Draw straight lines 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. Continue to click to create a path made of straight line segments connected by corner points.

  1. Select the Pen Tool .
  2. Position the Pen Tool where the straight segment is to begin, and click to define the first anchor point. If direction lines appear, you accidentally dragged the Pen Tool; choose Edit > Undo and click again.
    Note: The first segment you draw is not visible until you click a second anchor point (unless you’ve specified Show Pen Preview in the Drawing category of the Preferences dialog box).
  3. Click again where you want the segment to end (Shift-click to constrain the angle of the segment to a multiple of 45°).
  4. Continue clicking to set anchor points for additional straight segments.
    Clicking pen tool creates straight segments

  5. To complete the path as an open or closed shape, do one of the following:

    • To complete an open path, double-click the last point, click the Pen Tool in the Tools panel, or Control-click (Windows) or Command-click (Macintosh) anywhere away from the path.

    • 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 complete the shape as is, select Edit > Deselect All, or select a different tool in the Tools panel.

Related Information

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