Editing Paths

Point editing happens with Direct Selection (A). See Selecting for how to select points and handles.

Vertex tools

Tool	Key	Does
Add Vertex	=	Click a path to add a point. The shape does not change
Delete Vertex	-	Click a point to remove it. The path stays whole
Convert Vertex	Shift+C	Click to switch a point between corner and smooth; drag to pull out handles; drag a handle to break the pair
Scissors	C	Click a point or a path to cut it open there

Delete removes the selected points, opening the path there. Right-click and choose Remove points to remove them and keep the path closed. With only handles selected, Delete retracts them.

With points selected, the right-click menu also offers Convert to corner, which retracts their handles, and Convert to smooth, which pulls handles out of bare corners.

Point and tangent values

With points selected, Properties shows:

• Point: X and Y, the tangent mode (Symmetric, Angle, Free), the in and out handle lengths and angles, and Slide, which moves the point between its two handle tips while they stay put, as Ctrl-drag on a point does.
• Tangents (with handles selected): Length, Angle and Scale, applied to every selected handle.
• Selection: Position, Width and Height of the selected points, and Move by.

Corners

Selecting a path shows a round widget inside each corner. Drag it to round the corner; drag it back to sharpen it. Properties shows the same as Radius and Smoothness under Corner.

Corners that are already rounded, from After Effects or anywhere else, are recognized and can be adjusted the same way. With more than 500 corners selected, the widgets hide so a press moves the selection.

Join, close and average

• Ctrl+J joins two selected open ends, or closes one open path.
• Average (right-click, or Path actions, with two or more points selected) lines points up: Horizontal puts them on one horizontal line, Vertical on one vertical line, and Both stacks them on one spot.

Path direction

A path’s Normal and Reversed buttons in Layers set its direction, which decides where Trim Paths starts, which way dashes and tapers run, and how overlapping paths in one group cut holes. Reverse path in Path actions does the same for several paths.

RotoBezier

Select a shape path to see its RotoBezier switch under Path. Turn it on or off to convert the path. Turning it on replaces the tangents, so the curve moves.

A RotoBezier path shows each point’s Tension, read-only. Editing a tangent converts the path to Bezier, with a Path converted to Bezier notice.

Width tool (Shift+W)

Tapers a stroke. Select a stroked open path (or a layer or group holding some), then drag the handles at its ends: across the stroke sets that end’s width, along the path sets how far the taper runs. Double-click a handle to reset it.

The values are under Taper when the stroke is selected in Layers. See Fill and Stroke.