Draw shapes with the Pen tool

The Pen tool is the classic vector drawing tool — it lets you precisely draw vector shapes and paths by manually adding anchor points, either sharp or smooth. The curved or straight lines that connect the two anchor points are called vector paths. Even the most complex of shapes are composed of these paths. In Pixelmator Pro, using the Pen and Freeform Pen tools, you can draw vector paths to create your own shapes and save them to your shapes library.

Smooth anchor points feature additional direction handles. You can move them to adjust how much the path curves at the selected anchor point.

A vector path can be closed, which means it has no beginning or end (like a square or circle shape) or it can be open, in which case it is a line with a beginning and end point.

Draw a straight line segment with the Pen tool

To draw a straight line segment with the Pen tool:

1. Choose the Pen tool by doing any of the following:

   • Click the Pen tool in the Tools sidebar or choose it from the grouped tools.
   • Choose Tools > Draw > Pen from the Tools menu at the top of your screen.

   • Press the P key on your keyboard (selects the last used Pen tool).

2. Click (don’t drag) anywhere in your image to begin drawing the line.

3. Click anywhere else in your image to add another anchor point and create a straight-line segment. The last anchor point you added will be solid red, while any points you added previously will be outlined in red.

1. Continue clicking to add additional straight segments to your path.

2. To finish the path and leave it open, do any of the following:

   • Press the Return ↵ key on your keyboard.

   • Press Esc on your keyboard.

   • Control ⌃ – click the image and choose Finish Drawing.

   • Add the final point by double-clicking instead of single-clicking.

3. To finish the path and close it to create a shape, do any of the following:

   • Press Shift ⇧ + Return ↵

   • Click the first point you added.

   • Control ⌃ – click the image and choose Close Path.

💡 Tip: If you’d like to delete the anchor point you last added, press the Backspace ⌫ key on your keyboard.

After you draw a vector path, you can further refine, remove, or add anchor points. To learn more about this, see Edit vector paths.

Draw a curved line segment with the Pen tool

To draw a curved line segment with the Pen tool:

1. Choose the Pen tool by doing any of the following:

   • Click the Pen tool in the Tools sidebar or choose it from the grouped tools.
   • Choose Tools > Draw > Pen from the Tools menu at the top of your screen)

   • Press the P key on your keyboard (selects the last used Pen tool).

2. Drag anywhere in your image to begin drawing the line, release the mouse to finish customizing the first anchor point. Where you first press and hold the mouse will determine the location of the anchor point, where you release the mouse will determine the location of the anchor point’s direction line.

3. Drag anywhere else in your image to add another smooth anchor point and adjust its direction lines. The last anchor point you added will be solid red, while any points you added previously will be outlined in red.

💡 Tip: To adjust the direction lines after adding an anchor point, Command ⌘ – drag one of the direction handles.

1. Continue dragging to add additional curved segments to your path.

2. To finish the path and leave it open, do any of the following:

   • Press the Return ↵ key on your keyboard.

   • Press Esc on your keyboard.

   • Control ⌃ – click the image and choose Finish Drawing.

   • Add the final point by double-clicking instead of single-clicking.

3. To finish the path and close it to create a shape, do any of the following:

   • Press Shift ⇧ + Return ↵

   • Click the first point you added.

   • Control ⌃ – click the image and choose Close Path.

💡 Tip: If you’d like to delete the last anchor point you added, press the Backspace ⌫ key on your keyboard.

After you draw a vector path, you can further refine, remove, or add anchor points. To learn more about this, see Edit vector paths.