Learn to Use the Pen Tool in Affinity Designer (Any Version)

1. Introduction: So you want to learn how to use the pen tool and maybe you tried before and it was just too frustrating. You didn't get too far, and then you just quit. If that's the case, then you are in the best place you could be in the whole internet. Because I'm going to show you how to do this. We kept little tool and by the end of his cost, it will just look to you was a little kitten. So we're gonna be learning together through exercises. And by the end of this course, you're going to be able to do this graphic, which is full of zeros, intricate shapes and segments. And it would be really easy for you to complete it because we're gonna be using not just one method, but three. And this is the secret, is one of them is not working for you. There will be a second one or third one. Each one of them has different approaches. And then three are going to take you to the same place, which is competing, a graphic which is just getting things done. And this is what I want. I want to show you everything about this pen tool and then you would pick which method works better for you. So I created this course for two types of users. One is complete newbies, complete beginners who know nothing about vector graphics. What is the Pen tool or affinity designer, but they want to run. A student is intermediate. People who know about Affinity Designer, the nova vector graphics. They can't draw, but they still don't understand pretty well. They still didn't get a good grasp on what is the pen tool and what's the dynamics and the logics behind it. Both of you are welcome to join this course. For anyone is welcome to join this course and to make it great together. So please let us share, let's ask, and let's create the synergies that would make everything much better. Boy, hanging there because this isn't all. This is just the first course of a series and planning to record in order to teach you everything I know about vector graphics and digital graphics. So all these graphics easily care, you will learn how to do if you follow me and you stay in the loop of the next upcoming courses. So now let's start and let's make this Great. 2. Update Message Before you Start: hi. Just before we start, I want to say one important thing. This video you're watching now is an update to the class that I recorded with the person off Affinity Designer 1.6. So this is an update for those of you who already half the new person, the 1.7 While these cars remains totally up to date when it comes to learning how to use the pencil, the new version off the signer comes with some new features into the Dennis's before. Don't worry, because, as I say, it is exactly the same tool. Just that now we have some extra features and some improved visual kills to make it even more easy to Joe with it, you will also notice some cosmetic changes and some icons of dnanexus before, as well as some tools for those off. You taking this class with the new person off affinity Sina. This is the one about seven. I have prepared an Adam class where I'm taking you for the new features and all the new possibilities. But as I said, the most important thing is to remark that dependable works exactly the same way, So go ahead take first this class. And then if you curious to know about the new features and all these updates, go ahead and take the other Adam Plus See you also there by 3. Vector Lines & Bezier Curves: So in this lesson I want to talk about two concepts. One is a straight lines and the other one is Bezier curves. Let's see. So the first thing we're gonna do is come here to the side toolbar. And we're going to see this little tool here. You can also press P on your keyboard to activate it. So basically a vector line or a segment, it's created by a minimum of two points, 14, starting 14 ending in Affinity Designer, you're going to find the ending point is always red square or circle with a red stroke. And if selected also Bloomfield. And this is basically very simple path or segments. Now, we also have a possibility of transforming these straight line with sharp angles into curves or Bezier curves. So I just click and drag. And I'm going to have a soft curve, as you can see here. Another thing to talk about here is that this is what we know as a soft point. We're going to call them point for the time being. And this is our sharp point. The difference between these square point and this rounded point is clear, where you're going to get out of these ones is going to be straight lines and sharp angles. Whereas with the soft points you're going to get Bezier curves that are soft. So if you take a look here, you're going to see what is known as a hundreds or control points. And they are what you use to manipulate your curves. So if I come here and I trace another portion of my curve and I drag, you can see how it's changing the shape of my curve. You can also see that they move along together, they grow together, and they have the same distance to the point that originates them. Whenever this is happening, you're going to see this little perpendicular lines right in the center of each one of the handles. Meaning that this handle and this handle are exactly the same length. What now, if I want them to move separately? Well, what I have to do is come to my keyboard and I'm going to press and hold Alt or Option. Now you can see my pen tool is transforming into this other icon, like an arrow. So I come over the handle and now you're going to see this soft point is going to transform into one of the sharp ones, meaning that my next segment is going to create a sharp angle here. So I click now here. And even though this is a curve, if you take a look, you're going to have here sharp angle. If for whatever reason. I would like to make the next one a straight line. What I have to do is click on this point, get rid of one of the handles, and I'm free to keep going. Now, if you need one sharp point to have honors, you have two possibilities. One would be going over it and pulling, converting your path into a curve which will create a soft points with the hundreds we saw before. And the other one would be pressing and holding Alt or Option and pooling. Now you're going to have a sharp point with a handle. But the next portion of this segment is always going to be a curve no matter what you do. So to wrap up, I repeats. This is what is known as a path. It can be formed by straight lines and it can be formed also by BCA curves. Now, this is a starting point. This is an endpoint. Smooth points always have handles. Sometimes you're going to have a handle in a sharp point if it's united to a VC occur. However. So you can see here, these ones do not have handles. The perpendicular line in the middle of the handles means each one of them are the same distance to the point that creates them. And whenever we want to move a handle, we press and hold Command and move both of them. End if we want to just move one of them. We present hold Command and Alt. And now we can just affect one portion of our curve. And now it's a short appendix. I would like to talk shortly about how to select, self-select group and ungroup things in Affinity Designer for those of you who are complete newbies. And so you follow along much better. In this course. I'm going to show you how to move group and ungroup things in Affinity Designer, how to move them, your cameras and how to use your Layers panel, which is this near to the right. If you don't have it, come to view, studio and layers, click on there and you will get it. So the first thing is we have this rectangle, this object here, and we have a second object here. If I want to move them, I have to select the Move tool or press V on my keyboard. This way, if I drag and select both of them and press command G on my keyboard, I'm going to group them. If I want to move them, I can do so with the move tool. And now I obviously move them together because I grouped them. If I want to sub select this orange in the group and have three possibilities, I can hear expand the group and select