Adobe Illustrator on the iPad is a powerful tool with features meant to help you be creative and save time in the process.
This includes drawing helpers like Radial Repeat, Grid Repeat and Mirror Repeat.
So, let's take a look at those.
We'll start with Radial Repeat which repeats content around a circle.
You can see an example of it being used here.
Now to get started, with the Selection Tool selected, select some artwork.
You can then apply Radial Repeat from the menu in the Taskbar on the right, you can immediately see the artwork is repeated around the circle.
Some adjustments need to be made to make it look the way I want to.
First thing I'll do is change the size of the circle that the artwork is going around which will change the spacing between the dots.
You can drag the widget here to do that.
To move the repeat object into position, drag any of the artwork on the circle.
To change the number of copies of the artwork around the circle, you can drag this widget on the right down or up.
Now if you drag and release, you can drag again to add or remove even more.
If you want to add a specific number, in the Properties panel on the right you can adjust the amount manually here.
You can also adjust where the artwork starts and ends on the path.
Dragging either part of this widget, the left arrow or the right arrow, you can change where the repeated artwork shows.
Now if you want to edit any of the original artwork, you can double tap any of the artwork on the circle.
I'll resize the artwork to make it smaller using the Touch shortcut to constrain it.
And that changes them all.
Tapping away to deselect and then selecting it again, if you wanted to edit the shapes independently, you can apply the Expand command in the Taskbar over here.
This will create a group of shapes that can no longer be edited using the Radial Repeat options.
The next type of drawing helper is called Grid Repeat which can be used to create something similar to a pattern.
Now in this example, you can see an array of half circles filling the space.
To apply a Grid Repeat, tap to select some artwork, and then choose Grid Repeat from the Taskbar menu on the right.
Grid Repeat changes selected artwork to a repeating element with a series of handles and widgets you can use to edit the repeat.
You can drag the handle on the right to show more or fewer columns of artwork and the bottom handle to show more or fewer rows.
The two widgets you see here on the top are for repositioning the artwork within the grid horizontally and changing the spacing between each element horizontally.
Same goes for these but vertically.
If you need to, you can resize the entire grid by dragging a corner and the proportions are constrained by default.
Now if you want to edit the artwork, you can double tap any of the repeated artwork maybe to change the Fill of the shape in the Toolbar.
As you can see, the change is then applied to all repeated elements in the grid.
Like Radial Repeat if you want to edit the shapes independently, you can apply the Expand command over here in the Taskbar menu.
Once again, this will create a group of shapes you can no longer edit via the Grid Repeat options.
The last type of drawing helper is called Mirror Repeat.
This can be used to create symmetrical artwork.
You draw half of your artwork and Illustrator creates the other half, maybe to create a perfectly symmetrical logo or icon where changes you make to one half are automatically made to the other keeping the symmetry.
If you select existing artwork, you can choose Mirror Repeat from the Taskbar menu here and you can see the other half automatically appear.
Now you can adjust the spacing between the halves by dragging the widget here to change the spacing between them, even overlapping them.
You might find you need to pinch to zoom in or out more easily to see the widget.
To rotate the mirrored part, you can drag the widget below the artwork or above.
Now the original artwork can still be edited.
Tapping on this part maybe and dragging, you can see the same thing happening on the right.
You can even change formatting, add, delete, draw, and transform artwork on the original half.
Once you finished if you tap away, then you tap back on, you won't see the control handles for mirroring.
Both has a group together and they move as a single object now.
To see those widgets again, double tap the artwork, and you can make your edits.
If you want to access both halves of the artwork, maybe to combine them, once again, you can apply the Expand command in the Taskbar.
Now that you know how to work with the repeat drawing helpers, try them out.
They'll make it easier for you to be more productive and creative.
