Quickly Edit Shapes in Illustrator
Tricks | February 4th, 2008
Sometimes I get very lazy, especially illustrating. I don’t want to draw things a couple of times to see if I like it. This happens all the time with the Star Tool. I usually have to draw the shape a few times to see how many points I like and see if the radius is the right size . Not any more! You just drag out the star shape, press a couple of buttons and you have a burst just the way you like it!
Notes
These tricks should be available from Illustrator 10 and up (actually I think that they are available in the lower versions as well, if anyone still uses them).
Arrow Keys
Arrow Keys will increase the points on the Star Tool and Polygon Tool. These keys will also add segments on the Spiral Tool and add columns and rows to the Rectangular Grid Tool and Polar Grid Tool.
Spacebar
Holding the Spacebar while dragging will reposition the shape.
⌘ / Ctrl
Holding the ⌘ / Ctrl Key while dragging will fix the inner radius of the Star Tool and add or subtract the decay in the Spiral Tool.
Tilde (~)
Holding the Tilde (~) while dragging will repeat the shape based on the length and speed of the drag.
These are the ones I know about, I’m sure there is more. Let me know if I missed any!
Holding the up or down arrow while drawing a rounded rectangle lets you resize the corner radius. That’s a handy one.
Wow that is a great one! I always had to go the filters or effects to change the corners. You just saved me some time.
Great tips! I will be putting these to use!
On PC, you don’t have tu use the tilde, instead push % key to have same effect
Very useful tips. Thanks a lot.