How do I stop the pen tool from trying to link to other shapes within close proximity of my path in Illustrator?

Question

I'm attempting to recreate an advertisement for a school project and when I draw two shapes near each other the pen tool wants to link my second shape to the first. This happens as soon as I start to get closer to the first shape with the my anchor points. I would like to be able to draw an anchor point almost on top of another anchor point without them trying to link together in any way. Any suggestions?

Answer 1

The easiest way to work around this is to click (with the Pen Tool) away from the location you want the anchor point. Then hold down the Spacebar and drag the mouse so the anchor is in the position you want it.

If you have closed shapes, the pen won't join to closed paths. This is only a problem when you have open paths.

Answer 2

In the layers panel, lock any shapes you don't want your new path to join before you draw it. This way you can still snap your anchor to the same position as the existing shape, if that's what you're aiming for.

Answer 3

shft + A, then press "p" again to use the pen tool again