New Brush
Art Brush
Step 1: Open the Brushes panel from the overhead
menu Window > Brushes.
Step 2: Click on the folded menu and choose New Brush. You’ll see five
brush types.
Step 3: Choose a brush type and customize the settings. The settings for
each brush are different.
Step 4: You can edit the brush style in this dialog window. Change the brush
name, direction, colorization, etc.
The most important part is Colorization. Choose Tints and Shades,
otherwise, you wouldn’t be able to change the brush color when you use it.
Click OK and you can use the brush!
How to Create a Pattern Brush in Illustrator
You can use this method to turn a vector into a brush. All you need to do is
drag a vector pattern or shape to the Brushes panel.
For example, I’ll show you how to make a pattern brush from this sun icon.
Step 1: Select the sun vector and drag it to the Brushes panel. The New
Brush setting window will pop up.
Step 2: Choose Pattern Brush and click OK.
Step 3: Change Pattern Brushes Options settings. From this settings window,
you can change the spacing, colorization, etc. I usually change the
colorization method to Tints and Shades. You can explore the options and see
how it looks from the preview window.
Click OK once you’re satisfied with the pattern brush and it’ll show on the
Brushes panel.
Try it out.
Stroke
Stroke panel
You can apply stroke options to an entire object, or you can use Live Paint groups and
apply different strokes to different edges within the object.
Layers Magazine instructor Dave Cross shows you how to apply fill and stroke in Illustrator
and some handy shortcuts to work with fill and stroke in this tutorial.
Apply a stroke color, width, or alignment
1. Select the object. (To select an edge in a Live Paint group, use the Live Paint
Selection tool.)
2. Click the Stroke box in the toolbar, the Color panel, or the Control panel. Doing
so indicates that you want to apply a stroke rather than a fill.
Stroke box
3. Select a color from the Color panel, or a swatch from the Swatches panel or
Control panel. Alternatively, double-click the Stroke box to select a color using
the Color Picker.
Note:
If you want to use the current color in the Stroke box, you can simply drag the color
from the Stroke box onto the object. Dragging does not work on Live Paint groups.
4. Select a weight in the Strokes panel or Control panel.
5. If the object is a closed path (and not a Live Paint group), choose an option from
the Stroke panel to align the stroke along the path:
• Align Stroke To Center
• Align Stroke To Inside
• Align Stroke To Outside
Notes:
• In the current version of Illustrator, the Align Stroke To Inside option is
applied by default while you're creating a web document. In some earlier
versions of Illustrator, Illustrator would apply the Align Stroke To
Center option by default.
• If you try to align paths that use different stroke alignments, the paths may
not exactly align. Make sure the path alignment settings are the same if
you need the edges to match up exactly when aligned.
Create strokes with variable widths
Available in the toolbar, the Width tool enables you to create a variable-width stroke and
save the variable width as a profile that can be applied to other strokes. You can now
adjust or expand the variable-width strokes easily with fewer anchor points as Illustrator
applies simplified paths on the strokes.
When you mouse over a stroke with the Width tool, a hollow diamond appears on the path
with handles. You can adjust the stroke width, move the width point, duplicate the width
point, and delete the width point. For multiple strokes, the Width tool adjusts only the
active stroke. If you want to adjust a stroke, make sure that you select it as the active
stroke in the Appearance panel.
To create or modify a width point using the Width Point Edit dialog box, double-click the
stroke using the Width tool and edit the values for the width point. If you select the Adjust
Adjoining Width Points check box, changes to the selected width point affect neighboring
width points as well.
To automatically select the Adjust Adjoining Width Points check box, press Shift and
double-click the width point. The Width tool distinguishes between continuous and
discontinuous width points while adjusting the variable width.
Width Point Edit dialog box for continuous points
To create a discontinuous width point, do the following:
1. Create two width points on a stroke with different stroke widths.
Two width points created
2. Drag one width point on to the other width point to create a discontinuous
width point for the stroke.
Discontinuous width point created by dragging one width point on to the other width point
For discontinuous points, the Width Point Edit dialog box shows both sets of side widths.
Width Point Edit dialog box for discontinuous points
Width tool controls
Do any of the following:
• Drag the handles outward or inward to adjust the stroke width at that location on
the path. Width points created at a corner or at a direct-selected anchor point stick
to the anchor point during basic editing of the path.
• To change the position of the width point, drag the point along the path.
• To select multiple width points, press Shift and click. In the Width Point Edit dialog
box, specify values for Side 1 and Side 2 of multiple points. Any adjustment to the
width points affects all the selected width points.
• To globally adjust the stroke weight for all the width points, specify the stroke
weight in the Weight drop-down list of the Stroke panel.
Save width profiles
After defining the stroke width, save the variable-width profile using the Stroke panel, the
Control panel, or the Properties panel.
A. Uniform Width Profile option B. Save Width Profile icon C. Delete Width Profile
icon D. Reset Width Profile icon
Do any of the following:
• To apply width profiles to selected paths, choose them from the Width Profile
drop-down list in the Control panel or Stroke panel. When a stroke with no variable
width is selected, the list displays the Uniform option. Select the Uniform option to
remove a variable-width profile from an object.
• To restore the default width profile set, click the Reset Profiles button at the
bottom of the Profile drop-down list.
Note:
Restoring the default width profile set in the Stroke Options dialog box removes any
custom saved profiles.
If you apply a variable-width profile to a stroke, it is indicated with an asterisk (*) in the
Appearance panel.
For Art and Pattern brushes, the Width Points/Profile option is automatically selected for
size in the Stroke Options dialog box after you edit a brush path with the Variable Width
tool or apply a Width Profile preset. To remove any width profile changes, select the Fixed
option for size or one of the tablet data channels, such as Pressure, to restore the tablet
data options.
Create dotted or dashed lines
You can create a dotted or dashed line by editing an object’s stroke attributes.
1. Select the object.
2. In the Stroke panel, select Dashed Line. If the Dashed Line option isn’t showing,
choose Show Options from the Stroke panel menu.
3. Click the icon: Align Dashes to Corners and Path Ends, Adjusting Length to
Fit . This option allows you to make the dashes at the corners and ends of
the paths consistent and predictable. If you need to retain the appearance of the
dashes without aligning then select the Preserve exact dash and gap
lengths icon.
Dash Adjustments at the corners
A. Preserved exact dash and gap lengths B. Aligned dashes to corners and path
ends, adjusting lengths to fit
4. Specify a dash sequence by entering the lengths of dashes and the gaps
between them.
The numbers entered are repeated in sequence so that once you have
established the pattern, you don’t need to fill in all the text boxes.
5. Select a cap option to change the ends of the dashes. The Butt Cap option
creates square-ended dashes; the Round Cap option creates rounded dashes
or dots; the Projecting Cap option extends the ends of dashes.
