Adobe Illustrator CS5 provides precision and power with sophisticated drawing tools, expressive lifelike brushes, a
host of time-savers, and integration with Adobe CS Live* online services.
Perspective drawing, a Bristle brush, variable width strokes, and the Shape Builder tool are among the new features in
Illustrator’s vector-graphics environment.
With enhanced integration among Adobe products, you can easily move between Illustrator CS5 and products such
as Adobe Flash® Catalyst™ CS5 where you can add interaction to your designs.
Note: This page provides a list of features in Illustrator CS5.5 and Illustrator CS5. This page does NOT tell you how to
use these features. For more information about any of the new features, click the corresponding links provided.
Perspective drawing
The new Perspective Grid tool allows you to turn on a grid that supports drawing directly on planes of true perspective.
Use the perspective grid to draw shapes and scenes in accurate 1, 2, or 3-point perspectives. The new Perspective
Selection tool allows you to move, scale, duplicate, and transform objects dynamically. You can also move objects
perpendicular to its current location using the Perspective Selection tool.
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Imagine being able to easily add a series of street lamps to a city scape for a sequential lighting animation, or fence posts
to a reference landscape scene to complete your billboard for a western wilderness outpost. With the Perspective Grid
tool group, you quickly and easily work in a preset perspective. The perspective grid provides grid presets to manage
the viewing angle and viewing distance for the scene along with widgets to control vanishing points, horizon height,
ground level, and the origin. You can also use the perspective grid to draw vector objects on top of a reference
photograph or video still placed on your artboard.
See “Perspective drawing” on page 81.
Beautiful strokes
Illustrator CS5 provides several new features that enhance the capability to design with strokes.
Variable-width strokes
Use the Width tool to draw strokes with variable widths that you can quickly and smoothly adjust at any point,
symmetrically or along either side. You can also create and save custom width profiles, which you can reapply to any
stroke.
See “Create strokes with variable widths” on page 160.
Dashed line adjustments
New options in the Stroke panel allow you to control the alignment of dashes. You can choose to align dashed strokes
symmetrically around corners and at the end of open paths or preserve the dash and gaps in strokes.
See “Create dotted or dashed lines” on page 155.
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What’s New
Precise arrowheads
You can now select and define arrowheads using the Stroke panel. You can also choose to lock the tip or base of the
arrowhead to the path endpoint.
See “Add arrowheads” on page 156, “Customize arrowheads” on page 156.
Stretch control for brushes
Define the scaling for art and pattern brushes along a path. Choose areas of the brush stroke to be resized in
proportion. For example, you can elongate the middle of a banner, while keeping the detailed, curly ends from
stretching.
Brushes with corner control
Apply art and pattern brushes to a path and get clean results, even at tight bends or corners. Where strokes of different
widths join, or they form obtuse or acute angles, choose options to properly fill points where joins occur.
Bristle brush
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With the Bristle brush, paint with vectors that resemble real world brush strokes. You can draw and render artwork
just the way you use a natural media such as watercolors and oils, with the scalability and editability of vectors. The
Bristle brush also provides breakthrough control of painting. You can set bristle characteristics, such as size, length,
thickness, and stiffness, in addition to setting bristle density, brush shape, and paint opacity.
To explore more capabilities of the Bristle brush, use it with the tablet and 6D pen (Wacom Art Pen). The 6D pen
automatically responds to pressure, bearing, and tilt with 360-degree barrel rotation and also provides an accurate
brush preview.
See “Bristle brush” on page 180.
Crisp graphics for web and mobile devices
Create vector objects precisely on the pixel grid for pixel-aligned artwork. It is critical that raster images look sharp,
especially standard web graphics at 72-ppi resolution, when designing artwork for Adobe Flash Catalyst, Adobe Flash
Professional software, and Adobe Dreamweaver. Pixel alignment is also useful for video resolution rasterization
control. In Illustrator CS5, new web graphics tools include type enhancements. Choose one of four text anti-aliasing
options for each of your Illustrator text frames.
See “Drawing pixel-aligned paths for web workflows” on page 61.
Multiple artboards enhancements
The multiple artboards functionality has been enhanced significantly in Illustrator CS5. Some of the new features
include a new Artboards panel, which allows you to add artboards, reorder artboards in the Artboards panel, rearrange
artboards, and create duplicate artboards.
