Adobe Illustrator CS5 One-on-One

Bloat: 100%

Eight-sided polygon

Pucker: –50%

Eight-pointed star

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THE AMAZING WORLD OF

DYNAMIC EFFECTS

WHEN WORKING with vectors, most folks naturally as-

sume that they have to draw each and every path outline exactly as

it appears in the finished illustration. Granted, Pathfinder opera-

tions, blends, and other features help to limit your reliance on the

pen tool. But if you want, say, flower petals or a starburst, you have

to assemble them as one or more path outlines.

In fact, that’s not true. Take Figure 10-1, for example.

The shapes at the top of the figure are static path

outlines. That is to say, they exist as they appear.

The eight-sided polygon comprises eight anchor

points and eight straight segments; the eight-pointed

star comprises sixteen anchor points and sixteen

straight segments. Press Ctrl+Y (or -Y) to switch

to the outline mode, and you see the very same

shapes, albeit without fills and strokes.

The bottom shapes in the figure are dynamic path

outlines. Meaning that they are not what they

appear and can be modified at a moment’s no-

tice. In each case, I selected the static path of

the same color and chose Effect→Distort &

Transform→Pucker & Bloat. The ensuing dia-

log box supplies a single numerical value that

puckers (pinches) when negative and bloats

(spreads) when positive. I bent the sides of the

polygon outward and gathered in the corners

by assigning a value of ...