User Guide Cancel

Draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool

Last updated on Jun 18, 2025

Illustrator

Open on web

Illustrator User Guide
Get to know Illustrator
1. Introduction to Illustrator
2. Workspace
3. Tools in Illustrator
  1. Tools at a glance
  2. Select tools
  3. Navigate tools
    1. Hand
    2. Rotate View
    3. Zoom
  4. Paint tools
  5. Text tools
  6. Draw tools
    1. Pen
    2. Add Anchor Point
    3. Delete Anchor Point
    4. Anchor Point
    5. Curvature
    6. Line Segment
    7. Rectangle
    8. Rounded Rectangle
    9. Ellipse
    10. Polygon
    11. Star
    12. Paintbrush
    13. Blob Brush
    14. Pencil
    15. Shaper
    16. Slice
  7. Modify tools
    1. Rotate
    2. Reflect
    3. Scale
    4. Shear
    5. Width
    6. Free Transform
    7. Eyedropper
    8. Blend
    9. Eraser
    10. Scissors
    11. Dimension
4. Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
5. Quick actions
Illustrator on the iPad
1. Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
2. Workspace
3. Documents
  1. Work with documents in Illustrator on the iPad
  2. Import Photoshop and Fresco documents
4. Select and arrange objects
  1. Create repeat objects
  2. Blend objects
5. Drawing
  1. Draw and edit paths
  2. Draw and edit shapes
6. Type
7. Work with images
  1. Vectorize raster images
8. Color
  1. Apply colors and gradients
Cloud documents
1. Basics
2. Troubleshooting
  1. Troubleshoot create or save issues for Illustrator cloud documents
  2. Troubleshoot Illustrator cloud documents issues
Add and edit content
Import, export, and save
1. Import
2. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
  1. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
3. Save and export
Printing
1. Prepare for printing
2. Printing
Automate tasks
Troubleshooting

Learn how to draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool in Adobe Illustrator.

Draw with the Pen tool

Try it in the app
Use the Pen tool to draw lines and curves in a few simple steps.

Open Illustrator

Draw straight line segments with the Pen tool

The simplest path you can draw with the Pen tool is a straight line, made by clicking the Pen tool to create two anchor points. By continuing to click, you create a path made of straight line segments connected by corner points.

Select the Pen tool ().
Position the Pen tool where you want the straight segment to begin, and click to define the first anchor point (do not drag).
Note:
The first segment you draw will not be visible until you click a second anchor point.

If direction lines appear, you’ve accidentally dragged the Pen tool; choose Edit > Undo, and click again.
Click again where you want the segment to end (Shift-click to constrain the angle of the segment to a multiple of 45°).
Continue clicking to set anchor points for additional straight segments.

The last anchor point you add always appears as a solid square, indicating that it is selected. Previously defined anchor points become hollow, and deselected, as you add more anchor points.
Complete the path by doing one of the following:
- To close the path, position the Pen tool over the first (hollow) anchor point. A small circle appears next to the Pen tool pointer when it is positioned correctly. Click or drag to close the path.
- To leave the path open, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (macOS) anywhere away from all objects.
- To leave the path open, you can also select a different tool, or choose Select > Deselect. You can also simply press Enter or Return to leave the path open.

Draw curves with the Pen tool

You create a curve by adding an anchor point where a curve changes direction, and dragging the direction lines that shape the curve. The length and slope of the direction lines determine the shape of the curve.

Curves are easier to edit and your system can display and print them faster if you draw them using as few anchor points as possible. Using too many points can also introduce unwanted bumps in a curve. Instead, draw widely spaced anchor points, and practice shaping curves by adjusting the length and angles of the direction lines.

Select the Pen tool.
Position the Pen tool where you want the curve to begin, and hold down the mouse button. The first anchor point appears, and the Pen tool pointer changes to an arrowhead.
Drag to set the slope of the curve segment you’re creating, and then release the mouse button.

In general, extend the direction line about one third of the distance to the next anchor point you plan to draw. (You can adjust one or both sides of the direction line later.)

Hold down the Shift key to constrain the tool to multiples of 45°.