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Specify custom names for your artboards using the Control panel and the Artboards panel. You can paste objects at a
particular location on the artboard and paste artwork on all artboards at the same location using the new Paste in Place
and Paste on All Artboards options. You can also set the option to automatically rotate artboards for printing.
See “Using multiple artboards” on page 33.
Shape Builder tool
The Shape Builder tool is an interactive tool for creating complex shapes by merging and erasing simpler shapes. It
works on simple and compound paths and intuitively highlights edges and regions of the selected art, which can be
merged to form new shapes. For example, you can draw a stroke across the middle of a circle and quickly create two
half-circles without opening any panel or choosing another tool. The Shape Builder tool can also break overlapping
shapes to create distinct objects and easily adopts art styles when objects are merged. You can also enable the Color
Swatch cursor to select colors for your artwork.
See “Building new shapes using the Shape Builder tool” on page 258.
Drawing enhancements
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Symbol enhancements
Illustrator CS5 provides enhanced 9-slice scaling support. You can now directly use 9-slice scaling on symbols in
Illustrator, which makes it easier to work with web elements such as rounded rectangle.
See “Symbol registration point” on page 103, “Use 9-slice scaling” on page 104, “Add sublayers for symbols” on
page 104, “Reset transformations” on page 106.
Artboard ruler origin and coordinates enhancement
Artboard ruler origin and coordinates are now oriented from the upper left. Scripts that use a previous coordinate
system also work correctly with this enhancement. You can also choose to work with a global ruler that provides
coordinates across all your artboards, or work with local, artboard-specific rulers.
See “Use rulers” on page 43.
Path join enhancement
Join open paths in a single keystroke with objects selected. You can also choose to join open paths using corner joins
or smooth joins.
See “Join two or more paths” on page 74.
Select behind capability
Use a keyboard shortcut to easily select an individual object located behind other objects.
See “Select behind objects” on page 207.
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Draw behind and draw inside modes
Draw behind other objects without choosing layers or setting the stacking order. Draw or place an image inside a
shape, including live text. The draw inside mode automatically creates a clipping mask from the selected object.
See “Draw Behind mode” on page 56, “Draw Inside mode” on page 56.
Roundtrip editing with Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5
Use Illustrator CS5 for interaction design, now enabled by new Adobe Flash Catalyst CS5, available with all the Adobe
CS5 products. Develop your ideas and design your interface in Illustrator, creating screen layouts and individual
elements such as logos and button graphics. Then open your artwork in Flash Catalyst and add actions and interactive
components, without writing code. After adding interactivity to your designs, you can make edits and design changes
directly in Illustrator. For example, you can edit the look of interactive button states in Illustrator while ensuring that
the structure you added in Flash Catalyst is maintained.
See “Working with FXG” on page 402.
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Resolution Independent Effects
With Resolution Independent Effects, raster effects such as Blur and Texture can maintain a consistent appearance
across media.
You can create artwork for different types of output while maintaining the ideal appearance for raster effects. This is
irrespective of any change in resolution setting from print to web to video. You can also increase the resolution and
still maintain the appearance of raster effects. For low-resolution artwork, you can scale up the resolution for highquality printing.
See “About raster effects” on page 371.
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Chapter 2: Workspace
Click on the following links to learn about workspace and related elements. You can navigate to understand how
various parts of a workspace can be managed.
Workspace basics
Workspace overview
You create and manipulate your documents and files using various elements, such as panels, bars, and windows. Any
arrangement of these elements is called a workspace. The workspaces of the different applications in Adobe® Creative
Suite® 5 share the same appearance so that you can move between the applications easily. You can also adapt each
application to the way you work by selecting from several preset workspaces or by creating one of your own.
Although the default workspace layout varies in different products, you manipulate the elements much the same way
in all of them.
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A
E
F
BDC
G
H
Default Illustrator workspace
A. Tabbed Document windows B. Application bar C. Workspace switcher D. Panel title bar E. Control panel F. Tools panel G. Collapse To
Icons button H. Four panel groups in vertical dock
• The Application bar across the top contains a workspace switcher, menus (Windows only), and other application
controls. On the Mac for certain products, you can show or hide it using the Window menu.
• The Tools panel contains tools for creating and editing images, artwork, page elements, and so on. Related tools are
grouped.