it. Like so. Now I can move it. Or I can also double-click and sub select it. I can also select the node tool by clicking a on my keyboard, or also holding command or control. We just want Lee I selected. Okay, so feces basically the way you are going to select sub select, group and ungroup in Affinity Designer. And well, I hope now you can follow along much easier. See you in the next lesson. Bye. 4. Nodes: Sharp, Smooth & Smart: So in our personal lesson, wissen that segments are connected by what I initially called points. We talked about the square points and the rounded points, which now I'm going to call by their name because these little points are actually called notes. And I need you to remember that notes or anchor points are what form or segments of carbs and, well, ultimately or graphics. So coming to the site uber here, we're gonna find these little white arrow. It's called a note to. You can invoke it by clicking a on the keyboard, and we will talk about this tool. Morin left in another lesson. But right now I need you to know it's there, and by activating it, you are going to be able to see all the notes that form or car for line or shape. So just go ahead, click on your no tool and click on any of the segments that you have on your compass and reveal the notes or uncle points that form. It's the next thing I would like to talk about is just let's give them a proper name. These square notes are also known as sharp notes. The rather ones are known us smooth notes. You're gonna find the squares. Typically, when you start drawing a line unless you drop, then you will get a smooth note. Another case in which you're gonna find shot notes is whenever you trace a straight angle. However, if you draw another note somewhere else in the compass and you drug while place in it that nights, one obviously is going to be a smooth note. Now, let's just take a quick look at this particular case. It is clear to see that here we have a cost. So we have a sharp note in each of them. But also in this case, or this one more clearly, you can see that you have curse around. Why is this? Well, if we take a look at seven itself, you're going to see here we have a very clear angle. It's riel cost. Where else? In here. We have self lines. This is why every time you do angles, as I just explained, you're gonna get sharp notes. Let's just try with a pencil and see and this in action. So I click month two and three notes. They all are sharp notes. Now I just traced the curve, and obviously this one creating the younger is sharp. These one is smooth. Now, the next one, if I just click and not drug aside to set where I'm going to have is a sharp, no connected took earth. Now, if I could going and I traced my next know it would be shocked because I don't drop. And as you can see, shut notes can be connected either to curves are straight lines. Now, before we see the last kind off notes, I want to talk about how to transform your shop or your smooth or your third kind, which is the smart notes into any off the other types. If I have a sharp note that I want to turn into a small, I come here and I click now. We'll have it smooth, have my handles and I can manipulated. I created this nice car fear the same for ah, smooth. No, I want to transform it, saying to a smart note. You see it here or into a shop node. In the case, off self notes, there's a shortcut that will allow you also to transform it into shop. It will only work transforming a smooth node into sharp, and this is positioning your cursor over it. Prison hold, option or out, and it transforms it into a sharp note in the case of the sharp notes, even work if you click, it won't turn it into a smooth note, but it will also work with the next kind of notes. We will see this, mark notes. You can see I press at any, transforms it into a short note. This is really, really honey when you're drawing, because sometimes you just need to transform, say, a curve into an anger. Things like that. And when, as you use a pencil, you will see how handy this comfort area here it is. I use it a lot we're going to see now. The last type of notes in the last ones are smart notes, which are easily recognised by having a circle in a small the in the center in the middle, and they're basically notes that are going to help you creating flowing lines in a very easy way. So this is what I wanted to talk about for the notes for the time being, and let's see them in our turn in next lessons 5. The Pen Tool Icons: So in this lesson, we're gonna be talking about the Pentagon and the different icons started this place for you to help you as you go throwing with its where the first thing you should know is the battle is not the only tool you can draw with in factor software. You can also use the pencil or brush that most likely you're gonna find yourself, John, with mentally master applications, also independent is very easy to operate with the mouse with digital pan. And well, to be honest, I also use a lot, many times so it just a little bit of practice and super easy to use. And also, another thing I like to say about the pen tool is that all these icons are not exactly the same for all this offer. But they are kind of similar. So was, you know, one. I understand the rest off often, so let's see it. So, to start with, I would like to talk about the different icons this tool is going to display while you're drawing. You have here a graphic with the 54 months you're gonna find along within affinity designer to the best of my knowledge. There is not an official name for them. And so I put these names like active, inactive clothes bath and so far in order to explain what they all do and mean. So I'm gonna pull these up, and I'm going to show you one by one what they mean. So the start with we're going to see the 1st 2 icons which in this list I called inactive or start, which is a little pencil with the next below it. And the active icon, which is naked, mental, with no symbol below its at the moment you can see this course or Otto on my compass. Now, the moment I activate the pencil, you're going to see the 1st 1 there. And it's exactly reflecting these very first icon, which at the moment I would call inactive because we still have no note, no point, no segment tracing or campus. The moment we start drawing it will change him into the active. And the moment we traced our second note, it will still reflect that she just started tracing. So I'm gonna show you here, actually, in this case now, meaning we start now, we're active. Were working on something we can click and the second league will trace a line between the two points. So I'm gonna click. And as you can see, we just half the start I can't display in the moment I moved the coarser. Now you will never see this. I can again until you start a new segment separated completely from this one. Okay, What you're gonna see, it's the active mode. So there we go. Active move. Not right now. And no trace whatsoever. Off the inactive or start, I come. We're going to see the 3rd 1 So we keep clicking here, for example, we trace this scarf. It could be also a straight line. Doesn't really matter in the moment. I want to close this shape. I gets close to this first note and you're going to see the close path icon which this place depend icon with a little circle below it. Honestly, this is the one I really pay more attention to all the rest. I just take for granted while drawing. It's just because I'm very just to them. I don't really need these visual cues, but this one has me very much to just know that in this case I'm really heating the right point to close my my shape. So I'm gonna play. And now I know this shape is completely closed. I'm gonna show you. If I fill it up with some color, it's completely grossed. Now let's come back to a drowning here and let's talk about the notes over or select Icon, which is this playing a pencil with a little Tash below it. So just take a look here as I approach this note in here and I hope were over its you can see Now the icon is telling me that I can select that 30 note. So I'm gonna click on