Add a way to quickly access Smart Delete Point command
The way the deleting of a point with a curvature kept works now is pretty hidden and unannounced. I see nothing about this in Help (https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/editing-paths.html). There is no hint in the Current Tool field at the bottom of the screen, no cursor feedback, no label, no nothing.
I do now remember exactly where I learnt about it though. Anubhav Rohatg told about it in a session with Taniya Vij (https://youtu.be/odch54arInA?t=944), saying that they have no time to polish it (and more than a year after it’s still not), and this 'principal scientist' basically intended this feature to be an aster egg. Indeed, the knowledge about it is passed from mouth to mouth basically, and some users are not aware of it and have no chance to learn it in-app (I even tried Discover).
The tool should not be an easter egg. It should be accessible and used.
Consider adding Alt+Shift modifier for Pen, a dedicated menu command and proper hints. I have a larger article about reasons behind this, but the request does not exactly need it :)
AdminEgor Chistyakov
(Admin, Adobe Illustrator)
shared this idea
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Vladimir Miroshnikov commented
Also, it's kind of strange that the destructive behavior of deleting a point (the one which distorts the path) is set by default, while the most natural (less- to none-destructive) way of deleting a point should be accessed with a (badly documented) modification key.