Adobe Illustrator tips: transform each (not transform) for formatting axes labels etc. + PDF tips
Transform vs. Transform Each in Adobe Illustrator
Use “Transform Each” to rotate, scale, reflect, etc. individual items in place (rather than all together)
Not regular transform. . .
You can check the preview square to see what it would look like
Click Copy if you want it to make the changes as a copy. Click Ok if you want it to change the original
Make sure you have individual items selected. Go into the group if applicable, use the Direct Selection tool (A, white arrow), or click down to the individual object level you want
Working with PDFs in Adobe Illustrator
To edit a PDF within a larger file, embed the linked file (unless you want to edit the file itself, in which case you can choose that option).
You may need to release clipping masks (just be careful it doesn’t mess up any formatting when you do)
Then, clean up paths to remove empty paths that get left over
Past post on Adobe Illustrator fundamentals - a guide and walk-through of some key features. I updated my tip guide, which I will link to, and made a video demonstrating the various aspects the guide lists. This is by no means a comprehensive guide, but it will hopefully help you create simple figures.
blog: https://bit.ly/adobe_illustrator_fund... ; YouTube: • Adobe Illustrator fundamentals ; download: https://bit.ly/bumbling_uploads
selecting & grouping objects
⁃ V (black arrowhead): select (selects “highest level” - object or group of objects)
⁃ A (white arrowhead): direct select (selects “lowest level” - individual anchor points or objects inside of groups if you click in the center of the object)
⁃ note: if you select an individual object out of a group, you can command+V after selecting it with command + A in order to manipulate that object
⁃ hold down shift when selecting to select multiple objects
⁃ command + A: select all
⁃ object → select → same…: select objects with same stroke or fill color, etc. - great for recoloring graphs
⁃ command + G: group selected objects
⁃ shift+command + G: ungroup selected objects
other shortcuts:
⁃ command + Z to undo
⁃ command + shift + Z to redo
⁃ command + + to zoom in
⁃ command + - to zoom out
⁃ command + Y to see outlines
⁃ command + H to hide or show edges (if you can’t find your edges and/or anchor points you might have accidentally clicked this!)
⁃ command + C to copy
⁃ command + V to paste
⁃ command + F to paste in place (super useful!)
reformatting objects
⁃ use shift when scaling objects in order to preserve aspect ratio (e.g. don’t squish things horizontally or vertically)
⁃ use shift when drawing lines or rotating objects in order to constrict to set angles (90°, 180°, etc. - you can alter these degree defaults in the settings)
⁃ use shift when moving with arrows, increasing text size or stroke width, etc. in order to move further/higher, etc. in bigger increments
⁃ use shift when dragging to constrain angles (so, for example, you can drag vertically without moving horizontally, or vice versa)
⁃ use option when rescaling objects in order to scale them while preserving the position of their center
⁃ object → transform → transform each if you want to scale, turn, etc. multiple objects in place rather than as a group (e.g. spin each around their own center)
⁃ hold down option while dragging (and before releasing the mouse) in order to make a copy of the object at the new location (and leave the original where it was)
⁃ I (eyedropper tool): let’s you mimic another objects format (color, line width, etc.) - select an object then press I, then click another object whose format you want to mimic
arranging objects
⁃ command + [ to send selected object backwards
⁃ command + shift + [ to send selected object all the way back
⁃ command + ] to send selected object forward
⁃ command + shift + ] to send selected object all the way to the front
⁃ sometimes objects don’t seem to be cooperating when you try to arrange them - they could be in different groups or layers. try grouping them together, then ungrouping them and arranging again
⁃ you can lock items with command + 2 and unlock things with option + command + 2
more tips in comments
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