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- In this movie, I'll show
you how to numerically edit

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width points in order to
gain even more precision

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over your variable width strokes.

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So let's say that I want
to modify this wavering

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blue line right here.

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Well, you might naturally figure
you should select the line

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by pressing the ctrl key
or the cmd key on the Mac

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to temporarily access
that last used arrow tool

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and then clicking on that
path outline like so.

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And then you'd go ahead and
release the ctrl or cmd key

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and drag at that endpoint.

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The problem is, as opposed to
modifying the selected path,

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you end up adjusting the path
in the foreground instead.

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And that's because the
width tool does not care

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which path is selected.

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Now the problem is compounded
if you decide to drag

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some more like so.

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In which case, I end up with
this kind of recently fed

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snake effect.

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Fortunately, you can delete
a selected width point

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just by pressing the backspace
key or the delete key

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on the Mac.

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And then if I want to get rid

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of that first width point I drew,

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then I'd go ahead and
click on it to select it

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and press the backspace
or delete key once again.

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Now the best way to get this
foreground path out of the way

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so that you can edit the path behind it

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is to once again press the ctrl key

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or the cmd key on the
Mac, in order to get that

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Black Arrow Tool, and then
just go ahead and click

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on that path outline to select it,

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then go up to the Object menu, choose Lock

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and choose Selection.

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And that will go ahead
and lock that path outline

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so you can no longer edit it.

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And now notice whether this
blue path is selected or not,

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I can go ahead and add a width
point right at the top of it

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like so, and then I can go ahead
and add another width point

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farther down the slope.

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The thing is, let's say I have a specific

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width value in mind.

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In that case, I would go
ahead and double-click

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on that width point to bring up

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the Width Point Edit dialog box,

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and I would enter that value
into the total width field,

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in which case Illustrator will by default

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go ahead and evenly
distribute that width value

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to both sides of the path outline.

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And notice by the way that
we do have a delete button,

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so I can go ahead and delete this point

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that I just created.

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I don't want to do that so
I'll just go ahead and click OK

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to apply my change.

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All right, now let's say I
want to edit that very first

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width point.

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I'll go ahead and double-click on it

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to bring out the Width
Point Edit dialog box.

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And noticed that you can
enter the sides independently

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if you want to.

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I could change, for
example, Side 1 to 15 pt,

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which will go ahead and
extend this side, apparently.

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And then I'll change Side 2 to 5 pt

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in order to reduce its size.

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And then from this point on,

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if you click on this chain icon

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to link these two values together,

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then modifying one of the
values will change the other

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not to the same value
but to the same extent

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as we're seeing right here.

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Another thing I want you to
see is how the delete button

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is dimmed, and that's because
you have to have width points

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at either end of an open path.

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And so I'll just go ahead and
click OK to apply that change.

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All right, now let's
say I want to duplicate

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this width point, the one below my cursor.

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Then I would just go ahead
and press the alt key

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or the opt key on the Mac
and drag the width point,

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not the handles, because that allows you

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to adjust the handles independently,

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but rather the point itself.

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And now I'm going to duplicate it again

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and then I'll duplicate
it a third time like so.

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So you've got to be careful

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to make sure that you're
alt dragging or opt dragging

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the width point itself.

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All right, now I'm going
to add a width point

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at this location, just by
double-clicking this time

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in order to bring up the
Width Point Edit dialog box.

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I want this one to be
symmetrical, however,

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so I'm going to make sure
the chain icon is turned off,

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and I'm going to change Side
1 and Side 2 to 5 pt a piece

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like so.

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And notice that there
is no preview checkbox

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inside this dialog box.

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And that's because it's
always previewing your changes

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in the background.

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Note also that the delete
button is once again dimmed.

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That's not because we can't
delete this width point.

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It's rather because so
far, we haven't created it.

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All right, so I'll go ahead
and click the OK button,

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and then I'll double-click right there.

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And I'm going to turn the link icon on,

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now that the values are the same.

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And I'm going to take the Side 1 value

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up to 7 pt, let's say, in order to create

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this effect right here.

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I'll click OK and then finally,

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I'll create a width point at
this bottom left location,

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and I'm just going to
take the total width value

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up to, let's say, 18 points.

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And I'll click OK.

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All right, now there's one checkbox

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that I've so far ignored,
and I want to show you

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how it works.

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I'll go ahead and
double-click on this point

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that I just created in order to bring up

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the Total Width dialog box.

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And notice this checkbox,
Adjusted Adjoining Width Points.

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If you turn that checkbox on,

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then any modifications you
make to this total width value

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will affect the adjacent
width points as well,

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going all the way up to
the endpoints by the way.

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And if you take this value down,

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then you're going to reduce the thickness

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of the neighboring width points.

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And so I'll take it to
right about there, I figure,

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and then I'll go ahead and
click OK to accept that change,

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and I'll press the V key to switch back

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to my Black Arrow Tool, so we can see

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the modified path outline

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free of the width points
and their handles.

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And that's how you adjust width points

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with numerical precision,

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just by double-clicking
with the Width Tool

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here inside Illustrator.