Using the Curvature Tool in Adobe Illustrator

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In Adobe Illustrator, one of the more challenging tools for beginners (and even advanced users) is the Pen tool. It’s no easy tool to master, and it’s not particularly intuitive in the beginning either. The Pen tool is challenging because it really requires an investment in time to get proficient at it. I’m often reminded of this when I need to teach someone how to use the Pen tool. I get questions like, “How do you know where to click to create the next anchor point?” There’s often no good answer because a lot of it comes down to experience.

In the 2014 release of Adobe Illustrator CC (the October release to be exact), Adobe provided users with a new tool called the Curvature tool. You’ll find the Curvature tool in the Tools panel, directly below the Pen tool in single-column view or directly to the right of the Pen tool in double-column view.

Drawing with the Curvature tool

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The Curvature tool takes a redesigned approach to drawing paths in Illustrator. While the Pen tool is more of a precision tool that requires you to think about where to place an anchor point and how to pull out direction lines to control line segments, the Curvature tool takes a more intuitive approach to drawing by asking the user to click along the path you want to create, while drawing along that path. Another big difference is the lack of modifier keys required to draw with the Curvature tool. You don’t need to remember a bunch of shortcuts with combinations of the Cmd/Ctrl, Option/Alt, and Shift to use the Curvature tool.

With the Curvature tool selected, simply click once to create the initial anchor point. You’ll notice that clicking and dragging moves the location of the anchor point you’re going to draw.  As you click to create the second anchor point, you’ll notice that when you move your mouse, Illustrator is determining the curve required between the two anchor points that you just created and the location of your mouse as you move it. In the figure below, I’m tracing a shape so you can see how to create a desired shape. Notice that I’ve created two anchor points along the path that I’m trying to create, and as I move my mouse, the curve of the path is being determined based on the mouse location.

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Continue clicking to add anchor points periodically along the path as the Curvature tool determines the curve required to create the connection between each anchor point. As you’re drawing or tracing your path, you can adjust previous anchor points by clicking and dragging them to a new location. As you do, you’ll see how that adjustment affects the curve of the line segment between the anchor points. When you come back to the anchor point you first created, the Curvature tool will allow you to click that anchor point to close the path (note the circle next to your cursor).

Tip: Double-click to create straight path segments

By default, the Curvature tool will close the path with a curved line segment, which may not be what you want. But you can create a corner point (used to create straight line segments) by double-clicking on the original anchor point. You can double-click on any anchor point that you create to toggle between a corner point (straight line segment) and a smooth point (curved line segment).

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Making Modifications

With the Curvature tool, you can adjust the anchor points on any path by clicking and dragging to reposition them, and adjust the connecting line segments between those anchor points. If you need to add an anchor point to an existing path, click on the path with the Curvature tool to add the anchor point at that location. To delete an anchor point on a path, click on it with the Curvature tool and press the backspace/delete key on your keyboard. If you’re drawing an open path (one that doesn’t create a closed shape), you can either press the escape key on your keyboard to tell Illustrator that you’re done drawing this object, or you can hold down the Cmd (Mac)/Ctrl (Win) key and click anywhere on the artboard to deselect the object.

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Preferences

The preview of the line segment that you’re about to draw is one of the features that I like about the Curvature tool, I think it’s especially useful for beginners as well as folks who dislike the Pen tool. This preview or “Rubber Banding” as Illustrator likes to call it, can be disabled in the Illustrator preferences. Simply open the preferences dialog box by pressing Cmd+K (Mac) or Ctrl+K (Win) and click on the Selection & Anchor Display category. At the very bottom of this dialog box you’ll see options for enabling or disabling the Rubber band for the Pen and Curvature tools. Choose the option that best suits your needs.

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Summary

I’ve been a Pen tool user for more than 20 years, so it’s still my go-to tool for silhouetting physical objects in Photoshop and drawing technical elements in Illustrator. But I’ve found myself reaching for the Curvature tool more and more when I need to draw organic shapes for projects. I feel like it allows me to be a bit more creative and doesn’t require as much thought or planning. Beginners and users who are adverse to using the Pen tool should invest 30 minutes with the Curvature tool to see how easy it is to use. I think everyone will find that it’s a great addition to Illustrator and one that you’ll take advantage of once you get the hang of it.

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Chad Chelius is a trainer, author, consultant, and speaker residing in the Philadelphia area. He’s been using Adobe products for over 25 years and began his career in the design and publishing industry. As an Adobe Certified Instructor and a consultant, he teaches and advises on all Adobe print and web products, specializing in InDesign and InCopy workflows, Illustrator, and PDF accessibility using Adobe Acrobat. He works with clients both large and small, in and outside the United States, helping them to solve problems, work smarter, and more efficiently using Adobe products.
  • Nina says:

    As a beginner, your suggestion is great. I will definitely use the Curvature Tool more often. Thank you so much.

    • Chad Chelius says:

      Glad you enjoyed it! Hopefully as a beginner, you’ll find it a bit more intuitive than the Pen tool ;-)

  • Rhonda Shechtman says:

    Thanks for the tutorial. As a long, long, long time Adobe product user, I’m used to just trying out tools with varying measures of success. I had a slightly angular result from the trace tool in Illustrator and figured that something with the word “curvature” in it might be helpful. It was! The double click on the angled anchor points to change them to curves saved the day. Now I’m going to try using the tool more often.

  • How do you cope with the annoyance that you can’t draw new nodes on top of existing paths? I often want to make intersecting nodes while drawing with Curvature tool.

  • Chad Chelius says:

    Do you mean just drawing one path on top of the other or do you want to add an anchor point to an existing path? When using the Curvature tool, it wants to continue drawing in a linear fashion. If you hit the escape key, you’ll deselect the path and then if you hover over an existing path you’ll get the + sign so you can add an anchor point to the path and draw from there. If you’re trying to create a new path on top of an existing path, again, hit escape to deselect the existing path and then draw a new path.

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