Workflows & tool interactions

Individual tools are covered in the Tools section. This page shows how they combine — the workflows that get real work done.

Draw and refine a freehand shape

1. Draw with the Pencil (P).
2. Clean it up with the Smooth (S) tool — raise its Tolerance for stronger simplification.
3. Fine-tune individual points with Direct Select (A).

Build a precise outline

1. Use the Pen (B): click for corners, click-drag for curves.
2. Close the path by clicking the first anchor (or press Enter to leave it open).
3. Adjust anchors and handles with Direct Select.

Make a shape editable

Shapes (Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon) aren’t paths until you convert them.

1. Draw the shape.
2. Convert it to a path.
3. Edit its anchors with Direct Select.

Combine shapes (Pathfinder)

1. Select two or more overlapping shapes (Shift-click or marquee with Select).
2. Apply a boolean operation — Union, Intersect, Subtract, Exclude or Divide.

See vector editing basics for what each one does.

Calligraphic & variable-width strokes

Two routes to a profiled stroke:

• Select a brush before drawing with the Pencil — it expands your stroke along the brush’s width profile (see Pencil + brush expansion).
• Or apply the Width (W) tool to an existing path and pick a tapered or calligraphic profile.

Copy a look between objects

Use the Eyedropper (I): set its Target to Both to copy the full fill + stroke, or to one of them to copy just that part.

Lay out and align artwork

With Select active, the Tool Options bar exposes Align, Distribute and Flip. Snapping aligns objects to one another and the grid while you drag.

Work across multiple screens

Use the Page tool (or the Pages panel) to keep several artboards in one document; the active page is where new objects land.