Three Totally Awesome Illustrator Tools

By | Tutorials

Welcome back from the long weekend—hope you had a fun Labor Day! We had a crazy fun time this weekend! Did I tell you that my hubby is an aspiring comedian (I know random, right)? Well, he usually just does local gigs, but this weekend he got booked for a show at the Hollywood Improv Comedy Club (how cool is that)! So, Davian and I decided to tag along—you just can’t miss an opportunity to get away to southern California. We went to Venice Beach, played at Santa Monica Pier, and took a stroll down Hollywood Boulevard—it was a blast! But, it’s time to get back to life, and what better way than with a fresh, new tutorial? Follow along, and learn more about three totally awesome Illustrator tools!

Three Totally Awesome Illustrator Tools

There are approximately 1.4 million (maybe a bit of an overstatement) tools in Adobe Illustrator and literally an infinite number of ways to use them. This can make it slightly (maybe a bit of an understatement) intimidating when you dive in. There are lots of tools I use almost on a daily basis, but today I’d just like to highlight three:

1. Split Into Grid: This is a tool I stumbled upon when I was trying to mix squares and rectangles while spacing them out evenly. I was doing a bunch of tedious measurements. Splitting shapes in half or fourths isn’t too bad, but thirds and sevenths, c’mon, you’re asking a lot here! I thought to myself, “There has got to be a better way.” Well, there is, it’s called the split into grid tool, and it’s magnificent!

Object>Path>Split Into Grid

2. Transform Again (Duplicate): I’ve used this tool in probably every tutorial I’ve done, and I always call it the “Duplicate” tool. That’s what I was told it’s called, and it made sense to me because the shortcut is [⌘D]. The actual term for the tool is transform again (much more lame). Regardless of the name, it is quite possibly THE most useful tool in the Illustrator realm.

Object>Transform>Transform Again
Shortcut: ⌘D

3. Blend: While you can use the transform again tool to do much the same thing as the blend tool, there are definitely times when blend is more appropriate and saves you a lot of time. Great for fitting specific shapes into specific spaces!

Object>Blend>Blending Options
Object>Blend>Make
Shortcut: ⌥⌘B

Note: ⌥ means the Option/Alt key

Now, are you ready to see these sweet tools in action? Take a look:

Thanks for putting up with my less-than-professional Illustrator tutorials! I hope you were able to learn something new and add a new tool or two to your Illustrator repertoire!

What are some of your favorite tools to use in Adobe Illustrator?

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Mandee is a professional graphic designer, amateur bird watcher, and rollercoaster enthusiast. She is a wife to hardworking high school teacher and mommy to three adorable little humans. She fell in love with graphic design when she started working on a comedy website with a guy she met her freshman year of college. Design wasn’t the only thing she fell in love with, and they were married a year and a half later. She created Designs By Miss Mandee to be a place where she could merge her passion for design with her lifelong love of crafting.
6 Comments

6 Comments on Three Totally Awesome Illustrator Tools

  1. irene (apfmhead)
    September 9, 2015 at 9:57 am (9 years ago)

    That tutorial really help me. Well Explained. Thanks!
    XOXO

    Reply
    • Mandee
      September 9, 2015 at 11:13 am (9 years ago)

      That’s awesome to hear! Thanks for letting me know—I’m so happy that you found it useful!!

      Reply
  2. Carmia
    September 9, 2015 at 12:39 pm (9 years ago)

    Oh wow, I did not know of the split into grid option! That’s going to save me loads of time. And I haven’t really used the blend tool much so I’m excited to try it out again after seeing your video. Thanks for the great tips, Mandee!

    Reply
    • Mandee
      September 10, 2015 at 9:17 am (9 years ago)

      Yeah, I had no idea about the “Split into Grid” tool for a long time either! Now I use it like ALL THE TIME!! So glad you found my tutorial useful!! ^_^

      Reply
    • Mandee
      September 15, 2015 at 4:54 pm (9 years ago)

      Thanks Sydney! Glad you liked it. 🙂

      Reply

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