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 ...