The Pen draws freehand, and the Path tool draws point by point.

Drag to draw in one stroke. When you let go, any jitter is filtered out to leave a smooth curve, and sharp turns stay as corners. The Pen tool stays on after you draw, so you can draw several strokes in a row.

• Drag outDraw freehand
• Draw straight and pauseA clean straight line
• End at the start pointA closed shape
• escCancel the stroke you’re drawing

Place points one at a time. Click for a corner point, or click and drag for a curve point with handles on both sides. Click the first point to close the path, or press ↩ or esc to finish it open. When you finish, you’re back on the Select tool.

• Click a spotCorner point
• Click and dragCurve point
• ⇧+click a spotIn 45° steps from the previous point
• ⌥+drag outBend just one handle
• ⌫Delete the last point
• Click the first pointClose

Rectangles, ellipses, and text can become paths too, so you can edit their points. Click the object to select it, then right-click it and choose Convert to Path. Its name, style, motion, and interactions stay. An ellipse with a hollow center can’t be converted, and text whose font file can’t be loaded stays as it is.

The separate button at the right end of the sub-toolbar also starts and stops path editing. To finish, press ↩ or double-click an empty spot. esc first deselects the selected points, and pressing it again finishes. A single click on an empty spot doesn’t finish: it only deselects the points. Each change is saved as its own step, so ⌘Z undoes them one at a time.

• Double-click · ↩Start path editing
• ↩ · Double-click an empty spotFinish
• escDeselect the points · press again to finish

Click a point to select it, or drag from an empty spot to select every point inside the box. With Lasso Select on, a drag selects the points inside the shape you draw. Drag selected points to move them together. They snap where they line up horizontally or vertically with another point.

• Click a point · ⇧+click a pointOne point · add or remove
• Drag from an empty spotEvery point in the box
• Drag with Lasso SelectEvery point inside the shape you draw
• Drag a pointMove
• ⇧+drag a pointOnly horizontally or vertically
• Arrow keys1px at a time · 10px with ⇧
• ⌘AEvery point

With Select on, drag a line to bend it, and the handles at its two ends adjust to match. Select a curve point to see the handles on it and on its neighboring points. Drag the circle at a handle’s end to bend the line, and the opposite handle follows on the other side. If the two handles were the same length, their lengths change together. If they weren’t, the opposite handle keeps its own length. Hold ⌥ while you drag to move only that handle, for a curve with a sharp turn. After that, the turn stays sharp even when you drag a handle without ⌥.

• Drag a line with SelectBend that line
• Drag a handleBend · the other side follows
• ⌥+drag a handleJust that handle · the turn stays sharp
• ⇧+drag a handleIn 45° steps
• Double-click a handleRemove that handle

Hold ⌥ and drag a corner point to pull out handles on both sides and round it into a curve. Make Smooth (⇧C) and double-clicking the point add handles that run parallel to the line between the neighboring points, so the corner rounds off right away. To turn a curve point back into a corner, click Make Corner (⇧S) or double-click the point.

With Add Anchor on, hover over a line to see a + sign, and click to add a point right there that you can drag at once. Press Delete or click Delete Anchor to delete the selected points. The points left join up across the gap following the original shape. A path always keeps at least two points.

• Click a line with Add AnchorAdd a point there
• +Add one in the middle of the line after the selected point
• Delete · −Delete the selected points · the shape stays