Illustrator problem

June 18, 2006 12:52 PM

Adobe Illustrator question: How can I get Illustrator to smooth out the pen line segments I'm drawing?

I am using the Pen Tool to trace the pattern of roads from another layer that has a satellite pic. I realize I can drag on the a point and Illustrator will create "curve guides" (whatever they are). This is great but the problem is if I do it this way, it will hose up the area BEHIND me (since it works both ahead of and behind the point).

The logical thing to do seems to be to set an anchor point halfway through a curve, then finagle the curve. However I find that it's not easy to eyeball the geometry of the curve, so I don't get good results.

So I think I need to set lots of anchor points to define the curve, and let Illustrator smooth it out somehow. What's the command that will do this, and can I adjust the tightness/looseness of the curve?

I realize the Pencil tool has the ability to leave a smoothed path if I drag along the road, but dragging accurately along a road is not as easy as it sounds... and if the mouse flakes out, then the whole path is shot.

FWIW I'm using Adobe Illustrator 10.

posted by zek to computers & internet (5 comments total)

Object > Path > Simplify in CS 1 (AI 11). I don't remember earlier versions, but assume it's something similar. You can also manually add or remove curve points from a path.

Better, as you're tracing, you can click drag to set a point with the drag following the shape of the object you're tracing. This will give you better control over the shape of the curves as you're drawing.
posted by willnot at 1:32 PM on June 18, 2006

What also might help is learning to change the incoming and outgoing handles on a curve. You can do this by alt/option-clicking on the curve handle.
posted by KirkJobSluder at 2:54 PM on June 18, 2006

Believe it or not, Illustrator 10 has a smooth tool for this very purpose! Instructions on this PDF, pages 19-20.
posted by rob511 at 3:46 PM on June 18, 2006

click the little black corner in the lower left of the pen tool. you'll see a tool that looks like a mummified pen. this is the smooth tool. draw over your line with it, several times if necessary, until you get the smoothness you desire.

the smooth tool is your friend.
posted by ab3 at 10:48 PM on June 18, 2006

Regarding the pencil tool: So long as the line is still selected, you can go back and touch it up again with the pencil, and Illustrator will replace the touched-up portion while leaving the rest alone (so long as you start and finish drawing close to or on top of the original line). And, of course, [ctrl]+[z] will always step back to what you had before if it for some reason doesn't work as expected.
posted by caution live frogs at 5:49 AM on June 19, 2006