• The Control panel displays options for the currently selected tool. In Illustrator, the Control panel displays options
for the currently selected object. (In Adobe Photoshop® this is known as the Options bar. In Adobe Flash®, Adobe
Dreamweaver®, and Adobe Fireworks® this is known as the Property Inspector and includes properties of the
currently selected element.)
• The Document window displays the file you’re working on. Document windows can be tabbed and, in certain cases,
grouped and docked.
• Panels help you monitor and modify your work. Examples include the Timeline in Flash, the Brush panel in
Illustrator, the Layers panel in Adobe Photoshop®, and the CSS Styles panel in Dreamweaver. Panels can be
grouped, stacked, or docked.
• The Application frame groups all the workspace elements in a single, integrated window that lets you treat the
application as a single unit. When you move or resize the Application frame or any of its elements, all the elements
within it respond to each other so none overlap. Panels don’t disappear when you switch applications or when you
accidentally click out of the application. If you work with two or more applications, you can position each
application side by side on the screen or on multiple monitors.
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If you are using a Mac and prefer the traditional, free-form user interface, you can turn off the Application frame.
In Adobe Illustrator®, for example, select Window > Application Frame to toggle it on or off. (In Flash, the
Application frame is on permanently for Mac, and Dreamweaver for Mac does not use an Application frame.)
Hide or show all panels
• (Illustrator, Adobe InCopy®, Adobe InDesign®, Photoshop, Fireworks)To hide or show all panels, including the
Tools panel and Control panel, press
Tab.
• (Illustrator, InCopy, InDesign, Photoshop) To hide or show all panels except the Tools panel and Control panel,
press Shift+Tab.
You can temporarily display hidden panels if Auto-Show Hidden Panels is selected in Interface preferences. It’s
always on in Illustrator. Move the pointer to the edge of the application window (Windows®) or to the edge of the
monitor (Mac
OS®) and hover over the strip that appears.
• (Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks) To hide or show all panels, press F4.
Display panel options
❖ Click the panel menu icon in the upper-right corner of the panel.
You can open a panel menu even when the panel is minimized.
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In Photoshop, you can change the font size of the text in panels and tool tips. In the Interface preferences, choose a
size from the UI Font Size menu.
(Illustrator) Adjust panel brightness
❖ In User Interface preferences, move the Brightness slider. This control affects all panels, including the Control
panel.
Reconfigure the Tools panel
You can display the tools in the Tools panel in a single column, or side by side in two columns. (This feature is not
available in the Tools panel in Fireworks and Flash.)
In InDesign and InCopy, you also can switch from single-column to double-column (or single-row) display by setting
an option in Interface preferences.
❖ Click the double arrow at the top of the Tools panel.
Search For Help box
Use the Search For Help box on the right side of the Application bar to search for Help topics and online content. If
you have an active Internet connection, you can access all content on the Community Help website. If you search for
Help without an active Internet connection, search results are limited to Help content that is included with Illustrator.
1 In the search box, type the name of the item on which you want to search (such as a feature, application, or tool).
2 Press Enter.
All topics available from the Community Help center appear in a separate browser window.
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About screen modes
You can change the visibility of the illustration window and menu bar using the mode options at the bottom of the Tools
panel. To access panels when in Full Screen Mode, position the cursor at the left or right edge of the screen and the
panels will pop up. If you’ve moved them from their default locations, you can access them from the Window menu.
You can choose one of the following modes:
• Normal Screen Mode displays artwork in a standard window, with a menu bar at the top and scroll bars on the
sides.
• Full Screen Mode With Menu Bar displays artwork in a full-screen window, with a menu bar at the top and
scroll bars.
• Full Screen Mode displays artwork in a full-screen window, with no title bar or menu bar.
Using the status bar
The status bar appears at the lower-left edge of the illustration window. It displays any of the following:
• current zoom level
• current tool in use
• current artboard in use
• navigation controls for multiple artboards
• date and time
• number of undos and redos available
• document color profile
• status of a managed file
Click the status bar to do any of the following:
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• Change the type of information displayed in the status bar by selecting an option from the Show submenu.
• Show the current file in Adobe Bridge by choosing Reveal In Bridge.
Enter values in panels and dialog boxes
You enter values using the same methods in all panels and dialog boxes. You can also perform simple math in any box
that accepts numeric values. For example, if you want to move a selected object 3 units to the right using the current
measurement units, you don’t have to work out the new horizontal position—simply type +3 after the current value
in the Transform panel.