it now I have it selected. Let's go. Just try with another one with a small note here exactly the same. We get the icon with a little dash and that is telling me that right now I can click and select and what I can do You just manipulated. Okay, Any off them for? Come here. See here because I'm creating cars. It gives me a small, smooth node. Say, for this one, we can manipulate it. We can change all shape. And I were going to see the coughs note, because now it is quite special because you're never gonna find it on top off any of the notes. But most likely you're gonna find it here over the handles, and you need to activate it by clicking out what this is going to do. East transform. You're no into a cost node. So I'm going to click on it while I press option or art the mic Ebert. And now us. I have it over the handle. I click my mouse. And as you can see, thes has been transformed into a sharp note. Let's start with this one, too. We take outs, we click on the 100. And again we have here. Of course, we have a sharp note and the same for this one. There you go. Okay, so now that you know the meaning off these five icons that you're gonna find as you go throwing within affinity designer let's learn 6. The Pen Tool Modes: So let's now talk about the pencil a little bit more in left, things you want to know in order to use it properly. So first off, just take a look here. I have a move to activated this area on top. It's where the contextual menu for every tool it's gonna be placed. Well, in the case of the move tool, we only see documents that up and preferences. But if I change to the pencil and I click here, you see, it absolutely changes to something very different. So this is what we call the context young men. You for each one off the tools the others were interested. Now, is this one here where the multiple the mental are displayed? Let's start seeing what each one of them mean by the fourth you're gonna see activated. Dependable, depend Mode is small s a free hand mold. It allows you to draw. Sure notes us well, us self notes. This is why I like to call it the Freehand mode because you can do victory, anything with it. And this is the one that I use the mosque and is the one that you probably were just the most let's get rid of this one is a pretty simple concept. How to use it. Now let's go for the 2nd 1 This is the smart mold. He probably rings a bell to you because we talked about smart notes before you're gonna see how it works. I think on the campus I get this smart notes we saw before. If I click here now, I get this straight line. I also have some hundreds. If I want to manipulated, I'm gonna click here, and it automatically is going to create this nice, smooth car for me. I didn't pull. I'm just clicking. Click again. I don't pull. I don't drag a click again and it again creates thes super smooth curve automatically. Basically, that's all you need to know by now. About face moat Smart mode. Let's get rid of this. Let's go for the next one, which is called the polygon mode. The political more is going to allow you only sharp notes. You can not make any kind. Of course, if I drug, you can see in moves this statement somewhere else, but I cannot create any soft note, so you're always going to have angles and straight lines. OK, that is for the polygon mold. It's going to get rid of this one, and we're going to see last the line mode, which is basically allowing you to create stand alone lines. And of course, you are not going to be able to close a shape here because this is just straight segments. You cannot even create any curves with it. Okay, this is very comfortable when you want to really create lots off straight lines first, which, if you're using their pen mode, wouldn't work like this because it's going to join them together. If you want to read the next line, you have to double click on the last note, then create the next one hour creek, then create the next one. So it's more comedian to use the land more if you just I want to create standalone lance. Okay, so before we complete this lesson, I would like to talk about a couple of ways to amend your errors, especially some beginner and also to speed up your workflow. We're going to see them all just yet, but we're going to see some 100 tips that will help you out while you're drawing. So imagine we have these little dot here. And what? Imagine it's smaller and you're drawing towards it. That's what you want to land your car, Your painting Now and for whatever the result, because you're begin I because it's just a narrower because there are human wherever you just click somewhere else. Oh, no, This is not what I wanted to go. How do I am? And this There are several ways to do these, But just to do it, fasten on the fly. Don't go off the last No. Do you traced Click the space bar and now you can move the last point you traced whatever you want. OK, so that's one off the 100 tapes. Really? Really. Just put. And the last thing I want to talk about is just how to constrain your lines into perfect Anglos by clicking shift. See, I have perfect angles here. Now, if I want 90 degrees, I just go black, so I want to. But if I move it to the sites, it's going to constrain into 45 increments. Okay, So like, this 90 now 45 45 45 45 90 again and so on. So with this within is this lesson. Let's see now a little bit more before we start with the exercises. 7. The Node Tool Icons: we're going to see the no tool which is very important as it works along with the pencil. And you really need it in order to draw. So the no tool it's positioned here in the sight of our and you can also activated by pressing a on your keyboard, we are going to talk about the different icons that you will see as you go working with it . Well, the 1st 1 is this one you can see and you will see it. Everything. You activate the notable. No, we're going to see the 2nd 1 which is the same cursor. But now it's black. I named it no tool, Khobar, Because if we are here and you take a look, we see the white arrow, and as we go over, it goes black. Now, the next one is the transform segment. And at new note with this, I call me whenever you see it. If you position your personal over a line or a segment, you're gonna see these little squiggle thing. Okay, That means you can now pool and drug so you can manipulate your segments, but also if you just put it over our line or a segment and you click. You are going to What? New notes? Now we have these two left. This one I called select notes. Well, clicking because just say you have the segment here and you want to select your notes what you can do one by one. But obviously you are going to select only one at a time. Well, with the modifier key shift meaning you present. Hold it. You can select several of them when you you can also skip the ones you don't it. Now this is going to be the same principle for the select notes. Thes one uses the modifier key control, meaning that if we have all these notes elected and right now, I want to just keep say, um, this one here and this one here, What I'm going to do is present hold control, and I'm going to go over the ones I don't want and I will keep there. Once I chose to keep basically, that's all the icons you will find for the no tool. Let's now stop with the ex assesses. That's a phone part 8. Start Working with the Pen Tool: So far, we've talked about different concepts, seekers, straight lines, parts, they icons for the known and mental. Let's stop throwing obits. First thing I'm going to show you is how to manipulate their handles. Okay with them before that, Once we have traced are segment in these cases full off, smooth notes and we want to manipulate the segments. We just come here, click on the no tool, and we can just manipulate them. OK, but that's not the case I want to talk about now. Just imagine. Let's activate the pencil by pressing B and let's say I'm drawing and the next one will be this one node and say, Now I want to manipulate this 100. If I played directly with a pencil, it's not possible Tool to war with handles. Okay, so now if I press a on my keyboard to