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I have a square with some rounded corners, that I've set using Illustrator's live corners feature.

However I would like to expand the corners so that they convert to anchor points in the path, but using the Expand feature makes no difference.

Is this possible?

Edit: notice if I scale the shape (on the right) the corners on the head look different. I would prefer that I could expand the corners so that I can resize the shape without having to rely on the Scale Strokes & Effects setting in the preferences:

enter image description here

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4 Answers 4

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You have created this object with square or round square tool. As of cc 2015 it no longer creates a normal object it creates a live shape*. The way you undo this mistake any control point move it somewhere then move it back. Or choose Object → Shape → Expand Shape.

You can also set the scale corners option in the prefs but its not exactly the same thing.

* This is the stupidest thing in the CC Illustrator, i mean it might be nice if i used illustrator like i use inDesign. But do'h i don't that would be pointless. There is no circumstances where i benefit from this feature. I mean the stupidest feature isn the line tool. Note by teh way theres only 2-3 features that i consider a improvement in CC over the last version of CS.

(Its not that this kind of feature set wouldn't be useful. Its just implemented in away that is not useful. I dont need this feature for squares, circles, ovals or lines. They have everything easily doable anyway. I dont even save any time. The only tool where i can see its useful is the star tool. Which i dont need. However what i do need is ability to define my own smart objects as adobes smart objects are not smart just stupid.)

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  • @pealo86 you can do this Object → Shape → Expand Shape.
    – joojaa
    Commented Apr 9, 2020 at 8:00
  • amazing thanks!
    – user23891
    Commented Apr 10, 2020 at 9:05
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In fact, you don't need to do anything at all.

Just because they are called 'live corners' doesn't make them special. The 'live' in their name can be confusing, but these corners are not a 'live' effect like, for instance, a drop shadow would be.

They are just like any other normal anchor points, meaning, you can use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select one of these, drag the handles and edit like a normal anchor point.

Alternatively, you can turn off the live corners feature via Main Menu → View → Hide Corner Widget without affecting your existing artwork.

enter image description here

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  • thank you! I've just updated my question though as I may not have given enough detail originally
    – user23891
    Commented Apr 8, 2020 at 17:52
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I know this is an old post, but this constantly frustrates the hell out of me, and there seems to be no obvious correct answers on google.

For others looking for an answer (less than ideal)....

'Expanding' makes absolutely no change to the shape for me (the corners stay 'live'). What I do is (with the pen tool) Alt+LMB on each point in question to delete the auto-generated handles, making the individual points 'roundable' again.

This obviously (& unfortunately) deosnt work for actual curved corners, only ones with the square-bevel 'rounded' style. For the life of me I can't work out how to 'bake' the effect properly for any live corner in general.

Specifically, I'm using it to do 'secondary' level corner rounding on previously 'rounded' 45 degree corners

Apologies for the confusing explanation. Illustrator terms really don't lend themselves to intuitive explanation 😂

enter image description here

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  • You can move a point slightly back and forth this should trigger it to forget the corner. But yes theres no way to get rid of live corners as they arent there to begin with.
    – joojaa
    Commented Feb 15 at 4:48
  • The really bizarre thing about this is that, yes your absolutely right, when you move the point it indeed 'forgets' the 'live' status and lets you round it again, but as soon as you move it back the the original exact original position (e.g. selecting the anchor > nudging once in a direction > nudge back the opposite direction) it goes BACK to being 'live' again 🤣 that actually seems like some genuinely really clever coding going on behind the scenes, it just so happens that it completely blocks what I the user am trying to achieve design wise. i guess nothing in this world is perfect
    – Drednorzt
    Commented Feb 28 at 19:12
  • so you CAN achieve the desired result by not putting the anchor back precisely where it started (zoom in as far as possible so the deviation is so small its hard to see). it feels fundamentally weird working hackily like that, considering the point of using vectors in the first place is because they are math based & infinitely precise lmao. but I take what I can get...
    – Drednorzt
    Commented Feb 28 at 19:14
  • out of curiosity @joojaa, do you know what the term for the 'rounded corner' effect is, if its not 'live'? surely there must some term for them, to distinguish their non-destructively modified nature, from a completely plain anchor point
    – Drednorzt
    Commented Feb 28 at 19:19
  • They do not distinguish it. What they do is they look for anchor positions and deduce that if it looks like it has been rounded then it has a handle. Thing is even if you make a object manually that satifies the shape your using it detects it as a modifyable corner so make a circle , import a circle it has corners. Admittedly it all breaks down if you use the thing for chamfers because then you change the thing it detects. So its probably best to call it a heurestic. Though i have not noticed this logic bomb because i have never felt the need to use it to chamfer in the first place.
    – joojaa
    Commented Feb 29 at 4:55
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Thanks for all of the comments above. I've found that if you select just the handle, and move it one direction slightly using your nudge, then move it back, it seems to 'forget' the live corner and then allows you to alter that corner further. I created an 'inverted round' corner with a 6mm radius, but then wanted to round the sharp points as it is for a diecut. I hope this helps someone who was as frustrated as I was.

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