More advanced 'Add Anchor Points' function: selected segments only, number of points added, hotkey, etc.
'Add Anchor Points' is quite archaic at the moment. My requests:
1. Allow to apply to selected parts of paths, instead of the complete path.
2. Add a dialog to set the number of subdivisions / points added per segment.
3. Allow to assign it to a keyboard shortcut
4. When adding to a curved segment, the new anchor points should be smooth, not broken.
Jan Vork
shared this idea
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Fe, a great point.
The thing which needs to be specified though, is that Ai allows to select segments without actually selecting points at all, and this should work for this case as well, along with a selection of more than two points, like two edges of the square, instead of one on the screenshot.
So far we have several workarounds for this:
1. Cut and paste the selection, use Object > Path > Add Anchor Points only for this piece, select both the original and the cut portion and Join them back. If you isolate your shape first, it’d be easier to select both with a simple Select All command.
2. Use a third-party paid tool, PathScribe form Astute Graphics, which is already able to do this and more.
There are some other solutions, like free scripts, but these are al workarounds.
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Fe Almeida commented
Hi Illustrator Dev,
how about adding an option to subdivide a segment between two points.The menu button "add anchor points" subdivides all object, adding unnecessary points.
See my screenshot
Thanks -
Voted.
So far we can use a paid PathScribe plugin from AstuteGraphics bundle, which allows to do all of these and even more: choose between equal or bezier spacing and set a distance between points rather than a number. -
Jan Vork
commented
1. When adding to a curved segment, the new anchor points should be smooth, not broken.
2. Add a function to define the number of points added per segment.
3. Let the function work on a selected segment (it now always picks the complete path, adding points to all segments).
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Alexander
commented
Totally agree. I have made an illustration of how it could work. It would a little bit similar to the blend tool.
https://youtu.be/WRu5b18DiiUToday, the "Add Anchor Points" function only gives us the option to add one new anchor point between two already existing ones, which is not so very useful in some cases. For example, if you would like to make a circular process bar, you cant get 100 paths by using the existing tool.
The new function would also potentially remove the already existing anchor points and replace these with a curve between two new anchor points.
However, I do think it will be necessary to have an option that the user should be able to keep anchor points with a sharp angle since the shape of the object will change otherwise.