Drawing the first point in a curve

A. Positioning Pen tool B. Starting to drag (mouse button pressed) C. Dragging to extend direction lines
Position the Pen tool where you want the curve segment to end, and do one of the following:
- To create a C‑shaped curve, drag in a direction opposite to the previous direction line. Then release the mouse button.
Drawing the second point in a curve
- To create an S‑shaped curve, drag in the same direction as the previous direction line. Then release the mouse button.
Drawing an S curve

Note:

Press Command/ Ctrl while dragging the handles of a smooth point, to make them inequal in length when you're drawing a curve.

Drag unequal handles while drawing curves

A. Opposite handles are equal and paired B. Cmd/Ctrl pressed, opposite handles are unequal and paired
Continue dragging the Pen tool from different locations to create a series of smooth curves. Note that you are placing anchor points at the beginning and end of each curve, not at the tip of the curve.

Note:

Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (macOS) direction lines to break out the direction lines of an anchor point.
Complete the path by doing one of the following:
- To close the path, position the Pen tool over the first (hollow) anchor point. A small circle appears next to the Pen tool pointer when it is positioned correctly. Click or drag to close the path.
- To leave the path open, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (macOS) anywhere away from all objects.
- To leave the path open, you can also select a different tool, or choose Select > Deselect.
Note:
You can make finer adjustments to the closing curve:

Press the spacebar while closing a path to reposition the closing anchor point.

Press Option/ Alt, and break the pairing of handles of the closing anchor point.
Control closing paths

A. Reposition the closing anchor point B. Break the paired handles to adjust the closing anchor point

Reposition anchor points as you draw

After you click to create an anchor point, keep the mouse button pressed down, hold down the spacebar, and drag to reposition the anchor point.

Finish drawing a path

Complete a path in one of the following ways:
- To close a path, position the Pen tool over the first (hollow) anchor point. A small circle appears next to the Pen tool pointer when it is positioned correctly. Click or drag to close the path.
- To leave a path open, Ctrl-click (Windows) or Command-click (macOS) anywhere away from all objects.

To leave the path open, you can also select a different tool, or choose Select > Deselect.

Draw straight lines followed by curves

Using the Pen tool, click corner points in two locations to create a straight segment.
Position the Pen tool over the selected endpoint. In Illustrator, a convert-point icon appears next to the Pen tool when it is positioned correctly. To set the slope of the curved segment you’ll create next, click the anchor point, and drag the direction line that appears.

Drawing a straight segment followed by a curved segment (part 1)

A. Straight segment completed B. Positioning Pen tool over endpoint C. Dragging direction point
Position the pen where you want the next anchor point; then click (and drag, if desired) the new anchor point to complete the curve.

Drawing a straight segment followed by a curved segment (part 2)

A. Positioning Pen tool B. Dragging direction line C. New curve segment completed

Draw curves followed by straight lines

Using the Pen tool, drag to create the first smooth point of the curved segment, and release the mouse button.
Reposition the Pen tool where you want the curved segment to end, drag to complete the curve, and release the mouse button.

Drawing a curved segment followed by a straight segment (part 1)

A. First smooth point of curved segment completed and Pen tool positioned over endpoint B. Dragging to complete the curve
Position the Pen tool over the selected endpoint. A convert-point icon appears next to the Pen tool when it is positioned correctly. Click the anchor point to convert the smooth point to a corner point.
Reposition the Pen tool where you want the straight segment to end, and click to complete the straight segment.

Drawing a curved segment followed by a straight segment (part 2)

A. Positioning Pen tool over existing endpoint B. Clicking endpoint C. Clicking next corner point

Draw two curved segments connected by a corner

Using the Pen tool, drag to create the first smooth point of a curved segment.
Reposition the Pen tool and drag to create a curve with a second smooth point; then press and hold Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) and drag the direction line toward its opposing end to set the slope of the next curve. Release the key and the mouse button.

This process converts the smooth point to a corner point by splitting the direction lines.
Reposition the Pen tool where you want the second curved segment to end, and drag a new smooth point to complete the second curved segment.

A. Dragging a new smooth point B. Pressing Alt/Option to split direction lines while dragging, and swinging direction line up C. Result after repositioning and dragging a third time

The Reshape Segment cursor supports reshaping with touch input on touch-based devices and touch workspace. To use it with the Pen tool, follow these steps:

While using the pen tool, press the Alt / Option key.
When you hover the pointer over a path segment, the cursor changes to the Reshape Segment cursor.
Dragging a segment will reshape the path segment

A combination of the path segments, reshaped using the Pen tool

A. Original shape B. The Reshape Segment cursor indicates a reshape-ready segment C. When the Reshape Segment cursor is visible, modify the shape of the segment by clicking and dragging. D. Reshape as many segments as required E. Final shape when reshaping tasks are complete
To continue drawing with the Pen tool, release the Alt / Option key.
To create a semi-circular segment hold the Shift key while reshaping a segment. Holding the Shift modifier constrains the handles to a perpendicular direction, and ensures that the handles are of equal length.

