What’s the Point?

CATEGORIES: Design Tip of the Day, Illustrator | Jeff Witchel | July 03, 2007

Even though Illustrator CS3 has only been out a short time, I already got my first call with a question from a former student. He said, “I’m having a problem with CS3. As I move my Direct Selection tool (A) over unselected objects in my design, these little squares keep popping up. What are they about? I thought it might have something to do with Smart Guides, but turning them off (View > Smart Guides) did nothing to stop these pop-up squares.”

I answered, “This is not a problem at all. It’s a new Direct Selection tool feature in Illustrator CS3. As you roll over an anchor point in an unselected path, a little square pops up to let you know your mouse is over an anchor point. This makes it a lot easier to select an individual point in an unselected path. If you’d like to turn this feature off (and I’m not sure why anyone would), go to your Application menu (Edit on PC) > Preferences > ‘Selection and Anchor display’ and uncheck ‘Highlight anchors on mouse over’.”

Tip provided by Jeff Witchel, Certified Adobe® Training Provider.

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