Add and remove anchor points

You can add or remove anchor points from a path using either the Add Anchor Point tool or the Delete Anchor Point tool.

Adding an anchor point

To add an anchor point

  1. In the Toolbar, select the Add Anchor Point tool Cc294651.15fe5be3-c973-4c8a-815f-b70320303e4e(en-us,Expression.10).png or press = (equal sign).

  2. Click a path segment anywhere that an anchor point does not currently exist.

The shape of a Bezier path is not affected by adding an anchor point. However, adding an anchor point to a B-spline curve may change the path's shape slightly.

Removing an anchor point

To remove an anchor point

  1. On the Toolbar, select the Delete Anchor Point tool Cc294651.2d99c9f9-ede8-4689-8b79-8c87fed9347b(en-us,Expression.10).png or press -(hyphen).

  2. Click the anchor point or points you want to remove.

When you remove one or more anchor points with this tool, the shape changes, but the path remains whole (it doesn't split the path).

You can also remove anchor points along a complex path with the Smooth Path feature. For more information, see Smooth paths.

Clicking an anchor point in the original path (1) with the Delete Anchor Point tool causes that anchor point to be removed from the curve (2)

Cc294651.a2436672-92a7-4a1f-971d-0a5d1d352316(en-us,Expression.10).png

Tip

You can select the Add Anchor Point and Delete Anchor Point tools automatically whenever the Pen tool is selected. When you position the Pen tool over a segment of a selected path, it changes to the Add Anchor Point tool. When you position the tool over an anchor point of a selected path, it changes to the Delete Anchor Point tool.

See also

Concepts

Select anchor points

Edit anchor points and segments