– Direct selection tool allows you to select individual points. I believe you can turn off selecting object by the fill in the prefs. Regardless, when you select with the Selection tool, all points are selected; when you select with the direct selections tool, you can move the object, yet the individual points are not selected. This way, you can interact with the object and also tweak the points individually.

When I’ve selected an item, why can’t I just click on a point to edit that point, overriding the move command? I’ve watched a few training vids at http://www.lynda.com and the pros are always ‘clicking away’ watch the AI training demos and see how they stumble and Ctrl-Z – I’ve just made Ctrl-D the deselect keystroke.

– This is what the direct selection tool is for.

Why can I not add a point to a path (or how do I)?

– The pen tool will have a small plus sign added to the cursor when over a selected path, you can add a point this way. Remove points similarly with the pen tool and the minus sign when over an existing point.

Is there a way of changing a point from curve to corner to smooth?

– Hold down the option key when using the pen tool to get the point convert tool; this can also be selected from the pen tool sub-tools flyout.

Why is “Path” not a menu option when you right click on a path?

– Not sure what you are trying to do here.

While I agree with a good portion of Freehand to Illustrator gripes, a lot of what you bring up here seems more the result of not going through the manual throughly. Obviously, Illustrator is not the same software as Freehand, and there are going to be differences and similar tools and functions that are accessed/used differently. Much of what you bring up is covered in the Illustrator manual.

(This is what I sent out yesterday May 1st after receiving an AIGA Adobe User Group sneaky invitation for May 2nd!)

None…

In the past Adobe have done a fantastic job of taking a good, but out the way product and making it better – like FrameMaker. What happened this time?

Selection tool: Why would I want the selection tool and direct selection tool to do the same job when I click on the whole item?

When I’ve selected an item, why can’t I just click on a point to edit that point, overriding the move command? I’ve watched a few training vids at http://www.lynda.com and the pros are always ‘clicking away’ watch the AI training demos and see how they stumble and Ctrl-Z – I’ve just made Ctrl-D the deselect keystroke.

Why can I not add a point to a path (or how do I)?

Is there a way of changing a point from curve to corner to smooth?

Why is “Path” not a menu option when you right click on a path?

Why do I feel compelled to comment on a forum, rather than using AI and doing the work I’ve been asked to do?

Thanks and keep it up!

I’m not that bothered by Illustrator’s layers palette, but then again I have been using it for much longer than you guys. I think the trick is to build with the layers palette in mind – the endless sublayers effect you mention really only pops up when you expose sublayers for a layer that has *all* your objects.

I normally build up an object composed of many layers, even for a single character (head, torso, arms, legs, background, shading, highlights, etc.) and especially for many objects/characters/elements. I rarely use the actual sublayers save for when I want to create a clipping mask for an object.

Any time sublayers start getting out of hand, just group the object and it will collect them all into a group sublayer (which has it’s *own* sublayers!). Usually

Personally I wish the layers had folders as they do in Photoshop. Sublayers are fine as well, but layer folders in addition would be better, even if it’s just a graphical change.

I, too, find the Illustrator layers palette frustrating. It’s just an overload of information. Freehand’s layer palette was far from perfect but it was functional. I find Illustrator’s layers palette to works fine if I never have to work down into the sublayers. If I do I’m lost in the thousands of listings with no way to figure what separates each sublayer from its neighbor.

I think the idea of sublayers is interesting and probably works well with simpler files. I think for more complex files that Freehand’s Graphic Find & Replace would be an invaluable tool. It’s a much more powerful and easier way to interact with the individual pieces of a file.

And then the drill-down selection — as in InDesign as you write — would be a great complement.

I am curious how Freehand managed layers (or the equivalent) as opposed to Illustrator. Perhaps I’ve just been conditioned from years of use, but I don’t really find the layers palette frustrating (usually). In fact, I find Photoshop’s layers way more unintuitive, but that could be because I spend more time in AI.

I do agree that AI needs to implement the object selection methods from InDesign CS3 (command-click selects successive objects under the mouse pointer).

And @endekks – check out the AI plugin ‘Zoom To Selection’ to zoom in/out on selected objects.