Enter a value in a panel or dialog box
❖ Do any of the following:
• Type a value in the box, and press Enter or Return.
• Drag the slider.
• Drag the dial.
• Click the arrow buttons in the panel to increase or decrease the value.
• Click in the box and then use the Up Arrow key and Down Arrow key on the keyboard to increase or decrease the
value. Hold down Shift and click an arrow key to magnify the increase rate or decrease rate.
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• Select a value from the menu associated with the box.
A B C
D
E
Ways to enter values
A. Arrow buttons B. Text box C. Menu arrow D. Slider E. Dial
Calculate values in a panel or dialog box
1 In a text box that accepts numerical values, do one of the following:
• To replace the entire current value with a mathematical expression, select the entire current value.
• To use the current value as part of a mathematical expression, click before or after the current value.
2 Type a simple mathematical expression using a single mathematical operator, such as + (plus), - (minus), x
(multiplication), / (division), or %
For example, 0p0 + 3 or 5mm + 4. Similarly, 3cm * 50% equals 3 centimeters multiplied by 50%, or 1.50 cm, and 50pt + 25% equals 50 points plus 25% of 50 points, or 62.5 points.
(percent).
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3 Press Enter or Return to apply the calculation.
Control panel overview
The Control panel offers quick access to options related to the objects you select. By default, the Control panel is
docked at the top of the workspace.
Options displayed in the Control panel vary depending on the type of object or tool you select. For example, when you
select a text object, the Control panel displays text-formatting options in addition to options for changing the color,
placement, and dimensions of the object. When a selection tool is active, you can access Document Setup and
Preferences from the Control panel.
ABC
Control panel
A. Hidden options B. Link to another panel C. Panel menu
When text in the Control panel is blue and underlined, you can click the text to display a related panel or dialog box.
For example, click the word Stroke to display the Stroke panel.
Change the kinds of controls that appear in the Control panel
❖ Select or deselect options in the Control panel menu.
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Open and close a panel or dialog box from the Control panel
1 Click a blue underlined word to open its associated panel or dialog box.
2 Click anywhere outside of the panel or dialog box to close it.
Dock the Control panel at the bottom of the workspace
❖ Choose Dock To Bottom from the Control panel menu.
Convert the Control panel to a floating panel
❖ Drag the gripper bar (located on the left edge of the panel) away from its current position.
To redock the Control panel, drag the gripper bar to the top or bottom of the application window (Windows) or screen
OS).
(Mac
Customizing the workspace
Manage windows and panels
You can create a custom workspace by moving and manipulating Document windows and panels. You can also save
workspaces and switch among them. For Fireworks, renaming custom workspaces can lead to unexpected behavior.
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Note: The following examples use Photoshop for demonstration purposes. The workspace behaves the same in all the
products.
Rearrange, dock, or float document windows
When you open more than one file, the Document windows are tabbed.
• To rearrange the order of tabbed Document windows, drag a window’s tab to a new location in the group.
• To undock (float or untab) a Document window from a group of windows, drag the window’s tab out of the group.
Note: In Photoshop you can also choose Window > Arrange > Float in Window to float a single Document window,
or Window > Arrange > Float All In Windows to float all of the Document windows at once. See tech note
for more information.
Note: Dreamweaver does not support docking and undocking Document windows. Use the Document window’s
Minimize button to create floating windows (Windows), or choose Window > Tile Vertically to create side-by-side
Document windows. Search “Tile Vertically” in Dreamweaver Help for more information on this topic. The workflow
is slightly different for Macintosh users.
• To dock a Document window to a separate group of Document windows, drag the window into the group.
• To create groups of stacked or tiled documents, drag the window to one of the drop zones along the top, bottom, or
sides of another window. You can also select a layout for the group by using the Layout button on the Application bar.
Note: Some products do not support this functionality. However, your product may have Cascade and Tile commands
in the Window menu to help you lay out your documents.
• To switch to another document in a tabbed group when dragging a selection, drag the selection over the document’s
tab for a moment.
Note: Some products do not support this functionality.
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Dock and undock panels
A dock is a collection of panels or panel groups displayed together, generally in a vertical orientation. You dock and
undock panels by moving them into and out of a dock.