activate the no to us, we just saw I can manipulate both off them. OK, so let's just imagine I want to be faster. Okay, So I'm with my pencil here, and I come here and I need to manipulate this note. Okay, So what I'm going to do instead of pressing a on my keeper, which is going to switch from the pencil to the natural. I'm just temporarily going to activate the no tool in order to be able to manipulate the handles. How do I do this when I come to make it about and press and hold command? As you can see now, the mental changes in tow the no till I come over my handle and I can manipulated just like I did before. But if I let go command I again get the better so I can keep drawing. That's a faster way to do so what now? If I instead off wanting just to manipulate both portions off the segment like I'm doing here, I just want to manipulate thesis year or that one here. So what I have to do now is, instead of just president holding command, I have to press and hold at the same time the either option key in such a way that you're gonna be able to see two things. One is that I'm just affecting one off them segments, one of the sites of the segments and the other. One thing is that this note is going to turn into a sharp note that before waas a soft note . Okay, let's go back there. And it's called two story Pete, so you can see better soft node. I present whole option and command at the same time. I manipulate any transforms into a sharp note. Okay, the same with this other side on the segment. If I come here and I want to manipulate, just decide. I'm gonna come over this handle, and I'm gonna just affect this one saying for all of the notes, okay, that that's the way we work. You see, sometimes these notes show both off the handles. Some things they just so one. If you just go over it, you gonna open, you're gonna be able to see both of them. OK, you click. Click on it. You see both of them. Okay. And now you can just manipulate one off them. Now, it be great if you follow along while we do. The next to exercise is really simple. Really fast, just with some parts. So follow me. The first thing we're going to do is we come here to view and we're going to click on show . Great. Okay. There's also this shark out which is command and Apostrophe key. Not sure how it's gold. So there's just legal now, okay? And then we get our great. So for these first exercise, I want to show you first off the anatomy of this curve. And we're gonna find here a couple of short notes and another one in the middle point and another one soft in both off the Empire and lower parts. So let's activate the pencil. And I won't like you to understand how the pen to lists behaving here. Okay, so the first thing I'm going to do is traced the first note which will correspond to this one here, and I click, and I'm gonna do nothing else. I'm not gonna pull up them the hundreds or anything like that. I'm just gonna click here on. I'm going to look for the middle point in this area, which would be moral, is here. And now I'm gonna pick shift, and I'm going to pull towards the sites you can see in here. I think this is a quite nice shape. And now you have to notice that once I click here, the pencil is going to automatically create exactly what I just did before, but nearer. Okay, so I click here and there you go. You have exactly the other side automatically created out off my proceeding segment. And that's the normal behavior when your notes are aligned. So I'm gonna get going. And now I'm going to trace the lower side. I proceed exactly the same way. Look for more or less than middle point in here I click and I drag. And at the same time, I press and hold the shift key. So it helps me to constrain my hundreds. And I'm going to look for a point that looks more less appropriate for this. I want to drop. I let go now Handsfree from my mouth or my keyboard. And now if I want to finish it, I read in here. And affinity Decider the pencil is going to understand that it needs to mirror exactly what I created for. So the next exercise I want you to practice is this one which is very similar to the one before. And if we look at the anatomy off the segment, you're going to see three notes. They are absolutely aligned with each other. So if I pull down a ruler here and I place it right there and I show you again the three notes you're going to see their aligned. So basically, this is what I want you to understand. Let's activate the pencil. And instead of creating exactly this one segment, we're gonna practice with another one we'd like here instead off down here, just taking for granted that this would be or the portion where we're going to trace with a pencil or first part off the segment. And let's click here just to align the second. Now we're gonna pull randomly whatever we want to someone like here. Now, when I click in here and I aligned the for note, what I'm going to get is exactly a mirror symmetrical same side off this segment. Just pulling towards down us, the 100 reserve telling us it's just predicting that. So we taken here. And as you can see, we have the second part created automatically. I didn't pull just affinity designer. The pen tool understood that this is what I wanted to create. Okay, so this is it for this lesson. Now I'm going to show you how to use handles the logic behind them 9. Understanding the Handles : So let's see how the handles work the logics behind them because they might look like they are mysterious, But it's pretty easy to understand. So let's trace here or for snowed and let's pull up. You see, I'm pulling first up, But even though I have to hundreds now, I'm going to trace my next note. Say, somewhere up here. And what pulling up first means is that this handle is the leading one is the one that is going to lead my next curve. And it doesn't matter if it go upwards or downwards. The path is always going to come first up. And then wherever I am is gonna look for me but always go in upwards. So if I first come here, my curve is gonna do something like so if I repeats ago outwards. But now I go somewhere here. This means my scarf is gonna do something like So I repeat, this is the leading humble because I came first up so it would go something like this. Now if I go, them works, we get the same principle. I may come up here, but my segment is gonna come first downwards and then it's going to look for what I want to guns. And I may just come down and still this is gonna come first here and then looking for what ? I want the same principle. If I more for centrally, I came first to the left. So it doesn't matter that I now come here. My girl is gonna be doing something like this. Find now, if I come to the rights, it's gonna be exactly the same. It doesn't matter where you go. It's always gonna come to the right first and then looking for me. The opening of the court will depend on what I learned because if I land somewhere here more separated from the original note, the curve will be more open. Say, like this boat. If I a land somewhere like here, the curve is gonna be more closed. And even if I position my lovely note in the same line, you will see a line. But actually these line goes first to the right and then to the left. You can see in here this looks like a line, but actually it's a curve. Okay, so that's basically what I would like you to understand about how to use the handle and direct them in order to get a result that will always be depending on where you have your leading humble, I would like you to do this exercise trying to guess what's gonna happen next. So, for example, if I just go like this and now I learned here, would you be able to guess what will be the outcome? I'm not saying you have to know exactly, but more or less. Well, now we know that it will come somewhere like here that this and then it will come looking for me. So you have it. The longer my, ah, humble is they're longer. This line before it comes down will be basically various it for this lesson. Please practice thes exercise that will help you to understand much better where you should position your handled once you're