Illustrator: Create Shapes

Selection Tools

We're going to talk about a lot of different tools in Illustrator. Your default selection tool, the main tool you'll be using, is the darker arrow at the top of the Tool menu. You should get in the habit of defaulting to clicking back to the selection tool after you've used other tools.

The Selection Tool (darker arrow) will be used to select objects, adjust their shape and move them around.

The other arrow, the lighter arrow, has different properties. You'll use this one less frequently. We'll talk more about it later.

Shape Tool

Shape tools are located in the Tools panel.

Select the rectangle tool. Click and hold to change it to ellipse or any other shape.

Click and drag on your artboard to create a shape.

Changing the color of a shape

Select the "Color" Panel on the right side.

Click anywhere in the rainbow bar to change the color of your shape.

If nothing is happening, use the Selection Tool to click on the shape, then change the color.

Changing the outline of a shape

You can use the color panel to change the outline of the shape, which is called the "stroke." Click on the filled in square to change the fill of the shape, and the outlined square to change the stroke.

Change the width of the stroke in the top left corner, while the shape is selected.

Changing the size of your shape

Make sure you have the Selection Tool selected.

Now you can click on the corners or the sides of the shape to change the dimensions. Use the corners to adjust two sides at once. Hold the shift key to lock the ratio.

If you know the exact size that you need your shape to be, click "Transform" in the top menu bar and then adjust the numbers next to W and H. In the example here, the square is 4"x4"

Pen Tool and Pencil Tool

If you want to make an irregular shape, you can use the Pen tool.

Click one spot on your artboard.

Now click another spot on your artboard. You've created the first part of your shape.

If you click and hold, and drag out, you can create a curve.

To complete your shape, make sure your last click is your first click.

Each time you make a new point, this is called an "anchor point". Anchor points are how Illustrator creates all shapes. In the spiral at this example, each little square shows you how the shape is composed.

You can adjust anchor points using the lighter arrow tool, the "Direct Selection Tool." Click on the direct selection tool, then double click on any anchor point. Now you can move it around.

You can also create irregular shapes using the Pencil tool. This is more like drawing. Click and hold while you draw a shape.

Continue to the next page:

Working with text

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