Deleting Points

Selected points are easy to delete. Simply press the Delete key, and they are deleted. If an endpoint is deleted, then the curve attached to the endpoint is also deleted. If points on a shape are deleted, then the shape is rearranged to make up for the missing points, as shown in Figure 11.5. Selected points can also be deleted using the Edit, Clear menu.

Figure 11.5. Deleted points.

[View full size image]

To practice selecting and deleting points, follow these steps:

1.	Open the Checkerboard.anme file from the Chapter 11 folder on the included CD. This file includes two layers creating a checkerboard, but the checkerboard is wider than its length, so you’ll need to delete the last column of squares.
2.	Choose the black squares layer in the Layers palette; then click the Select Points tool (G) in the Tools palette and click the top black square in the last column. All the points that make up the square are selected. Press the Delete key to delete the square.
3.	With the Select Points tool (G) still selected, click the upper-right corner point on the lower black square in the last column. Clicking a single point selects only that point. Choose the Edit, Select Connected menu command (Tab). This selects all points in the square. Press the Delete key to delete this shape also.
4.	Select the background layer in the Layers palette and drag with the Select Points tool over the right half of the checkerboard. This selects the two rightmost points in the background rectangle. Click the Translate Points tool (S) in the Tools palette and drag the two selected points to the left until they align with the black squares, as shown in Figure 11.6. Figure 11.6. Shortened checkerboard. [View full size image]