The VectorScribe plugin is oriented towards ensuring the creation of your vector masterpieces is easier, faster and more flexible. I hope you have already experienced it (if not, download a 7 day full trial now!).

Today’s article is devoted to the PathScribe tool using keyboard shortcuts. This information, along with the instructional product movies, will help you create vector artwork using the keyboard like a piano…

Notes:

1. Mac key names are used throughout here, but it understood that for Windows, Alt = Option, and Ctrl = Command.
2. The left and right bracket keys are used by some of VectorScribe’s tools, but these keys can be changed by the user through Illustrator’s Keyboard Shortcuts… Tools dialog, under Increase Diameter and Decrease Diameter. This is of use to users who local language format keyboards do not provide quick access to the square bracket keys. An asterisk will indicate this use, but note that this does not apply if the mouse button is held down.
3. Some shortcuts do not work in earlier versions of the plugin. Update the plugin version to v1.1.1 by following the link www.astutegraphics.com/download/vectorscribe-download.html
4. To access the advanced/numeric options in the PathScribe panel, open the panel’s fly-out menu and select Expand Panel.

When clicking the “Smooth” button:

‘Option’ does not add automatically-generated handles after changing the point type

When clicking the “Smart Remove Point” button:

‘Option’ does an old-style delete instead

When clicking the “Retract Handles” button:

‘Option’ swaps the handles instead of retracting them

When clicking the “Previous Point” and “Next Point” buttons:

‘Shift’ moves in either direction by ten points instead of one

When clicking the multi-handle “Increment” button:

‘Shift’ multiplies the value incremented by the “Shift Multiplier” (“Shift Multiplier” is equal to 5 by default) preference value

‘Option’ decrements the value instead of incrementing it

When clicking the multi-handle “Scale” button:

‘Shift’ multiplies the value incremented by the “Shift Multiplier” (“Shift Multiplier” is equal to 5 by default) preference value

‘Option’ uses the reciprocal of the value

When clicking the multi-handle “Rotate” button:

‘Shift’ multiplies the value incremented by the “Shift Multiplier” (“Shift Multiplier” is equal to 5 by default) preference value

‘Option’ rotates clockwise instead of counter-clockwise

When clicking the multi-handle “Set Length” button:

‘Shift’ multiplies the value incremented by the “Shift Multiplier” (“Shift Multiplier” is equal to 5 by default) preference value

‘Option’ uses negative length instead (flips handle)

‘Command’ uses a value of 0 (retracts handle)

When clicking the multi-handle “Set Angle” button:

‘Shift’ uses the angle after mirroring it across the X-axis

‘Option’ uses the angle after mirroring it across the Y-axis

When dragging (general):

‘Command’ hides the annotations or (Windows only) toggles slow-drag (when pref is enabled). ‘Control’ (Mac only) toggles slow-drag

When dragging multiple handles:

‘C’ toggles between counter-rotation and normal rotation modes

‘Space’ moves the handles together as a group

‘Option’ constrains the angle of each handle

When dragging a single handle:

‘Space’ moves the anchor point with its handles

‘Option’ constrains the angle of the handle

When dragging out a marquee:

‘Esc’ cancels the marquee

When dragging a path segment:

‘R’ immediately retracts the segments handles, making it straight

‘D’ toggles the preference which changes the segment’s points to corner points

‘S’ immediately makes the segment’s endpoints smooth

‘Option’ constrains the angle of each handle

‘Shift’ reshapes path while keeping it symmetric. Symmetric means that both handles are the same length and form the same angle to the imaginary line running through the endpoints of the path segment

‘Shift’ + ‘Option’ reshapes path with the following constraints: the handle lengths are kept equalized, and the handle angles are constrained to their original values

When dragging an anchor point:

‘L’ constrains the point’s movement to the angle(s) of the straight segment(s) adjoining it

When there are one ore more anchor points selected:

‘]’* smart removes the point(s)

When there are one or more handles selected:

‘]’* retracts the handle(s)

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Further PathScribe shortcuts will be published in a future AG Blog article. Please stay tuned via Twitter, Facebook or the blog’s RSS news feed.