drawn with mental. However, in the next lessons, we will see some other ways to use the pencil in order not to be so dependent or so slave to the hunters, and it will make it much easier 10. Pen Tool Exercise #1: Draw a Circle: So now that we've seen that when we align several notes, we gets medical parts off the first time segments we trace, we're going to try and reproduce a perfect circle. Obviously, when you're drawing and you want ah, circle, you just come here to the side toolbar in and select the primitive Schaefer a circle and you just trace it. Okay, that's us as complex as it gets tracing a circle. But this is not about that. This is about learning how to use the pencil. So we're going to try and do exactly that. But with mental my hands. So the first thing I want to show you is that this circle has four different notes. And as we just learned the lesson before to off them our line and vertically, two of them are lying. So that's what we have to try and achieve. So let's get rid of these now, unless activate the pencil and the first thing you're gonna go well, of course, show you agreed and click one off the sun points like the one you prefer. Someone in the middle of your compass and the first difference we're going to see with their circle So before is that our first notice shot? It doesn't really matter. It's fine. Now we come here in the US, we pull, We're gonna have the 2nd 1 soft. You were ever worked the same. And I'm going to pull publican shift towards the sites to the limits off our main squares. Okay, now, as we saw before, if I just click here, I'm gonna get, uh, symmetrical mirror segments. And now the next one is going to be exactly the same port. Of course, I'm going to need to pull, because if I don't pull, I'm gonna get shrapnel to shut note. I'm gonna get a straight line, so I repeat shot note. Now I'm going to pull like I did here. So I creek pressing on holding Also shift towards the limits of the square and the last one I'm not gonna need to pull because we already have asked more snow towards a shot. No. And there we go. So now if we just make this figure, we're going to see that we have these almost perfect circle. Quite good at say, especially considering that well, I didn't quite quickly anyways, practices, exercise, practice the ones before. I understand that when you will, I know things are gonna get mirrored and symmetrical. And let's call to the next lesson where things are going to get much more fun. 11. Three Methods to Use the Pen Tool: Exercise #2: Draw a Heart: in this lesson, we will learn about the three methods that you can use in order to draw the shape. You can find these heart in the documents for these cars. This is an image, and the reason for that is that I wanted the notes to be always visible to do this exercise . So let's start by activating the pencil press P on your keyboard and let's start in an angle, which is always recommended because the first note is going to be sharp. So we click here and now the next know we're gonna be tracing is this one? So let's pool like So now this is the reason why I call these methods user. Hundreds. Remember, this is the leading Honda. Now the fact that this 100 is pointing down is telling us that or an excitement will be first going down and then looking for us wherever we position or pencil and we click the next node. Let's just see what happens if I do nothing about clicking here. You see, we have this gap in our path is really off the shape. Let's press common said to go back and let's now move it by pressing option and command or out Anchorman. And let's see two things. The first thing you're going to see is that this smooth note is gonna turn into a shop mode . And now let's just position it somewhere Here you may say, Okay, you say, Well, you have experience, you know where to place them all. This is something that you will get with experience and for sure. I don't always know where to place my hundreds. I just have to go and we'll make the best off my guests. But sometimes I just don't do it right. So let's see what happens when it position my handle here, and I freak on the next one. Okay, so it's pretty good. It's not bad, but let's say I'm not to experience and I really don't know where to put it. And I put it somewhere here, and I traced my next portion of the segment and this is what happened. Well, nothing is lost because if you press and hold command and move your handle now you see you can manipulated in order to position it where you want this one more thing. I want you to realize here, which will be of great help. Now take a look see here. See the handle that turning toe a purple dot Well, look at the note. Now it's transforming into a smooth note that will be happening when a curse notice nuts to a shapes key point 1,000,000 that now you have a super smooth car just as you wanted. It's a visual cue to help you while you're drawing. So now we proceed. We keep going, we click here we drop and now again, the same medium of your 100. Remember that this segment here in this segment here are symmetrical. So we just need to position they live in handle in the same position, asked the other one. So let's press option and command. Let's pull up, Let's position it, mirroring the one on the right and let's speak on the next note and we have a perfect symmetric a segment. Now for these one, we're going to leak and pull and again, same idea. These humble here and these under here because thes in these segment are symmetrical. We take a look here and we say, Okay, it goes up under here, which would be somewhere around here we get there, we move it pressing, optional common. We position it's somewhere there, and now we click and it's pretty good. Now it's obvious that this should be a smooth No, because this is our soft car. What can we do while exactly the same body before we present whole command and we're gonna be wanting to look four. That's key points that will give us a smooth, soft carving there. And that's basically what we I want to be doing. Some were like there. It's almost perfect, and we have these first methods. Let's see the 2nd 1 now. The second method is what I call get rid off those hundreds and it's pretty see to understand Duke, if we activate the pencil and we start in the same point here and we click, we start exactly what as we did before. Now, instead of using the handles, what we're gonna be doing is where we can either click on the note itself or Weiqing press option and click on the handle itself just to get rid of that 100. That will reset the pencil, meaning that now there is not a commanding handle telling the pentru to go upwards of Dahmer's. It's gonna be always a straight line until I drug and we have the next portion of the segment. And again get rid of the handle. Greek over the note. Next portion off the handle, Greek again and so forth. It might be much easier for beginners to use this method, but there is a little downside, which is if we get rid of the blueprint here, you're gonna see these areas here because they are sharp notes. Well, they are quite rough, but good news again. We have a wonderful tool, infinitely center that will help us. So what we're gonna be doing here now is soft. In these notes, you sing, This will hear the corner tool you can also press, see on your keeper that's activated and see how it works. It's wonderful. So you go over the note, the shop note and you drag in. What's now I drug in what's here? And now take a look at it. Look at this beauty. So this is the corner tool, one of my favorite tools ever. Infinity designer. And obviously you're only gonna be using it over shot notes. You will know that you do sit whenever you see a circle with ah square inside. So this is the square for the shot note and around you're gonna have this circle and it's always used pulling inwards as you saw or AdWords ask your Satan. It's for example, these one in words cannot be so I'm gonna be putting words in order to make this portion a little bit even softer. Yes, take a look at that wonderful heart. So let's see now the third method, which is what I call life. 10. Be easy. And I know it's a method that many people are because it allowed them toe, start drawing and yet get so many good things through these super simple method. So activate your pencil. Come here. Click your first note Second, third, fourth, 5th 6th and seven. Now we have these super angled shape like a proto heart. And now the only thing you have to do is press and whole command and modify. You're segments like thes Now you see, it was really fast and now again, we have the same as before. We have the shot notes we press see and we can really make thes much softer and the result is a super nice heart that's well looks from the stick. So there you go three methods to get the same drawing and what I hope now you feel like like you're hunter burning and 1 to 22 draw the world. Let's see the next lesson. 