• To dock a panel, drag it by its tab into the dock, at the top, bottom, or in between other panels.
• To dock a panel group, drag it by its title bar (the solid empty bar above the tabs) into the dock.
• To remove a panel or panel group, drag it out of the dock by its tab or title bar. You can drag it into another dock
or make it free-floating.
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Navigator panel being dragged out to new dock, indicated by blue vertical highlight
Navigator panel now in its own dock
You can prevent panels from filling all the space in a dock. Drag the bottom edge of the dock up so it no longer meets
the edge of the workspace.
Move panels
As you move panels, you see blue highlighted drop zones, areas where you can move the panel. For example, you can
move a panel up or down in a dock by dragging it to the narrow blue drop zone above or below another panel. If you
drag to an area that is not a drop zone, the panel floats freely in the workspace.
Note: The position of the mouse (rather than the position of the panel), activates the drop zone, so if you can’t see the drop
zone, try dragging the mouse to the place where the drop zone should be.
• To move a panel, drag it by its tab.
• To move a panel group, drag the title bar.
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A
B
C
Narrow blue drop zone indicates Color panel will be docked on its own above the Layers panel group.
A. Title bar B. Tab C. Drop zone
Press Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) while moving a panel to prevent it from docking. Press Esc while
moving the panel to cancel the operation.
Add and remove panels
If you remove all panels from a dock, the dock disappears. You can create a dock by moving panels to the right edge
of the workspace until a drop zone appears.
• To remove a panel, right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) its tab and then select Close, or deselect it from
the Window menu.
• To add a panel, select it from the Window menu and dock it wherever you want.
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Manipulate panel groups
• To move a panel into a group, drag the panel’s tab to the highlighted drop zone in the group.
Adding a panel to a panel group
• To rearrange panels in a group, drag a panel’s tab to a new location in the group.
• To remove a panel from a group so that it floats freely, drag the panel by its tab outside the group.
• To move a group, drag the title bar (the area above the tabs).
Stack floating panels
When you drag a panel out of its dock but not into a drop zone, the panel floats freely. The floating panel allows you
to position it anywhere in the workspace. You can stack floating panels or panel groups so that they move as a unit
when you drag the topmost title bar.
Free-floating stacked panels
• To stack floating panels, drag a panel by its tab to the drop zone at the bottom of another panel.
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• To change the stacking order, drag a panel up or down by its tab.
Note: Be sure to release the tab over the narrow drop zone between panels, rather than the broad drop zone in a title bar.
• To remove a panel or panel group from the stack, so that it floats by itself, drag it out by its tab or title bar.
Resize panels
• To minimize or maximize a panel, panel group, or stack of panels, double-click a tab. You can also double-click the
tab area (the empty space next to the tabs).
• To resize a panel, drag any side of the panel. Some panels, such as the Color panel in Photoshop, cannot be resized
by dragging.
Collapse and expand panel icons
You can collapse panels to icons to reduce clutter on the workspace. In some cases, panels are collapsed to icons in the
default workspace.
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Panels collapsed to icons
Panels expanded from icons
• To collapse or expand all panel icons in a column, click the double arrow at the top of the dock.
• To expand a single panel icon, click it.
• To resize panel icons so that you see only the icons (and not the labels), adjust the width of the dock until the text
disappears. To display the icon text again, make the dock wider.
• To collapse an expanded panel back to its icon, click its tab, its icon, or the double arrow in the panel’s title bar.
In some products, if you select Auto-Collapse Icon Panels from the Interface or User Interface Options preferences,
an expanded panel icon collapses automatically when you click away from it.
• To add a floating panel or panel group to an icon dock, drag it in by its tab or title bar. (Panels are automatically
collapsed to icons when added to an icon dock.)
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• To move a panel icon (or panel icon group), drag the icon. You can drag panel icons up and down in the dock, into
other docks (where they appear in the panel style of that dock), or outside the dock (where they appear as floating
icons).
Use panel menus
Access the panel menus using the icon on the upper-right corner of the panel.
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Panel menu (Symbols panel)
Rename or duplicate a workspace
1 Choose Window > Workspace > Manage Workspaces.
2 Do any of the following, and then click OK:
• To rename a workspace, select it, and edit the text.
• To duplicate a workspace, select it, and click the New button.
