A good reason exists as to why the Pen Tool is the Grandfather of all the tools in Illustrator: with the Pen Tool alone, just about anything can be created. But that darn little tool can cause a LOT of headache for people that have had previous experience with Photoshop. This tutorial walks you through the most basic use of the Pen Tool so you can get on your way to the more important tools available to you.

1. Open a new document in Illustrator of whatever format you like – design, web, mobile, etc.

2. Let’s start by getting the tools you will be using for this tutorial together in one spot. Use the “Tearoff” feature to get the Pen Tool and Direct Selection Tool into their own windows.

 

 3. With your Pen Tool and Direct Selection windows open, select the Pen Tool. Click once on your canvas area, move the mouse pointer a location a few inches away and click again. You now have a line with two end-points.  Try not to drag your mouse at this point as you will create a curve.

 
4. Now, grab the Add Anchor Point Tool, click somewhere in the middle of your new line. You now have an anchor point.

 

5. Grab the Direct Selection Tool, click on your new anchor point, and drag your mouse straight down a few inches towards the bottom of the page. This should create a triangular design.  

 

6. Next, grab your Convert Anchor Point Tool, click on your anchor point, and drag the mouse straight to the right. This creates a symmetrical design, much like the smile of a smiley face. You can always undo the move and experiment with how the shape changes as you move the mouse around. 

 

7. Notice that there are those little blue lines that come off of the anchor point. These are called handles and they will be your new best friend in Illustrator. So, grab your Direct Selection Tool again grab the far right handle. Drag your mouse straight down a few inches to see how this affects your line segments. 

 

8. Now, use the Convert Anchor Point Tool to put the handle back where it was. Notice how the two handles are no longer moving together: 

 

9. Now, just to show you how to use the Delete Anchor Point Tool, grab it and click on your anchor point (NOT your anchor or end points). You are now where you started with your straight line. 

 

10. Finally, if you ever want to move an anchor or end point, just grab your Direct Selection Tool, grab the point you want to move, and drag the point to the new location.

You now have the secrets of the Pen Tool! With this basic use, you can create complicated designs, trace logos, or draw intricate works of art.