Adobe Illustrator is a game of connect the dots

First thing about vector art is to throw out your concept of how you currently make art. You’ve grown up with the idea that you use pens, pencils, and markers to draw. Not true with Adobe Illustrator. Adobe illustrator is a game of “connect the dots.” You know, the coloring books with numbers and dots you draw lines to connect to make shapes. Adobe Illustrator is a coloring book where you create dots and you connect them. Let’s see how this works.

A dot is called an anchor point. This is where all art begins in vector graphics.

A line is called a path.

Connected anchor points with no open paths are called shapes. 

You can select individual anchor points or segments with the direct selection tool (shortcut “A”)

Left click to move anchor points or left click a line segment to move it around 

You can also press “delete/backspace” to remove an anchor point or a path. 

The topic of paths, segments and anchor points are the most critical concept to grasp before learning more about adobe illustrator. Everything you do in the program revolves around these three fundamentals. This is especially critical for laser cutting since this is how your laser interprets designs and not necessarily what you see on the screen.

Summary

• Anchor Point = Dot
• Path = line
• Your Job = create dots and connect them with lines.

Thus, Adobe Illustrator is a game of “connect the dots.”