For a video on customizing the workspace based on different workflows, see www.adobe.com/go/vid0032_en.
Save and switch workspaces
By saving the current size and position of panels as a named workspace, you can restore that workspace even if you
move or close a panel. The names of saved workspaces appear in the workspace switcher in the Application bar.
Save a custom workspace
1 With the workspace in the configuration you want to save, do one of the following:
• (Illustrator) Choose Window > Workspace > Save Workspace.
In Photoshop, workspaces automatically appear as you last arranged them, but you can restore the original, saved
arrangement of panels.
• To restore an individual workspace, choose Window > Workspace > Reset Workspace Name.
• To restore all the workspaces installed with Photoshop, click Restore Default Workspaces in the Interface
preferences.
To rearrange the order of workspaces in the application bar, drag them.
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Tools
Tools panel overview
The first time you start the application, the Tools panel appears at the left side of the screen. You can move the Tools
panel by dragging its title bar. You can also show or hide the Tools panel by choosing Window
You use tools in the Tools panel to create, select, and manipulate objects in Illustrator. Some tools have options that
appear when you double-click a tool. These include tools that let you use type, and select, paint, draw, sample, edit,
and move images.
You can expand some tools to show hidden tools beneath them. A small triangle at the lower-right corner of the tool
icon signals the presence of hidden tools. To see the name of a tool, position the pointer over it.
You can also use the Tools panel to change the drawing mode from Draw Normal to Draw Behind or Draw Inside.
> Tools.
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Tools panel overview
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A
Selection tools
A
C
B
H
D
E
F
Indicates default tool
* Keyboard shortcuts appear in parenthesis
G
I
Selection (V)
Direct Selection (A)
Group Selection
Magic Wand (Y)
Lasso (Q)
Artboard (Shift +O)
B
Drawing tools
Pen (P)
Add Anchor Point (+)
Delete Anchor (-)
Point
Convert Anchor
Point (Shift+C)
Line Segment (\)
Arc
Spiral
Rectangular Grid
Polar Grid
Rectangle (M)
Rounded Rectangle
Ellipse (L)
Polygon
Star
Flare
Pencil (N)
Smooth
Path Eraser
Perspective Grid (Shift+P)
Perspective Selection
(Shift+V)
C
Type tools
Type (T)
Area Type
Type On a Path
Vertical Type
Vertical Area
Symbol Shifter
Symbol Scruncher
Symbol Sizer
Symbol Spinner
Symbol Stainer
Symbol Screener
Symbol Styler
G
Graph tools
Column Graph (J)
Stacked Column
Graph
Bar Graph
Stacked Bar
Graph
Line Graph
Area Graph
Scatter Graph
Pie Graph
Radar Graph
H
Slicing and cutting
tools
Slice (Shift+K)
Slice Select
Eraser (Shift+E)
Scissors (C)
Knife
I
Moving and zooming
tools
Hand (H)
Print Tiling
Zoom (Z)
Tools panel overview
View hidden tools
❖ Hold down the mouse button on the visible tool.
View tool options
❖ Double-click a tool in the Tools panel.
Move the Tools panel
❖ Drag its title bar.
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View the Tools panel in double-stack or single-column
❖ Click the double-arrow on the title bar to toggle between double-stack and single-column view of the Tools panel.
Hide the Tools panel
❖ Choose Window > Tools.
Tear off hidden tools into a separate panel
❖ Drag the pointer over the arrow at the end of the hidden tools panel and release the mouse button.
Close a separate tool panel
❖ Click the close button on the panel’s title bar. The tools return to the Tools panel.
Select a tool
❖ Do one of the following:
• Click a tool in the Tools panel. If there is a small triangle at a tool’s lower-right corner, hold down the mouse button
to view the hidden tools, and then click the tool you want to select.
• Hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS), and then click a tool to cycle through and select hidden tools.
• Press the tool’s keyboard shortcut. The keyboard shortcut is displayed in its tool tip. For example, you can select
the Move tool by pressing the V key.
To hide tool tips, choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > General (Mac OS),
and deselect Show Tool Tips.
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A
B
C
D
E
Selecting a hidden tool
A. Tools panel B. Active tool C. Tear off panel with hidden tools D. Hidden tool triangle E. Tool name and shortcut
Change tool pointers
The mouse pointer for most tools matches the tool’s icon. Each pointer has a different hotspot, where an effect or
action begins. With most tools, you can switch to precise cursors, which appear as cross hairs centered around the
hotspot, and provide for greater accuracy when working with detailed artwork.
