Edit feature vertices

The Edit Vertices tool moves, adds, and deletes the vertices and segments that comprise a polyline or polygon feature. Adding a z-aware vertex preserves the angular pitch of a segment and assigns an interpolated z-value. This tool is available in the Modify Features pane.

The geometry properties table allows you to edit vertex x- and y-values, and z-values and m-values when they exist. To change the display units, click the coordinate display arrow at the bottom of a map or scene view.

To edit topological vertices, turn on map topology.

Edit vertices with the pointer

To move a vertex by dragging it, or to add or delete multiple vertices by clicking, click the corresponding tools on the edit vertices toolbar.

1. On the Edit tab, turn off topology, choose your snapping preferences, and show the Modify Features pane.
   1. In the Manage Edits group, click the topology arrow and choose No Topology .
   2. In the Snapping group, click the Snapping drop-down menu and enable your snapping preferences.

      To temporarily turn snapping off while you edit a feature, press and hold the spacebar.

   3. In the Features group, click Modify .
2. Expand Reshape and click Vertices .
3. In the pane, click Select , and select a polyline or polygon feature.
   • To refine the selection, right-click a feature in the tree view, and click Unselect or Only Select This .

     

4. To move a vertex, click and drag it.
   • To select and drag multiple vertices in unison, press Ctrl+Shift and click each vertex.
   • To select and drag coincident vertices. click Select By Lasso or another selection tool on the vertices toolbar and select the vertices.

   Lasso	Click, drag, and click the pointer again to create the segments of the selection boundary.
   Rectangle	Click to create the first corner, drag, and click to create the opposite corner of the rectangular selection boundary.
   Circle	Click to create the center point, drag, and click to create the circular selection boundary.

5. To add, or delete a vertex, click the corresponding tool on the edit vertices toolbar.

   

   Add	Adds a vertex with each click.
   Delete	Deletes the clicked vertex.
   Stretch Proportionately	Preserves the general shape of the selected feature by scaling segments proportionately when you move a vertex. This setting is turned off by default.

6. To finish the feature, click Finish , or press the F2 key.

Move or trim vertices

To move a vertex by a specified value or to trim vertices, right-click the vertex and click the corresponding command.

1. On the Edit tab, turn off topology, choose your snapping preferences, and show the Modify Features pane.
   1. In the Manage Edits group, click the topology arrow and choose No Topology .
   2. In the Snapping group, click the Snapping drop-down menu and enable your snapping preferences.

      To temporarily turn snapping off while you edit a feature, press and hold the spacebar.

   3. In the Features group, click Modify .
2. Expand Reshape and click Vertices .
3. In the pane, click Select , and select a polyline or polygon feature.
   • To refine the selection, right-click a feature in the tree view, and click Unselect or Only Select This .

     

4. Hover over the vertex until the vertex pointer appears.
5. Right-click the vertex, and click one of the following commands:

   Add Vertex	Adds a vertex with the same x-, y-, z-, and m-values as the right-clicked vertex.
   Delete Vertex	Deletes the right-clicked vertex.
   Move	Moves the right-clicked vertex by the specified x,y,z distances.
   Move To	Moves the right-clicked vertex to the specified x,y,z location.
   Reverse Direction	Changes the direction of a line feature. The first vertex becomes the last vertex. Note: This tool is available only with polyline features. If a COGO direction exists, it is reversed by adding 180 degrees to the attribute value.
   Trim Before	Deletes all vertices in a sketch from the start vertex to the right-clicked vertex.
   Trim After	Deletes all vertices in a sketch from the right-clicked vertex to the end vertex.

6. To finish the feature, click Finish , or press the F2 key.

Edit vertices in the pane

To add a vertex to the midpoint of a segment, or to a segment of a component part feature, right-click the vertex row in the geometry properties table in the tool pane.

1. On the Edit tab, turn off map topology, choose your snapping preferences, and show the Modify Features pane.
   1. In the Manage Edits group, click the topology arrow and choose No Topology .
   2. In the Snapping group, click the Snapping drop-down menu and enable your snapping preferences.

      To temporarily turn snapping off while you edit a feature, press and hold the spacebar.

   3. In the Features group, click Modify .
2. Expand Reshape and click Vertices .
3. In the pane, click Select , and select a polyline or polygon feature.
   • To refine the selection, right-click a feature in the tree view, and click Unselect or Only Select This .

     

4. In the pane, in the geometry properties table, click a row for one of the vertices that defines the segment on which you want to add a vertex.
   • To change the display units in the table, click the coordinate display arrow at the bottom of the current map.

   

5. Right-click the row and click the corresponding command.

   Insert Before	Adds a vertex to the midpoint of the segment before the selected vertex.
   Insert After	Adds a vertex to the midpoint of the segment after the selected vertex.
   Part	Edits vertices for the selected part. Select All—Selects all vertices comprising the part feature. Delete—Delete the part feature of which the vertices is a member.
   Delete	Delete the selected vertex.

6. To finish the feature, right-click and click Finish , or press the F2 key.

Keyboard shortcuts

Edit vertices

Keyboard shortcuts for the Edit Vertices tool

Keyboard shortcut	Action	Comment
T+hover	Show vertices within the snapping tolerance.	Flash a square at vertices that are within the current snapping tolerance of the pointer.
Ctrl+Shift+Click	Select multiple vertices.	Drag multiple segments in unison between the selected vertices.
A+click	Add a vertex .	Create a vertex where you click a segment.
D+click	Delete a vertex .	Delete the clicked vertex.
H+drag	Edit the elevation.	Move a z-enabled vertex vertically and preserve its x,y coordinates. Hover over a control handle until the pointer becomes a vertex and drag the vertex. This shortcut is available in 3D scenes.
Ctrl+drag	Move a Bézier curve.	Move a Bézier curve and preserve its shape. Hover over a curve until the pointer becomes a segment, and drag the curve.
Ctrl+drag	Move a Bézier handle.	Move a Bézier control handle that can't otherwise be selected when it is coincident with another vertex. Hover over a control handle until the pointer becomes a vertex and drag the handle.
Ctrl+H	Move the z-value to the pointer.	Move the z-value for the selected vertex to the elevation of the pointer. The x- and y-values are preserved. This is available only when stereoscopic mode is enabled.
Ctrl+G	Move the pointer z-value.	Move the pointer z-value to the elevation of the selected vertex. This is available only when stereoscopic mode is enabled.