Jakubs | November 3, 2022

How to draw shapes in Adobe Illustrator

Are you interested in learning how to draw shapes in Illustrator? In all kinds of pictures, fundamental shapes including squares, circles, polygons, and stars are used. You may simply make whatever shape you want for your artwork if you have the necessary skills and tools. You can get better at drawing simple shapes in Adobe Illustrator CC by using the straightforward advice shown below:

To draw a perfect square or circle with the Rectangle or Ellipse tool, press and hold the Shift key. (Check out the image.) Holding down the Shift key forces the Polygon and Star tools to limit themselves into straight lines, which is another useful trick.

While dragging, hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) key to create a shape from the center out. To remove a confined shape from the center, hold down Alt+Shift (Windows) or Option+Shift (Mac).

If you click and drag to form a star or polygon, if you keep the mouse button depressed you can interactively add points or sides to your shape by using the up or down arrow key.

Using Illustrator to create complex shapes

Occasionally, it could be a good idea to employ Illustrator's sophisticated features to produce original shapes. You may combine, knock out (remove one shape from another), and even generate shapes from intersecting shapes using the Pathfinder panel, which is a fantastic tool.

To combine objects into new shapes, you use the Pathfinder panel, which is depicted in this picture. Select WindowPathfinder to access the Pathfinder panel.

The Shape modes are located in the top row of the Pathfinder panel and allow you to manage how selected shapes interact with one another. The Shape modes described in this table are available for selection.

Tip: If the outcome of the Exclude Overlapping Shapes option appeals to you, you can achieve a comparable result by selecting multiple shapes and selecting ObjectCompound PathMake. The highest shapes are “punched” away from the bottom shape using this instruction.

Tip: If you prefer to edit your artwork, it is helpful that the forms stay separate so
that you may still adjust them (but it drives some people crazy). By pressing the Expand button after choosing the Shape mode or by holding down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac) key while clicking a Shape Mode button, you can combine the results of utilizing the Shape Mode buttons into a single shape.