Transformations

1
Transformations
2
Basic Transformations

• There are five tools used for Basic
  Transformations in Illustrator
• Rotate, Scale, Reflect, Shear, and Reshaping
  (using the Free Transform Tool).

3
Using the Tools

• Dialog Box Method Select the whole object to be
  transformed, then double-click the Rotate, Scale,
  Reflect, or Shear tool to open the tools dialog
  box and choose a command. You can also click
  Copy within this dialog box to copy and
  transform the selected object.

4

• Dragging Method Select the object, select a
  transformation tool, position the pointer outside
  the object, then drag.
• To repeat a transformation, choose Object gt
  Transform gt Transform Again.

5
Point of Origin

• The objects point of origin is in the center of
  the selected object by default. To change the
  point of origin, select a transform tool and
  click the new point of origin on the artboard.
  Then, using the same tool, click and drag
  anywhere on the artboard to transform the
  selected object from the newly defined point of
  origin.

6

• Note If you transform an object from its centre
  of origin and then select another object and
  apply the Transform Again command, the point of
  origin for the newly selected object will be the
  same one used for the first object transformed.

7
Rotating

• When using the dialog box to rotate, enter a
  positive Angle to rotate counter-clockwise or a
  negative Angle to rotate clockwise.
• If the object contains a Pattern, clicking
  Pattern in the dialog box will also Rotate the
  pattern.

8
Scaling

• Using the Dialog Box
• Uniform Scale Scales Proportionately
• Non-Uniform Scales Non-Proportionately

9
Reflect (Flip)

• Using the Dialog Box
• With the Reflect Tool you can flip an object on a
  Horizontal, Vertical, or Specified Angle Axis.

10
Shear (Slant)

• Using the Dialog Box
• With the Shear Tool you can slant an object on a
  Horizontal, Vertical, or Specified Angle Axis.

11
Bounding Box/Free Transform

• With the Bounding Box option turned ON objects
  can be scaled, rotated, and reflected.
• All of this can also be performed by the Free
  Transform tool, however the Free Transform tool
  can also Shear (Ctrl-drag side handle), Distort
  (Ctrl-drag corner handle), and add Perspective
  (Ctrl-Alt-Shift-drag corner handle).

12
Multiple Transformations

• Select one or more objects, choose Object gt
  Transform gt Transform Each.
• The Dialog Box will allow you to Scale, Move,
  and/or Rotate at once. If Random is checked the
  transformations will be done at Random by
  Illustrator. For ex. Rotate 35 will rotate
  anywhere between 0 and 35.

13
Transform Effect

• Effect gt Distort Transform gt Transform Effect
  does the same job as Transform Each, however
  Transform Effect allows you to edit the
  Transformations by saving them to the Appearance
  Panel.