Adobe Illustrator CS5 One-on-One

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TRANSFORM AND RESHAPE

IN REAL LIFE, a transformation is a complete change, an

overhaul that forever improves something. In Illustrator, a trans-

formation is very nearly the opposite—much less grand, much

more common, defi nitely not an overhaul. A transformation is any

operation that changes a path without compromising its original

structure. After transforming a path, its points and segments remain

basically in the same position relative to each other.

An example is scaling. If you enlarge a fi ve-pointed star, it’s still a

fi ve-pointed star—it’s just bigger. Rotation is also a transformation.

So are refl ecting and slanting (what Illustrator calls shearing). These

are the main four transformations, as shown in Figure 5-1, but you

could argue that there are others as well. Offsetting a path moves all

the points outward or inward. The reshape tool rearranges points,

but the stretched shape remains recognizable. Even the simple act

of moving a path is a transformation.

While transformations are hardly transformative, they are unde-

niably powerful. They permit you to size paths to match. You can

repurpose paths and build ambitious illustrations. And with a few

seconds’ work, you can transform and duplicate paths to create sym-

metrical shape sequences that would take minutes (or even hours)

to render with traditional tools.

The Fine Art of Reshaping

The reshape tool isn’t the only way to reshape a path. (In fact, it

may be my least preferred way—although the results are often in-

teresting, they’re only sometimes helpful and seldom predictable.)

Instead, the pen tool offers such extreme control that it’s possible

to position every anchor point and control handle exactly where

you want them so you never need touch them again. These are the

kinds of manipulations that I refer to as reshaping. While it’s pos-

Figure 5-1 .

Scale

Rotate

Refl ect

Shear

ABOUT THIS LESSON

you’ve downloaded the lesson fi les from

www.oreilly.com/go/Deke-IllustratorCS5,

as directed in Step 2 on page xiv of the

Preface. This should result in a folder called

Lesson Files-AIcs5 1on1 on your desktop.

We’ll be working with the fi les inside the

Lesson 05 subfolder.

Transformations are simple operations, but they can produce pow-

erful results when used wisely. In this lesson, you’ll learn how to:

• Move and clone elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 139

• Simulate depth by offsetting a path . . . . . . . . . page 146

• Use the scale tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 150

• Master the rotate and refl ect tools, and

combine the tools used by this point to create

series of objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 157

• Transform multiple objects with respect to

their individual origin points . . . . . . . . . . . . page 163

• Apply the scale and rotate tools to

partial selections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . page 169

Video Lesson 5: Selecting and Aligning

Selecting an object or set of objects allows you to edit,

alter, group, or move items inside your artwork. In this

video, I’ll show you how to select objects with Illustrator’s

two selection arrow tools, the black and white arrows.

And then I’ll show you how to align objects precisely and

effi ciently with Illustrator’s Align options.

To see selections live, visit www.oreilly.com/go/deke-Il-

lustratorCS5. Click the Watch button to view the lesson

online or click the Download button to save it to your

computer. During the video, you’ll learn these shortcuts:

Operation Windows shortcut Macintosh shortcut

Select the black arrow tool Press the V key Press the V key

Display the Preferences dialog box Ctrl+K -K

Select the next object below

Ctrl+Alt+

(left bracket) -Option- (left bracket)

Select through one object to another Ctrl-click with the black arrow -click with the black arrow

Turn on or off smart guides Ctrl+U -U

Select entire objects inside groups Alt-click with the white arrow Option-click with the white arrow

Ungroup everything Ctrl+Shift+G -Shift-G

Display the Appearance panel Shift+F6 Shift-F6

Select the lasso or magic wand tool Press the Q or W key Press the Q or W key

Display the Align dialog box Shift+F7 Shift-F7

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Lesson 5: Transform and Reshape