12. Pen & Node Tool Actions: so now that we have introduced both the pen and the no tools and now that we have seen that they share a big part off their protection menu for sure, not the not the mode, because this belongs to their pento bots. There sections for convert, which we already have seen action and snap our shirt. And while this lesson is just to talk about this second section, which is actions, and I'm going to show you how to work better with them together, applying all of them, let's go and see it and what I want to do for us. This I'm going to trace here this curve and you're going to see here that we have for notes . I'm going to select the no tool because I want to talk about several things that you're gonna need in order to just, you know, throw better and manipulated all your notes and your segments say, for example, raises finished throwing this curve. And I'm of course with a pencil here, and I select this note and I want to activate the first action, which is break the curve and I click here and now I say, OK, I need to know if this actually worked. Okay, so what we do is we press command, See now how it changes from the pencil to the notable. Just temporarily, and I click on the note and I just test if it really worked. And it did so this is for the first action. Let's see now, the 2nd 1 which is close scarf. So we select one of the curves and what is going to do is close it within itself. It's going to join the last in the first note and close this gulf. Let's see how it works, just clicking on it and you so you can see it, closed it and basically well, that's it. Not a big mystery. Also, for these one, we're not going to see the next one would use a smooth car. What? I'm going to draw anyone because this is not the best one. So say have the's pretty smooth, Korbel it say, because it's full of most notes and I got here and I say smoke or what is going to do is adding new soft or smooth notes to my segment to my curve in such a way that it will result in a smoother curve. So just check a site, Click on smooth Howie. That's new notes. And as you can see now, this is full off little, um, soft notes. The truth is that it didn't change anything on the car other than just because it has more smooth notes. Now you're gonna be able to justice moving it by manipulating them. So let's see the next one which is joined curves. Okay, so remember that we broke a car before just by breaking it like this. Okay, let's see what happens when we click on joint cars. When you saw it, it just created this straight line in here. I'm going to repeat it, OK? You obviously have to have them both selected. You click on joined curves and they just joined together. Okay. And last, this one, which is reverse curves. Well, what is going to do is is going to change the last note from the last two. The first is going to reverse. So see here that we have both off the red last notes in each of the cars we click on reverse curves and now we have them here. And as we know by now, this contraction menu is shared by Penn and no tools 13. Pen Tool Exercise #3: Draw a Letter: So far, we've seen how to draw some simple shapes such as circles or hot. Now for this. Listen, I would like to get things a little bit more complicated and we're gonna be drawing the G. I will show you debates, and I would like you to follow on more or less doing what I do. But also, I would like you to know that there is not just one single way to do things. And in a bit I'm sure you will find your own way to just solve your issues and the problems , while tracing depend too. So let's see it. So before we start, one more important thing to ask you is to turn off your snapping in these two areas here, just make sure every button is off. So, as I said before, you can use, uh, the great if you want or not gonna be activating it all the time here in this exercise under opera sets. And I'm gonna assume in to get closer to this area. And as I said before, it's always better to start things. If you have some straight and goes, it's always better to start there with a sharp note. I'm going now to press the shift key too. So you see here I'm constraining this line, so it's perfectly straits. Okay, Just try to make sure you have our color, such as this one I have here red and maybe a bit of a thicker a stroke so you can make sure that you really see what you're doing. OK, that would make things much easier. I'm going to oppress number six, for example, in my in my keyboard. And if you take a look here in this area, if I press six, I'm gonna get a 60% capacity, which will allow me to see through. And this way will be much. Is there for me toe to see what I'm doing. If I'm, I'm going to write. You don't need to make this stroke stick a some doing it. Maybe just with two points, it's more than enough. Well, I mean, it's just for you. I'm doing it like this is just for you to be much easier to follow and to see what I'm doing. Okay, so the next thing I'm going to do is trace in this car fear. Okay, which would be somewhere. Like here. Yeah, I'm going to leave their my journal. And now I have several possibilities. We can either get rid off this and transforming these into a sharp note far away and by clicking and dragging like so Or we can just make their prediction with handles, which would be person aren't in command of our option on commands. You can move it. We so before somewhere here and say OK, am I supposed to be heading somewhere here? So I'm just click here. And as you can see, it's just the perfect prediction. But it did. I would take care of this little shrapnel later because he said it's a bit sharp. Okay, Now I'm going to some out a beads just to get going. And now I'm going to activate my great. What I want to do is find in this crescent here. Okay? This area here in this area here are symmetrical. So what I want to do here is fine. More or less the middle points, which would be somewhere around here, probably How can get rid off, feels great again. And I'm going to click and drop back. So I'm going toe press the shift key to constrain my Han does. Okay. And now just look at the ruler. Here, See this visual cue? Okay, So if I come down here and I want to align this note down here with another note or that I have to do is look in here just for a win. That ruler there. And somewhere around here, it should be the right point. It's not perfect. Gonna try again, Okay, The more accurate it iss, the better resold you will get, obviously, so go like that bit better now, I cannot just by pressing command, moving this later bits where goods let's keep going is the same one for these, and they know that corresponds here. So let's look for the ruler up there and predicted what I'm gonna have to actually pull because it is sharp note. And I'm going to generate another shop note until I drug. I still want them aligned. So I break here, drug something like this. Okay. And now I have my handle heading here. I think it's quite of a good position in order to try and let's see what happens here. It's perfect. Okay. So she could see here. These two are absolutely hurry. Santa makes sense that the trajectory is being predicted. Quite a curently. Okay, so I'm gonna sue me again where it's not perfect. But obviously now press command, and