With the Pen Tool, you can click an open anchor point, and the pen icon adds a line to it, and then click on that point, and then on the point, you want to connect to and close the path when you see the O near the pen. Refer to Figure 7-15.
Figure 7-15. Join two points in for a closed path or connect two open paths with the Pen Tool
Or if you are joining two open paths but not closing a path, you will see a pen cursor icon connection point between the two points. Refer to Figure 7-15.
Tip Use your zoom key commands (Ctrl/CMD ++ and Ctrl/CMD+ -) and Hand tool (spacebar) when you need to navigate while using the Pen Tool so you don’t deselect the path while you work.
Add Anchor Point Tool (+) Review
Likewise, as in Photoshop, with Illustrator, points can be added to a path with the Add Anchor Point Tool. This is useful when you need to edit or correct part of the path. Refer to Figure 7-16.
Figure 7-16. Toolbars panel Add Anchor Point Tool
Once your path is complete, to edit further, use this tool to click somewhere on the path to add a new anchor point. Refer to Figure 7-17.
Figure 7-17. Add a point with the Add Anchor Point Tool
Note If you do not want to switch tools, you can also use the Pen Tool and hover over part of a selected path with the pen cursor, and a plus symbol is added, then just click to add a point. We looked at how to select paths and shapes earlier, see the section “Moving and Selecting your Shapes on the Artboard” in Chapter 6.
If you click a point and not a path, you may get the following warning message. In this case, click OK and use your Zoom tool if you need to get closer to the path before using the Add Anchor Point Tool. Refer to Figure 7-18.
Figure 7-18. When you click another point with the Add Anchor Point Tool, you will get a warning message to add the point to a segment of a path