❖ Choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows) or Illustrator > Preferences > General (Mac OS), and select Use
Precise Cursors. Alternatively, press Caps Lock on the keyboard.
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Tool galleries
Illustrator provides many tools for creating and manipulating your artwork. These galleries provide a quick visual
overview for each tool.
Selection tool gallery
Illustrator provides the following selection tools:
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The Selection tool (V) selects
entire objects. See “Select objects
with the Selection tool” on
page 208.
The Lasso tool (Q) selects points
or path segments within objects.
See “Select objects with the Lasso
tool” on page 208.
The Direct Selection tool (A)
selects points or path segments
within objects. See “Select paths,
segments, and anchor points” on
page 71.
The Artboard tool creates
separate artboards for printing
or export. See “Create an
artboard” on page 36.
More Help topics
“Keys for selecting” on page 481
Drawing tool gallery
Illustrator provides the following drawing tools:
The Group Selection tool selects
objects and groups within
groups. See “Select objects and
groups with the Group Selection
tool” on page 211.
The Magic Wand tool (Y) selects
objects with similar attributes.
See “Select objects with the
Magic Wand tool” on page 208.
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The Pen tool (P) draws straight
and curved lines to create
objects. See “Drawing with the
Pen tool” on page 66.
The Line Segment tool (\) draws
individual straight line
segments. See “Draw straight
lines with the Line Segment tool”
on page 56.
The Add Anchor Point tool (+)
adds anchor points to paths. See
“Adding and deleting anchor
points” on page 75.
The Arc tool draws individual
concave or convex curve
segments. See “Draw arcs” on
page 59.
The Delete Anchor Point tool (-)
deletes anchor points from
paths. See “Adding and deleting
anchor points” on page 75.
The Spiral tool draws clockwise
and counterclockwise spirals.
See “Draw spirals” on page 59.
The Convert Anchor Point tool
(Shift+C) changes smooth points
to corner points and vice versa.
See “Convert between smooth
points and corner points” on
page 77.
The Rectangular Grid tool
draws rectangular grids. See
“Draw rectangular grids” on
page 60.
The Polar Grid tool draws
circular chart grids. See “Draw
circular (polar) grids” on
page 60.
The Rectangle tool (M) draws
squares and rectangles. See
“Draw rectangles and squares”
on page 57.
Last updated 11/8/2011
The Rounded Rectangle tool
draws squares and rectangles
with rounded corners. See
“Draw rectangles and squares”
on page 57.
The Ellipse tool (L) draws circles
and ovals. See “Draw ellipses” on
page 57.
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The Polygon tool draws regular,
multi-sided shapes. See “Draw
polygons” on page 58.
The Smooth tool smooths Bezier
paths. See “Smooth paths” on
page 76.
The Star tool draws stars. See
“Draw stars” on page 58.
The Path Eraser tool erases
paths and anchor points from
the object. See “Erase artwork”
on page 79.
Type tool gallery
Illustrator provides the following type tools:
The Flare tool creates lens-flare
or solar-flare-like effects. See
“Drawing flares” on page 112.
The Perspective Grid allows
creating and rendering artwork
in perspective. See “About
Perspective Grid” on page 81.
The Pencil tool (N) draws and
edits freehand lines. See
“Drawing with the Pencil tool”
on page 64.
The Perspective Selection tool
allows you to bring objects, text,
and symbols in perspective,
move objects in perspective,
move objects in perpendicular to
its current direction. See “About
Perspective Grid” on page 81.
.
The Type tool (T) creates
individual type and type
containers and lets you enter
and edit type. See “Enter text in
an area” on page 308.
The Area Type tool changes
closed paths to type containers
and lets you enter and edit type
within them. See “Enter text in
an area” on page 308.
Last updated 11/8/2011
The Type On A Path tool
changes paths to type paths, and
lets you enter and edit type on
them. See “Creating type on a
path” on page 315.
The Vertical Type tool creates
vertical type and vertical type
containers and lets you enter
and edit vertical type. See “Enter
text in an area” on page 308.
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The Vertical Area Type tool
changes closed paths to vertical
type containers and lets you
enter and edit type within them.
