Needed: a keyboard modifier for selecting one a point together with its handles

Glyphs
1

Before rotating any number of path points we also have to Shift-click on their handles to get them selected separately – otherwise the rotation won’t work. Of course this is to be expected, no problem here, but it really is slow and tedious to not be able to select a node along with its handles with just one click.

So… how about making Option+click and Option+drag-to-select able to do just that? Easier, faster, and sometimes it even spares the user from having to zoom in to a region where the handles are difficult to select because they almost overlap (or actually do).

2

This would be useful. Along similar lines, I’d also like to be able to select a segment (that is, the part of a contour between two consecutive nodes) somehow - perhaps option-double-clicking on the contour?

3

Why not just drag-select across nodes and handles? Option-dragging is already taken: selects only nodes and components.

4
Even if Glyphs had a polygonal selection tool for the many situations where the handles are not aligned horizontally or vertically with the node(s), Option-click on the node(s) to also include their handles in the selection for rotation/scaling would be easier and faster (and no zoom in necessary). Indeed, i've seen that after posting the request… Don't change it -- it's good. But Option-click (if you don't have any other better plans with it) is available.
5

Just to understand correctly what you try to do. You select a node and its handle and use the palette to rotate it? When and why do you use it?

6
Yep, I have to select a node and its handles (plural), otherwise transform actions won't work, or in the case of multiple nodes, would have an undesired end result, effectively changing the shape. So:

• Rotating a single node doesn’t work if its handles (the Bézier Control Points) are not selected – that is to be expected, but that means Shift-clicking three times to get the handles “in the fold”;
• Rotating two or more nodes has an undesired result if their handles are not selected, since the handles remain in place, so… to rotate two nodes I have to click six times to select all that’s needed, rotating three nodes needs nine clicks only for the selecting part, and so on…

Also, scaling:
• Scaling can be used on a single node to adjust the segment on its left and right – but again, for it to work, one single node needs one click for the node and two clicks for its BCPs (handles);
• Scaling two or more nodes with their handles unselected keeps the nodes at the same distance from the nodes, effectively changing the original shape. So again for the scaling to retain the original shape, two nodes need six clicks, three nodes nine, etc…

Also, slanting stuff… no more explanations needed, I guess.

@Eliason: Good idea about selecting segments.

7
Let me try to give a better answer than the first time:

Yes, if (1) there are no other unwanted nodes and BCPs in the area and (2) if the nodes and BCPs are not too far from each other, I can click-and-drag to select multiple nodes, no problem.
But there are many situations where drag-to-select won’t work because of the neighboring nodes, and like I said, even if Glyphs had a polygonal selection tool, it would be difficult to surgically separate the tares from the wheat, so to speak.

8

My question was why and what situation you would like to rotate a single node?

9

Not any particular situation I can think of now – I started by giving only one node as an example just to count the number of clicks needed (one node = three clicks, two nodes = 6 clicks, und so weiter) – but I have plenty of situations where I have to bend things into shape by rotating (or scaling) two, three or more nodes, and there’s a “thicket” of neighboring nodes with their BCPs that I don’t want modified. At the moment I have to zoom in and carefully pick only the nodes and BCPs I need… (I’m doing a font that has an interior “inline” shape that, because is offset (i.e. not centered), gets close to the outer contour in some places).

10

I don’t have Speedpunk to test stuff and be sure about this, but I maybe there are situations where the user would want to bend things into shape by rotating a single node without modifying the distance between it and its BCPs?

11

I think rotating is not the right tool if you like to adjust the curvature. I usually just move the node without the handles (hold down the option key). If I really need to rotate a node, I select a handle and move that around and rely on the smooth node to sync the opposite handle.

12

I added the option click to select handles to see it it is useful or not.

13
I also use the handles for that, of course. I was bummed about the tedious process of selecting multiple nodes together with their handles -- sorry about not presenting the case for Option-click more clearly. Thank you :)