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Design

Davis Gramza
Davis Gramza
5,363 Points
Posted by Davis Gramza
Davis Gramza
5,363 Points

Don't have box around arrow like instructor

When I create the line and transform it into an arrow, I get 2 anchors and something to rotate it in the middle. However, looking at the video, it seems she has full control. With what I get, I am not able to move it around like a shape and it is frustrating me very much, any help is appreciated. Thanks! The link to the video i'm talking about is https://teamtreehouse.com/library/adobe-illustrator-for-web-design/creating-a-wireframe/adding-arrows-and-using-stroke

Cory Harkins
Cory Harkins
16,500 Points
Cory Harkins
Cory Harkins
16,500 Points

With practice comes ease of use.

There are multiple options to command control over adobe functions.

From my personal experience with Illustrator (3+ years) it isn't touch pad friendly (in case you are on a laptop) and the selection tool can lend to many a headache.

As I said, many ways to control objects/illustrations.

To quickly rotate objects:

  • use the hotkey 'r' to bring up your rotate tool, also found on the left tool panel of your artboard area. -with the rotate tool you can spin basic shapes with no issues as to their symmetry to another object: What I mean by that is, if you have an arrow in this case, you can rotate it 180 degrees and it will point opposite to its origin point; however, if you were rotating an illustration of an eye, you wouldn't be so fortunate. Leading me to another option:

  • she went into the menu to do this, but that takes forever... (if forever is 4 seconds... sometimes it feels like it) -to access your reflect/transform options on the fly, you can select your object using the select tool (hotkey: 'v'), or drag select all vertices of your object with the direct select tool (hotkey: 'a') and using your mouse, right click to bring up a select menu. From there you should see options to reflect/transform your objects.

Some common hotkeys to remember to better your goal of full control:

Select tool : v Direct select tool: a Eye Dropper: i (Swap between 'a' and 'i' by using the command key with 'i' as your default)

To copy an object: alt/option To drag an object along a horizontal/vertical path: drag+shift

To copy and drag an object along a straight path (like in the video):

 select the object, alt + shift + drag

Rotate tool: r To expand/contract an object on all sides symmetrically: shift + option + drag a corner

To expand/contract an object while maintaining a fixed axis on one side: shift + drag a corner

I hope this helps!!!