See “Enter text in an area” on
page 308.
The Vertical Type On A Path
tool changes paths to vertical
type paths and lets you enter and
edit type on them. See “Creating
type on a path” on page 315.
Painting tool gallery
Illustrator provides the following painting tools:
The Paintbrush tool (B) draws
freehand and calligraphic lines,
as well as art, patterns, and
bristle brush strokes on paths.
See “Draw paths and apply
brush strokes simultaneously”
on page 173.
The Mesh tool (U) creates and
edits meshes and mesh
envelopes. See “Create mesh
objects” on page 195.
The Gradient tool (G) adjusts
the beginning and ending points
and angle of gradients within
objects, or applies a gradient to
objects. See “Apply a gradient to
an object” on page 192.
The Eyedropper tool (I) samples
and applies color, type, and
appearance attributes, including
effects, from objects. See “Copy
appearance attributes using the
Eyedropper tool” on page 369.
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The Live Paint Bucket tool (K)
paints faces and edges of Live
Paint groups with the current
paint attributes. See “Paint with
the Live Paint Bucket tool” on
page 168.
The Live Paint Selection (ShiftL)tool selects faces and edges
within Live Paint groups. See
“Select items in Live Paint
groups” on page 166.
The Measure tool measures the
distance between two points. See
“Measure the distance between
objects” on page 48.
Reshaping tool gallery
Illustrator provides the following tools for reshaping objects:
The Rotate tool (R) rotates
objects around a fixed point. See
“Rotate objects” on page 219.
The Reflect tool (O) flips objects
over a fixed axis. See “Reflect or
flip objects” on page 221.
The Scale tool (S) resizes objects
around a fixed point. See “Scale
objects” on page 235.
The Blob Brush tool (ShiftB)draws paths that
automatically expand and
merge calligraphic brush paths
that share the same color and
are adjacent in stacking order.
See “Draw and merge paths with
the Blob Brush tool” on
page 157.
The Shear tool skews objects
around a fixed point. See “Shear
objects with the Shear tool” on
page 237.
The Reshape tool adjusts
selected anchor points while
keeping the overall detail of the
path intact. See
a path without distorting its
overall shape” on page 75.
“Stretch parts of
The Free Transform tool (E)
scales, rotates, or skews a
selection.
Last updated 11/8/2011
The Blend tool (W) creates a
series of objects blended between
the color and shape of multiple
objects. See
page 254.
“Create blends” on
The Width tool (Shift+W)
allows you to create a stroke
with variable width. See “Using
the Width tool” on page 160.
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The Warp tool (Shift+R) molds
objects with the movement of the
cursor (like molding clay, for
example). See “Distort objects
using a liquify tool” on page 239.
The Scallop tool adds random
curved details to the outline of
an object. See “Distort objects
using a liquify tool” on page 239.
The Twirl tool creates swirling
distortions within an object. See
“Distort objects using a liquify
tool” on page 239.
The Crystallize tool adds
random spiked details to the
outline of an object. See “Distort
objects using a liquify tool” on
page 239.
The Pucker tool deflates an
object by moving control points
towards the cursor. See “Distort
objects using a liquify tool” on
page 239.
The Wrinkle tool adds wrinklelike details to the outline of an
object. See “Distort objects using
a liquify tool” on page 239.
The Bloat tool inflates an object
by moving control points away
from the cursor. See “Distort
objects using a liquify tool” on
page 239.
The Shape Builder tool merges
simple shapes to create custom,
complex shapes. See “Building
new shapes using the Shape
Builder tool” on page 258.
Symbolism tool gallery
The symbolism tools let you create and modify sets of symbol instances. You create a symbol set using the Symbol
Sprayer tool. You can then use the other symbolism tools to change the density, color, location, size, rotation,
transparency, and style of the instances in the set.
The Symbol Sprayer tool
(Shift+S) places multiple symbol
instances as a set on the
artboard. See
sets” on page 109.
“Create symbol
The Symbol Shifter tool moves
symbol instances and change
stacking order. See “Change
stacking order of symbol
instances in a set” on page 109.
Last updated 11/8/2011
The Symbol Scruncher tool
moves symbol instances closer
together or farther apart. See
“Gather or scatter symbol
instances” on page 110.
The Symbol Sizer tool resizes
symbol instances. See “Resize
symbol instances” on page 110.
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