Adobe Illustrator CS5 One-on-One

BOENZ

BOENZ

The idea behind this exercise is that—thanks to graphic styles, the

Appearance panel, and dynamic effects—you can use a single base

fi le to create a series of continuous, fl uid variations. If you have any

doubt, compare Figures 10-5 (page 334), 10-15 (339), 10-25 (346),

and 10-28. What starts as a birthday napkin for Babs becomes a

kid’s Halloween decoration. And because all effects are scalable,

you can make the net result any size you like. Only in Illustrator.

Exploiting the Transform Effect

As I mentioned at the outset, Effect→Distort & Transform→Transform

is my favorite dynamic effect. This one command lets you move,

fl ip, scale, rotate, and clone the appearance of one or more selected

objects, all from a central dialog box. The net result is that you can

create patterns of paths or text blocks at a moment’s notice, and

then manipulate the whole pattern in one fell swoop by making

adjustments to the original object.

In this exercise, I’ll demonstrate how to create a simple rotation

pattern, create a beveled stroke effect, and nudge an object using

the Transform Effect. You’ll also get a chance to try your hand at

one of my favorite path wigglers, Pucker & Bloat.

1.

Open a simple line drawing. Open the fi le called

Boenz.ai found inside the Lesson 10 folder. The fi le

contains three objects: a background square (which

will remain unchanged), a compound shape (the