I just adjust it a bit more. Now that I'm closer, I can see some off the little errors again. I press shift. Not productive at the mental. I have to get rid off these now to turn this into arm cost node shot node. Now I press shift and 1/2 this perfect straight line now, like I'm here and obviously I also press shift. Course I'm gonna make it. It's smaller, as you can see, a five press shift have see the line here. Perfect. A straight line. So we click, we make one more. One more, one more. Brady sees you here. Now, if you look closer, you're gonna see this. That thesis knows are not perfectly line. So I breast a I select both off the notes and I put down a bit. Now they're perfectly and I aligned and I can keep working a click on the last night to make sure it's joint to them. Next segment trace and my best bet is going to be tracing this a straight line by president holding shift on the keyboard like so just before the next curve begins. So going my next guest is going to be coming somewhere like here to make this too aligned. And again, I use a visual cue up here more or less understand. But I have to position the next node and I'm going to click and drug like thes Perfect. Okay, now I'm going to try and predict is good that you use both of the methods. This may be a little bit harder to use the beginning board. It's highly recommended that you understand the logics off the pencil. So pressing option in command. I move somewhere like here. This is pure intuition. Is not that I know exactly what's going too long, but my experience tells me that this handle has to be kind of short, not us. Long as there's one, because what I want to do is just constrained my car somewhere here. So I'm gonna try and maybe even shorter somewhere they're going to try toe toe aligned is no with the next one, and I just look, there and it's knocked about somewhere there just for you to see. Let's just position it here and see what happens. Okay, so it is too much of a gap here because thesis handle still images to go all around this way and then start there coming up. So doesn't what I want. Let's just received more clear for it here, and it's gonna go upwards a beautifully if I put it like that is gonna be absolutely That works. Okay, so again, it's just put it in the middle point and try, even if I drug is not gonna be perfect. So my experience and your experience after trying several times, it's going to tell you that this handle has to be pretty short and the direction has to come down words, but not too much. So just leave it tension, toe the edge of the letter and come here. And just by pulling a bit you more or less have it's and you can just perfection it by using the modifier kiss. Let's keep going. If you want to try now you're the method which is getting rid off the handle. Now let's try imprecision these in a way that's it's a line with the other note. Okay, I'm gonna breast Altan command going to make thesis symmetrical toe that one. So these humble and this handle have to be pretty similar. So let's go. Not perfect. Gonna try a bit longer. Almost there. I modified obits. Next one, which is by pulling. Now I'm going to get rid of this one. I just go like a change in both methods. And then I would refine it as I show you with the wonderful corner tool, which is something that you at the beginning, she trying to abuse using because I want you to just do things asses perfect as you can. But after some point, when you control it, why not now? Obviously, if I per se on the keyboard and quicker my letter and I see some off the sharp notes that are not perfect, I can use that method I told you about the corner tool. So you go over the notes and drug in order to make them soft in Wharton outwards. Okay. Just trying to, um, perfection. Then how do you mind that there, for example, in this case, in this case, this is not getting much better. So you will have to use the handles in order to women this car from make it looks smooth. So now we just with the color and 100% capacity, get it read off the stroke and we compare our nice G We've the original one and I can say with it a pretty good job. 14. Snapping: in the preface lesson. We've seen how to trace the SG with a pencil. If you remember at the very beginning of the lesson, I ask you to please switch off the snapping this area here and also the seder here. Now, I would like to walk you through a beads how it can help you the place. Here's this once you already know how to control a bit the Penton. Otherwise, instead of helping you, it may cost more trouble than anything. So the first thing is to I understand that the global snapping, which is this area here, is not exactly the same as they're snapping contextual many for the mental. And this is the one we're gonna be seen here. So we're gonna be talking about the first icon allowing to note of selected curves. I'm gonna be going it, and right away you can see we have this little notes on our G and also you can see here this visit You look at the ruler up there. That line we saw before, now it's green. This is for the vertical guides. These guys are called dynamic guards. Now if I approach to the edge off the letter, you're going to see two things more. You're gonna see the horizontal dynamic guide, which is in direct and the middle points where they meets both off them the vertical in the holy sometime, which is gonna be displaying general dots. So how can these help us? The first icon this if a farm drawing with a pencil, I'm gonna draw somewhere else. And I'm placing my notes. As you can see here, this is telling me that I'm exactly in horizontal line. If I moved down, this is going to be aligning with the rest of the notes that I have on my campus. Okay, so it's always for horizontal align notes right now if I come a little bit to the left now , this no, them to tracing. Here is this leak. It's also lined vertically. It is not a near then. In this way, this system is displaying the vertical dynamic guy and so on. Whatever the two lines green and red meats, you're gonna get the yellow dots. Gonna get rid of this is going to show you beats how these works while withdrawing So first thing, I'm going to click here, and I'm going to click here. You can see perfectly that they are horizontal. Great dynamic guide. Basically, that's what you want to know about this 1st 1 which is to align your notes, okay, in horizontal. Now we're gonna go for the 2nd 1 is not to geometry off selected cars. Well, it's pretty self explanatory. If I click on this and I come over, you see how this is to snapping to the curve. If I now select my letter and go back to the pen tool, you're going to see how my planter is absolutely snapping to the edges off my letter. Okay, so this is what the second icon will do for you. Now, let's see the third option, which is snapped. All selective knows when drugging. The first thing you need to know is that this option only works when either the first or the second icons are active in the map person. You're gonna see a ghost it when these two are activated. But I don't think it's the same for the Windows option, which will always show you the icon in the normal way with colors. But this is just now you are problems. So Probably this will be fixed in the future, so it's consistent with a Mac person. Anyways, let's say, Well, let's just activate the 1st 1 to be ableto combine it with these options. Snap or selector knows when drawing and let's draw a curve. No, If I select this note, you can see that I can. I'm gonna do the same with the second note, I select it and I come here and I was not big. That's a normal weight. I go back and now I select both of them and I want does not be here. It gets is not and the same four my sickle not selected. I can snap it. And so I can work with all their snapping guides perfectly. But say I have these deactivated. What happens? I have to note selected. But just one of them is going to be It's not namely the 1st 1 you selected. Okay, so this is working in such a way that the targets node will be snapping all off your selected notes and other last one which is