Draw with the Curvature tool

The Curvature tool simplifies path creation and makes drawing easy and intuitive. This tool enables you to create, toggle, edit, add, or remove smooth or corner points. You don't have to switch between different tools to work quickly and precisely with paths.

Select the Curvature tool ().
Drop two points on the artboard, and then view the rubber band preview display the shape of the resulting path depending on where you hover your mouse.

Note: Rubber-banding is turned on by default in the tool. To turn it off, use preference setting: Preferences > Selection & Anchor Display > Enable Rubber Band.
Use the mouse to drop a point or tap to create a smooth point. To create a corner point, double-click or press the Alt key while clicking or tapping.

A. By default, smooth points are created for curves B. To create a corner point, double-click or press the Alt key while dropping a point
You can perform several actions:
- Option (macOS) / Alt (Windows) + click to continue adding points to an existing path or shape.
- Double-click or double-tap a point to toggle the point between smooth or corner points.
- Click a point or tap it and then drag the point to move it.
- Click or tap a point and press Delete to delete the point. The curve is maintained.
- Press the Esc key to stop drawing.

You can enable the Real-Time Drawing and Editing feature to enhance the live appearance of objects when you work on them. To enable this feature:

[Windows] Choose Edit > Preferences > Performance > Real-Time Drawing and Editing.

[macOS] Choose Illustrator > Preferences > Performance > Real-Time Drawing and Editing.

Rubber Band preview

The Pen tool and the Curvature tool display a preview of the path that will be drawn from the previous anchor point to the current position of the pointer.

Using the Pen tool or the Curvature tool, click once on the artboard to draw a smooth point, and drag the mouse to create the handles as required.

Note: When you draw a smooth point, the opposite handles are always equal and paired. Press Command / Ctrl while dragging the handles of a smooth point, to create handles that are unequal in length (pairing remains intact).
Release the mouse button. When you move the mouse pointer across the artboard, a path is displayed indicating what will be drawn if you choose to drop an anchor point at the location of the mouse pointer.

A. First anchor point and its handles B. Rubber Band preview of the path between the first anchor point and the mouse pointer
When the preview displayed is the path that you wanted to draw, click the location, and Illustrator draws the path as previewed.

Note:

When the preview is on, pressing Esc stops showing the preview and ends the path. This is the same action as hitting the keyboard shortcut P while working with the Pen tool (with the preview feature off).

Turn the Rubber Band preview on or off:

Open the Preferences dialog (Ctrl + K)
Browse to the Selection and Anchor Display tab
Select or clear the desired option(s):
- Enable Rubber Band for Pen Tool
- Enable Rubber Band for Curvature Tool

Draw with the Pencil tool

The Pencil tool lets you draw open and closed paths as if you were drawing with a pencil on paper. It's most useful for fast sketching or creating a hand-drawn look. Once you draw a path, you can edit it if needed.

Anchor points are added as you draw with the Pencil tool. The number and position of anchor points are determined by the length and complexity of the path and by the tolerance settings in the Pencil tool options. These settings control how sensitive the Pencil tool is to the movement of your mouse or stylus.

Try it in the app
Use the Pencil tool to draw freehand or constrained paths in a few simple steps.

Open Illustrator

Draw freeform paths with the Pencil tool

Select the Pencil tool from the toolbar. As you move the mouse to the canvas, a small star appears on the Pencil tool, indicating it's ready to draw a freeform path.
In the Appearance section of the Properties panel, select Stroke, and in the panel that opens, adjust the stroke styles as needed.
Note:
Ensure you deselect New Art Has Basic Appearance from the Appearance panel menu (Window > Appearance). If you don't, you can apply styles and effects only after you draw the path, and can't preview them live.

For the live preview to work, you must also turn on Real-Time Drawing and Editing from Illustrator > Settings > Performance (macOS) or Edit> Preferences > Performance (Windows).
Apply an effect from the Effect menu, if needed.
On the canvas, drag to draw the path and release the mouse when you finish. Anchor points appear at both ends and at various points along the path.

