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Real World Adobe Illustrator CS2 by Mordy Golding

www.adobepress.com

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Change the shape of things with the closed and open path shape tools in Illustrator CS2

The closed path shape tools and open path shape tools in Adobe® Illustrator® CS2 make easy work of creating all types of shapes, including stars, ellipses, and spirals. Now you can take shape drawing into overdrive using the shape tools with keyboard shortcuts and interactive commands.

Closed path shape tools

The closed path tools in Illustrator CS2 comprise the Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse, Polygon, and Star tools, and are all grouped together in the Toolbox (Figure 1). To create any of these shapes, choose the desired tool, click the artboard, and drag outward. While dragging the mouse, you can add commands to interactively adjust the shape. See Table 1 for a list of these interactive commands.

closed path tools

Figure 1: The closed path shape tools are all grouped together with the Rectangle tool in the Toolbox.

Table 1: Drawing with closed path shape tools
Interactive command	Rectangle tool	Rounded Rectangle tool	Ellipse tool	Polygon tool	Star tool
Keyboard shortcut	M	N/A	L	N/A	N/A
Shift	Shift constrains all sides to be equal, resulting in a perfect square.	Shift constrains all sides to be equal, resulting in a perfect square with rounded corners.	Shift constrains all arc segments to be equal, resulting in a perfect circle.	Shift constrains the bottom side to be parallel to the constrain angle.	Shift constrains the bottom two points to be parallel to the constrain angle.
Option (Alt)	Option (Alt) draws the shape out from its center point instead of its corner.	Option (Alt) draws the shape out from its center point instead of its corner.	Option (Alt) draws the shape out from its center point instead of its corner.	N/A	N/A
Command (Control)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Command (Control) adjusts the inner radius of the shape.
Spacebar	Spacebar allows you to reposition the shape on the artboard	Spacebar allows you to reposition the shape on the artboard.	Spacebar allows you to reposition the shape on the artboard.	Spacebar allows you to reposition the shape on the artboard.	Spacebar allows you to reposition the shape on the artboard.
Tilde	Tilde creates multiple copies of the shape	Tilde creates multiple copies of the shape	Tilde creates multiple copies of the shape	Tilde creates multiple copies of the shape	Tilde creates multiple copies of the shape
Up arrow	N/A	Up arrow increases the corner radius value.	N/A	Up arrow increases the corner radius value.	Up arrow increases the corner radius value.
Down arrow	N/A	Down arrow decreases the corner radius value.	N/A	Down arrow decreases the number of sides.	Down arrow decreases the number of points.
Right arrow	N/A	Right arrow turns on the rounded corners.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Left arrow	N/A	Left arrow turns off the rounded corners.	N/A	N/A	N/A
Moving the mouse	N/A	N/A	N/A	Moving the mouse in a circular motion rotates the shape.	Moving the mouse in a circular motion rotates the shape.

Open path shape tools

The open path tools in Illustrator comprise the Line Segment, Arc, Spiral, Rectangular Grid, and Polar Grid tools, and they are all grouped together in the Toolbox (Figure 2). To create any of these shapes, choose the desired tool, click the artboard, and drag outward. While dragging the mouse, you can add commands to interactively adjust the shape. See Table 2 for a list of these interactive commands.

open path tools

Figure 2: The open path shape tools are all grouped together with the Line tool in the Toolbox.

Table 2: Drawing with open path shape tools
Interactive command	Line segment tool	Arc tool	Spiral tool	Rectangular grid tool	Polar grid tool
Keyboard shortcut	\ (backslash)	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Shift	Shift constrains the path to angles in 45-degree increments.	Shift constrains the X and Y axis, creating a perfect quarter circle.	Shift constrains the path to angles in 45-degree increments.	Shift constrains the grid to a perfect square.	Shift constrains the grid to a perfect circle.
Option (Alt)	N/A	Option (Alt) draws the arc out from its center point instead of its corner.	Option (Alt) draws the shape out from its center point instead of its corner.	Option (Alt) draws the grid out from its center instead of its corner.	Option (Alt) draws the grid out from its center instead of its corner.
Command (Control)	N/A	N/A	Command (Control) adjusts the decay of the path (making the winds of the spiral more drastic).	N/A	N/A
Spacebar	Spacebar allows you to reposition the shape on the artboard.	Spacebar allows you to reposition the shape on the artboard.	Spacebar allows you to reposition the shape on the artboard.	Spacebar allows you to reposition the shape on the artboard.	Spacebar allows you to reposition the shape on the artboard.
Tilde	Tilde creates multiple copies of the shape.	Tilde creates multiple copies of the shape.	Tilde creates multiple copies of the shape.	Tilde creates multiple copies of the shape.	Tilde creates multiple copies of the shape.
Up arrow	N/A	Up arrow increases the slope of the curve to make it more convex.	Up arrow increases the number of segments in the spiral.	Up arrow increases the number of rows in the grid.	Up Arrow increases the number of concentric dividers.
Down arrow	N/A	Down arrow decreases the slope of the curve to make it more concave.	Down arrow decreases the number of segments in the spiral.	Down arrow decreases the number of rows in the grid	Down arrow decreases the number of concentric dividers.
Right arrow	N/A	N/A	N/A	Right arrow increases the number of columns in the grid.	Right arrow increases the number of radial dividers.
Left arrow	N/A	N/A	N/A	Left arrow decreases the number of columns in the grid	Left arrow decreases the number of radial dividers.
Moving the mouse	N/A	N/A	Moving the mouse in a circular motion rotates the path	N/A	N/A
C	N/A	C draws the arc as a closed shape instead of an open path.	N/A	C, X skews the columns in the grid to the left or the right.
F	N/A	F flips the X and Y axis of the path.	N/A	F, V skews the rows in the grid to the top or the bottom.	C, X skews the concentric dividers toward or away from the center.
V	N/A	N/A	N/A	F, V skews the rows in the grid to the top or the bottom.	F, V skews the radial dividers toward the left or right.
X	N/A	N/A	N/A	C, X skews the columns in the grid to the left or the right.	C, X skews the concentric dividers toward or away from the center.