snapped off, carve hundreds. So we played in it. And as we move or hundreds, you're going to see how they snap when you have this option picked. So basically what it's doing, it's not be notes and handles in a way that will help you to position them exactly where you want. Like for example, right now, what I did is creating a perfect straight line. My parts would be no these options And as you go working your find very many situations where they can help you out. Working with the notes, I consider this snapping something that is really useful once you really know how to use the pen tool. And once you're working your projects and all of a sudden family something snap, since I O, yeah, I need to snap into is gonna help me out. I wanna overwhelm you with this options. It's for me more important than you learn how to use the mental. But also knowing these options will come are really handy to you in the long term. So now what I would like to do is I'm going to activate all of them, and I'm going to go over them G quickly. So you see how these snapping options help me in practice, So I'm gonna do this quickly, so it doesn't take forever just for you to see what's going on. So, first horizontal que great dynamic guide. Okay, now I'm gonna go somewhere here, Doc. Now, if I click here on behalf these two notes perfectly not this to note all these notes See here they're all aligned. Okay, so I click here and I also pull. I hear a bid to still move eight freakin out and command in my keyboard. No, of these one year, I come somewhere in the middle drug he here. Now, I want this one aligned with the bottom side of my G. Okay, So somewhere here, I need to pull a bait here in order to make it better. Remember pressing and holding out And commanders we saw another lessons. Now the same procedure for these one year, and I pull. So I said, I'm doing it fast. Would you get the idea saying for all these notes now you just have to all of it full of it . Here, here. And so you go using that. You see your cues that going to help you getting getting your notes and right away see horizontal perfect on again. Pool and drug and so forth. I'm not gonna get going. I think you see the idea. And I hope you make the best out off snapping in order to help you when you're drawn with a pencil. 15. Final Exercise: Part 1: So finally we arrived to the last and most exciting exercise off them all. And you are going to be droving together with me. These little folks, it's full of curves and cereals. So that's the challenge to get you controlling the pencil with all their methods I gave you so far, I'm gonna make visible in the screen all the keys modifies I press as I go alone. So it's easy for you to follow. You have to know that this is a symmetrical shape, so we won't be true in the hole. We don't need to do so. We just need to draw one of the halfs and then copy paste it and mirror it through this transform tool. And that way we will get the whole thing. So let's start First I press that on my keyboard in order to assume and get closer. So it would be much is you have to work like this. So we started to say, you're here and let's go under here. And my next move is gonna be somewhere like here. No, I'm gonna move. Maybe something a little bit stumble like here. I can now modify it through command now I keep going. I'm gonna assuming a bit more. So I go something, like, probably like this now, Like this. Now I'm going to move Pressing command. My last note. Always soft on these presidency and making it softer with their corn. It'll back to be last note a recon it. Now I'm going to poor. I would move this one to adjust it. Pressing on command Also for the note to reposition it. No, I'm gonna have to get rid off this under, because if I don't, I'm gonna make it go downwards and then upwards. So I get rid of the 100 I click here now by clicking a I'm gonna make it a good don't assume out of beads. But to be now I'm gonna make thes carving here so something like this. Perfect. Now I'm going to get going somewhere here because I didn't let go. I'm gonna press the space bar in position my node in the right position. Now I pressed option on command and modify these little bits. Now I have to get rid of this under or by pressing command and option moving like this in the direction we let go to go back to the mental. I don't really like it. It's not very accurate. So I'm gonna come and set to go back. I'm gonna get rid off the handle, and I'm going to reset the mental. And now I have a much better. So what I have so far is thes first part off this drawing, and I think it looks pretty well. So now we're gonna get going with these area here. Just make sure in your layers panel here on top, because if you start drawing here, you will get you're drawing under the blueprint. Okay? So make sure you're up on top and let's go for the Zetia. I swim in back to be, and let's use that super easy method for these a DEA and until here, now toe temporarily activate. They know, tool. I press command and start and in my lions. Now, I don't need to click back on me because it was just a temporary use off them not to. So I keep going like this, like this, Like this. Like this, Like this, You can see I'm gonna be drawing these really fast. No command again. No tool. I proceed bend in my segments. If I need later to tweak anything else, I will do so by moving these notes also with command pressed and manipulating. My handle's always with command pressed, and this is us difficult us. It's get in this exercise. I think it's pretty easy to follow alone. And if it's not place, ask me whatever you need in order to complete it. The rest of it I am going to time lapse because I don't want this to be attorney. And I think you have all the keys to now be able to complete. I'm going to maybe do this area here just to use. This is what I said before. You need to make sure that you're a bulb in the layer spanner about all the objects and layers so you can see what you're drawing. Now I can read off the handle. I get rid of the 100 just to remind you off this other method. Get rid of the 100 get rid of and the and so forth. Well, now, as I said, I'm going to time lapse the rest because I don't want this to be eternal. But please ask me whatever your doubts or if you're struggling with any off the steps as you complete this exercise because not only I will be super happy to help you out with it. I want to see what you're doing. Be this exercise beat whatever you decided that you wanted to create as final exercise. So please show me show the community and let's do this together. Okay, Now, let's finish this. 16. Final Exercise: Part 2 (Time-lapse): 17. Conclusion & See You Soon!: Okay, So that was it for these girls. I hope now you have a much better understanding and control of the pencil. I would like to ask you to share any doubt you have and also to share your work your exercises. Because that way, you're gonna learn much, much faster. I can help you. Don't be shy. I'm here. I'm very accessible. Just ask me whatever. And basically, Well, the whole purpose is just to get better and better together. Another thing I would like to tell you is that when I started working with actors and some 20 years ago, So, yeah, when I started, I had to do it the hard way because, you know, I didn't have this opportunity. Self loving platforms, things like that have to do it just the highway. And what I want to tell you is that now you're gonna go like a rocket because you know I'm here, So just ask me and just go ahead and just be positive, because you can get where I am. I just That's a promise. I would like to show you some of the work ideo and just tell you that you can get there and basically, that's it. Now, please make sure that you follow me. If you want to learn all these things I can teach you. And if you want to be up to date But I'm launching my next curse because that's the good part, Boss. I'm gonna show you everything I know now. Thank you very much for taking these cars. I really appreciate it. Thank you very much for making a great and see you in the next one. Why?