Adobe ILLUSTRATOR 10 Using Manual page 63

Adobe Illustrator Help
Using Help | Contents
When a rectangle tool or the ellipse tool is selected, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option
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(Mac OS) to draw rectangles and ellipses by dragging from the center of the rectangle
or ellipse outward.
When you create an object with a rectangle or the ellipse tool, a center point appears in the
object. You can use this point to drag the object or to align the object with other elements
in your artwork. The center point can be made visible or invisible, but it cannot be deleted.
To create a rectangle or ellipse by dragging from an edge:
1 Select the rectangle tool , the rounded-rectangle tool , or the ellipse tool .
2 Position the pointer at one corner or edge of the shape you want to create, and drag
diagonally until the shape is the desired size.
3 As you drag, you can do either of the following:
To constrain the tool to multiples of 45 degrees, creating squares with the rectangle
•
tool and circles with the ellipse tool, Shift-drag.
To move a rectangle or ellipse as you draw it, hold down the spacebar.
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To create multiple rectangles or ellipses, hold down ~ (tilde).
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To adjust corners of a rounded rectangle as you draw:
1 Select the rounded-rectangle tool.
2 Position the pointer where you want the rectangle to begin, and start dragging
diagonally.
3 As you drag, you can do any of the following:
Press or hold down Up Arrow or Down Arrow to change the corner radius. When the
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corners are the desired roundness, release Up Arrow or Down Arrow.
Press Left Arrow to change to the minimum radius (most angular corners).
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Press Right Arrow to change to the maximum radius (most rounded corners).
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4 Continue dragging with the rectangle tool until the rectangle is the desired size.
To create a rectangle or ellipse by dragging from the center:
1 Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) with the rectangle tool, rounded-rectangle
tool, or ellipse tool selected.
2 Position the pointer where you want the center of the shape to be, and drag diagonally
to any corner or edge until the shape is the desired size. Shift-drag to constrain the tool to
multiples of 45 degrees.
To draw a rectangle or ellipse by specifying dimensions:
1 Select a rectangle tool or the ellipse tool.
2 Click in the artwork to set the origin from which you want to create the shape. To draw
rectangles and ellipses from the center of the point of origin, Alt-click (Windows) or
Option-click (Mac OS).
By default, the Rectangle and Ellipse dialog boxes display the dimensions of the last
rectangle or ellipse drawn. The unit of measure is determined by the unit of measure set in
the Document Setup or Units & Undo Preferences dialog box.
3 In the Width text box, enter the width you want the shape to be.
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