Drawing > Using the Pen tool > Drawing curved paths with the Pen tool |  |

Drawing curved paths with the Pen tool

You create curves by dragging the Pen tool in the direction you want the curve to go to create the first anchor point, and then dragging the Pen tool in the opposite direction to create the second anchor point.

When you use the Pen tool to create a curved segment, the anchor points of the line segment display tangent handles. The slope and length of each tangent handle determine the slope and the height, or depth, of the curve. Moving the tangent handles reshapes the curves of the path. See Adjusting segments.

To draw a curved path:

1 | Select the Pen tool.
2 | Position the Pen tool on the Stage where you want the curve to begin, and hold down the mouse button.
| The first anchor point appears, and the pen tip changes to an arrowhead.
3 | Drag in the direction you want the curve segment to be drawn. Shift-drag to constrain the tool to multiples of 45° .
| As you drag, the tangent handles of the curve appear.
4 | Release the mouse button.
| The length and slope of the tangent handles determine the shape of the curve segment. You can move the tangent handles later to adjust the curve.
5 | Position the pointer where you want the curve segment to end, hold down the mouse button, and drag in the opposite direction to complete the segment. Shift-drag to constrain the segment to multiples of 45° .
6 | To draw the next segment of a curve, position the pointer where you want the next segment to end, and drag away from the curve.