BetterHandles logo

BetterHandles for Mac

By Nineblock Software Free to try

Developer's Description

BetterHandles is a plug-in for Adobe Illustrator that combines a tool and palette to make working with Bezier curve handles easier and more powerful:

  • Select multiple handles, and collectively move, extend, rotate, or retract them
  • Extend or retract handles without changing their angles
  • Copy and paste handles
  • Edit points numerically: anchor, in handle, out handle
  • Convert multiple points from corner to smooth or vice versa
  • Automatically extend new handles on multiple points
  • Intuitively reshape path segments, optionally constraining handle directions
  • Use slow-drag to divide the cursor movement for extremely precise moves
  • Equalize a point's handles
  • Add points to multiple curves at their horizontal and/or vertical tangencies
  • Split multiple paths at one or more points
  • Close multiple open paths, retaining endpoint handles or not
  • Remove one or more points, keeping the curve as close to the original as possible
  • Work with connector points (transitions between straight and curved segments)
  • Remove all redundant points on multiple paths
  • Snap to handles, points, or paths clearly and easily — without having to use Smart Guides
  • And more!

Full Specifications

What's new in version 1.4

  • Now fully compatible with Illustrator CS5 on both platforms
  • New feature: Smart Remove points will attempt to keep the shape of the curve as close as possible to the original after removing one or more points from the path
  • New feature: You can now add automatically add points to the currently selected path(s) at their horizontal and vertical tangencies
  • New feature: Connector points (points between straight segments and curved segments) can be recognized and their handles automatically kept in alignment
  • New feature: You can now automatically close all selected open paths, optionally honoring any existing endpoint handles
  • Improvement: With Smart Guides off, the snap radius for anchor points and handles now matches the value set in Illustrator Preferences > Selection & Anchor Display > Selection > Tolerance
  • Improvement: After entering a new value in one of the single point fields on the palette, the tab key will automatically highlight the next field
  • Improvement: When hovering over a path with the snapping ring enabled, a small arrow shows you the path's direction
  • Improvement: The annotation text next to the red snapping ring now ghosts the background for better visibility
  • Improvement: You can now use smaller, boxed-style annotation text
  • Improvement: You can Command/Ctrl-click on the "Set Length" button (in Multi-Handle Mode) to remove the handles (make them length zero)
  • Improvement: In CS3 and higher, the right bracket key is a shortcut for Smart Remove points (when anchor points are selected) or retracting handles (in Multi-Handle Mode)
  • Improvement: A selection change with the BetterHandles tool no longer counts as an Undo
  • Improvement: When dragging a point, both handles on adjacent points are shown instead of just the handles nearest the point
  • Improvement: When mousing down on an unselected point or path, or adding a point to any path, the surrounding handles immediately become visible
  • Improvement: A button now lets you select the first point of a path when none, or more than one, of its points are selected
  • Improvement: When adding a point to a path, you can highlight and snap to the path's horizontal, vertical or diagonal tangencies
  • Improvement: When docked and collapsed, the BetterHandles palette now displays a custom icon
  • Improvement: When reporting selected path types, single-point paths are now listed separately from open and closed paths
  • Improvement: The native Info palette now displays the cursor position when the BetterHandles tool is selected
  • Improvement: When moving a single handle or anchor point, the handles on adjacent points (if any) are now shown
  • Improvement: When a smooth point is selected, a "link" icon now appears in the BetterHandles palette between the "in handle" and "out handle" icons
  • Improvement: Illustrator CS3 and higher's anchor point and direction handle size preferences are now respected when using the BetterHandles tool
  • Improvement: When moving a handle and constraining its angle with the Option/Alt key or Shift key, the point can now be moved freely (instead of in a constrained manner) with the space bar
  • Improvement: When "Allow anchor point dragging" is enabled, and Option/Alt-dragging a point has extended new handles, you can now release Option/Alt and continue to freely drag the handles
  • Improvement: When shift-dragging points or handles, Illustrator's constrain angle is now honored
  • Improvement: You can now select the handles on up to 4000 points simultaneously
  • Improvement: Option/Alt-dragging over a path segment (when no points are selected) selects all of a path's segments
  • Improvement: When extending a new handle from a point that has no handles, or from a corner point that has only one handle, the new handle will be initially constrained to the tangent direction of the path at that point rather than horizontally
  • Improvement: The redundant point indicator is now bolder for better visibility
  • Improvement: With Smart Guides on, dragged handles and anchor points now snap to automatically generated guidelines
  • Bug fix: Shift-clicking on an anchor point (with the "Equalize handles" preference off) no longer selects/unselects points that lie directly under it

General

Release August 5, 2010
Date Added August 5, 2010
Version 1.4

Operating Systems

Operating Systems Mac OS X 10.4 PPC, Mac OS X 10.5 PPC, Macintosh, Mac OS X 10.4 Intel, Mac OS X 10.3, Mac OS X 10.5 Intel, Mac OS X 10.0, Mac OS X 10.6 Intel, Mac OS X 10.2
Additional Requirements Adobe Illustrator CS5. Versions are also available for Illustrator 10 through CS4 -- please visit our web site for all the download links.

Popularity

Total Downloads 534
Downloads Last Week 0
Report Software

Related Software

SketchUp logo

SketchUp

Free to try
SketchUp
Adobe Illustrator CS6 logo

Adobe Illustrator CS6

Free to try
Adobe Illustrator CS6
Sweet Home 3D logo

Sweet Home 3D

Free
Sweet Home 3D
SketchBook Pro logo

SketchBook Pro

Free to try
SketchBook Pro

User Reviews

5/5
1 User Votes
5 Star
4 Star
3 Star
2 Star
1 Star
Promo image for CNET Shopping

Get the best price on everything

Shop your favorite products and we’ll find the best deal with a single click. Designed to make shopping easier.