Adobe Illustrator CS3 User Manual
Page 19
ILLUSTRATOR CS3
User Guide
13
Path editing
As soon as you select points, the Control panel displays path-editing tools You can fine-tune your work faster and
even hide and show handles with one click. (See “Specify direction line and direction point appearance” on page 55.)
Point selection
Run your cursor over any anchor point and enlarge it so you can easily see and select it. Your cursor shows a larger
square anywhere it detects a point. (See “Specify anchor point size preferences” on page 55.)
Point alignment
Align and distribute points just like you align and distribute objects. When you select more than one point, the whole
range of alignment buttons appears in the Control panel. You can also align points to the artboard or a crop area.
(See “Align and distribute objects” on page 205.)
Eraser tool
Quickly remove areas of artwork as easily as you can erase pixels in Photoshop. All you have to do is stroke the mouse
or stylus over any shape or set of shapes. Illustrator creates new paths along the edges of the erased stroke; the
smoothness of your erasure is preserved. (See “Erase artwork” on page 75.)
Crop Area tool
Draw multiple crop areas with either custom or predefined characteristics. You can quickly create one-page PDFs
perfectly cropped to your selection, making it possible to save artwork variations to show clients and colleagues. (See
“Create, edit, and delete crop areas” on page 38.)