click on the artboard once, at the position where you want to add the first anchor point for drawing a straight line. Be careful not to drag.
If only lines are visible (resembling lines emanating from the anchor point), it means you accidentally dragged the Pen Tool and drew a curve instead of a straight line. If this error occurs, press Ctrl + Z (on Windows) or Cmd + Z (on Mac) to undo and click again.
Step 3: Click again on the next anchor point.
To limit the angle of the straight line to multiples of 45 degrees, press and hold the Shift key while clicking the mouse.
Note: The first anchor point you create when clicking on the first drawing board now will be empty, while the last anchor point is represented by a solid square icon.
Step 4: To create additional lines, simply click on the desired position on the drawing board where you want to place the anchor point, and Illustrator will generate the path in between.
The illustrated path above is called an open path, meaning the starting and ending points are different. We don't need to create closed paths; open paths are sufficient for drawing various types of lines, including straight lines.
If you want to fill an area, the ideal solution is to close the path. To close a path, simply click on the first point you created. A small circle icon will appear next to the Pen Tool cursor on the screen, indicating that the path will close.
After closing the path, the cursor will immediately change, indicating that in the next mouse click on the drawing board, we will start creating a new path.
If you want to keep an open path and then start a new path, simply press Ctrl + click (on Windows) or Cmd + click (on Mac) at any position, away from objects on the drawing board. Alternatively, you can complete creating a path by clicking on any tool in the toolbox.
2. Adding and removing Anchor Points
In certain scenarios, we may need to add or remove unnecessary anchor points. The principle is to use as few anchor points as possible to draw straight lines.
To delete anchor points, select the Delete Anchor Point Tool from the toolbox (hidden within the Pen Tool) or press the minus sign ( - ) on the keyboard. Then, click on the point you want to delete.
Illustration before (left) and after (right) removing anchor points
To add anchor points, click at any position along the straight line with the Add Anchor Point Tool. Usually, the shape of the path may not change much after adding a point, but when you edit that point, there will be a noticeable difference.
Drawing straight lines in Adobe Illustrator is fundamentally straightforward. You can apply the steps mentioned above to draw and create various shapes.
This Mytour article has just guided you on how to draw straight lines in Adobe Illustrator. Alongside straight lines, methods for drawing curves in Illustrator are also covered in articles by Mytour. Drawing curves in Illustrator has a slight difference compared to drawing straight lines.
We hope this article has provided you with useful information on using Adobe Illustrator. Additionally, if you have any queries or questions that need clarification, readers can leave their comments below the article.
The resizing function in Adobe Illustrator is also fully utilized, allowing you to change the size of objects in the image. Check out the specific and detailed guide on resizing in Adobe Illustrator on Mytour's tutorial on resizing in Adobe Illustrator.
