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Distort selected paths with the Reshape Area tool

The Reshape tool pulls the area of all selected paths within the outer circle of the reshape area pointer.


The pointer's inner circle is the boundary of the tool at full strength. The area between the inner and outer circles reshapes paths at less than full strength. The pointer's outer circle determines the gravitational pull of the pointer. You can set its strength.

Note: The Reshape Area tool also responds to pressure from a Wacom or other compatible tablet.

  1. From the Freeform tool pop-up menu, select the Reshape Area tool.

  2. Drag across the paths to redraw them.

Change the size of the reshape area pointer

 Do one of the following:

  • While holding down the mouse button, press the Right Arrow key or the 2 key to increase the width of the pointer.

  • While holding down the mouse button, press the Left Arrow key or the 1 key to decrease the width of the pointer.

  • To set the size of the pointer (in pixels) and set the length of the path segment that it affects, deselect all objects in the document, and then enter a value from 1 to 500 in the Size box of the Property inspector.

Set the strength of the inner circle of the reshape area pointer

 In the Strength box of the Property inspector, enter a value from 1 to 100 to specify the percentage of the pointer's potential strength. The higher the percentage, the greater the strength.