By default:
- The Pencil tool renders the stroke styles and effects live as you draw. However, curve-fitting happens only after you release the mouse. You can change these settings from the tool options.
- The path remains selected after you release the mouse.
Double-click the Pencil tool in the toolbar to adjust the tool options.

Draw constrained or unconstrained straight lines using the Pencil tool

Select the Pencil tool from the toolbar.
Do one of the following:
- Constrained straight line: Hold down Shift, and when a straight-line icon appears on the Pencil tool, draw a line constrained to 0, 45, or 90 degrees.
- Unconstrained straight line: Hold down Option or Alt, and when a straight-line icon appears on the Pencil tool, draw a line.
To draw a multi-line path, hold down Shift or Option/Alt, and then hover over the endpoint of the first line. When the path-continuation icon appears on the Pencil tool, drag to draw the next line.

Draw closed paths with the Pencil tool

Select the Pencil tool from the toolbar.
Drag to draw the path. As you draw toward and approach the path's starting point, a small circle appears on the Pencil tool, indicating that the path is about to close.
Release the mouse to close the path.

Edit paths with the Pencil tool

You can edit any path using the Pencil tool and add freeform lines and shapes to any shape.

Extend paths with the Pencil tool

Select the Selection tool from the toolbar, and select the path you want to extend.
Select the Pencil tool from the toolbar.
Hover over the endpoint of the path. When the path-continuation icon appears on the Pencil tool, drag to extend the path.

Connect two paths with the Pencil tool

Select the Selection tool from the toolbar, and Shift-click or drag around the two paths to select them.
Select the Pencil tool from the toolbar.
Hover over the endpoint of one path. When the path-continuation icon appears on the Pencil tool, drag toward the endpoint of the other path.
As you approach the endpoint of the second path, when the path-continuation icon appears on the Pencil tool, release the mouse.

Tip:

For best results, drag from one path to the other as if you were simply continuing the paths in the direction they were created.

Reshape paths with the Pencil tool

Select the Selection tool from the toolbar, and select the path you want to reshape.
Select the Pencil tool from the toolbar.
Hover over the path from where you want to reshape. When the small star icon disappears from the Pencil tool, drag to reshape.

Use the Pencil tool to reshape an open or closed path.

Note:

Depending on where you begin to redraw the path and in which direction you drag, you may get unexpected results. For example, you may unintentionally change a closed path to an open path, change an open path to a closed path, or lose a portion of a shape.

Pencil tool options

Double-click the Pencil tool to set the following options:

Fidelity

Controls how far you have to move your mouse or stylus before a new anchor point is added to the path. The Fidelity slider has five levels you can choose from. The leftmost slider level (Accurate) is most accurate for drawing paths. The rightmost slider level (Smooth) creates the smoothest paths. Choose a level that suits your drawing needs best.

Fill new pencil strokes

Applies a fill to pencil strokes you draw after selecting this option, but not to existing pencil strokes. Remember to select a fill before you draw the pencil strokes.

Keep selected

Determines whether to keep the path selected after you draw it. This option is selected by default.

Alt/ Option key toggles to Smooth Tool

With this checkbox enabled, while using the Pencil tool or the Brush tool, you can press Alt (Windows) or Option (macOS) to switch to the Smooth tool.

Close paths when ends are within

When the endpoints of a path you are drawing are in close proximity and within a certain predefined number of pixels of each other, the path-close cursor () is shown. When you release the mouse button, such a path is closed automatically. You can set the predefined number of pixels using this option.

Edit selected paths

Determines whether or not you can change or merge a selected path when you are within a certain distance of it (specified with the next option).

Within

Determines how close your mouse or stylus must be to an existing path in order to edit the path with the Pencil tool. This option is only available when the Edit Selected Paths option is selected.

Live preview

Renders the stroke styles and effects live as you draw.

For Live preview and Live curve fitting to work, deselect New Art Has Basic Appearance from the Appearance panel menu, and select Real-Time Drawing and Editing from Illustrator preferences.

Live curve fitting

Fits the path's curve live as you draw. If unselected, curve fitting happens only after you release the mouse or lift the stylus.

Have a question or an idea?

If you have a question to ask or an idea to share, come and participate in Adobe Illustrator Community. We would love to hear from you and see your creations.

Get help faster and easier

New user?