Page 43 - CC2017_AI_Look_Inside

sheAr And reFleCt drAwing objeCts
Illustrator includes four transformation options — Rotate, Reflect, Scale, and Shear.
Each of these transformations can be applied by hand using the related tool in the
Tools panel; numerically using the fields in the Transform panel; or numerically using
the appropriate dialog box from the Object>Transform menu. In this exercise, you will
use these methods to finish the picnic table artwork.

1. With icons.ai open, choose the Rectangle tool in the Tools panel.

2. Draw a vertical rectangle beginning at the bottom of the artwork and ending
at the bottom edge of the top horizontal shape (as shown after Step 3).
Illustrator recognizes certain basic shapes, including rectangles, ellipses, and lines. When
one of these shapes — called Live Shapes — is selected, the lower half of the Transform
panel includes properties specific to the type of shape. For a rectangle, you can change
the height, width, rotation angle, and corner radius for each corner.

3. With the Constrain option turned off, change the W field in the Transform
panel to the same value you used for the horizontal shapes’ height in the
previous exercise.
Illustrator recognizes this
shape as a rectangle.

Change the W field to
match the height of
the longer horizontal
objects.

For a Live Shape, the
Transform panel includes
properties specific to the
active type of shape.

4. Select the Shear tool (nested under the Scale tool) in the Tools panel.
When you select one of the transformation tools, an origin point appears by default
at the center of the selected object. This origin point acts as an anchor when using the
transformation tools; it is the point around which transformations occur. You can single-
click anywhere to define a different origin point.

5. Move the cursor to the bottom edge of the vertical rectangle. When you see
the word “path” in the cursor icon, click to reposition the origin point.
The word “path” is another function of Illustrator’s Smart Guides; when you move the
cursor near an existing path, Illustrator identifies the path so you can place a point
exactly on top of the existing path.

Default origin point
Use Smart Guides to Click to relocate
align the cursor to the the origin point.
object edge.
Shear
tool

Project 1: Campground Icons 55