Quick Tip: Using the Rotate Tool in Adobe Illustrator
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Quick Tip: Using the Rotate Tool in Adobe Illustrator

on Aug 24th 2011 with 8 comments
Tutorial Details
  • Program: Illustrator CS and above
  • Difficulty: Intermediate
  • Length: 2:08 min

At first glance, the Rotate tool is pretty basic. But there are some little-known techniques you can use to enhance its functionality. Find out more in this Video Quick Tip.

 
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Cheryl Graham trained as a traditional artist in drawing and painting. These days she spends more time in front of the computer than the easel. She's been using Adobe Illustrator for over 15 years. Her Illustrator work has been featured in the "The Adobe Illustrator WOW! Book" and "Real World Illustrator."  

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  • http://www.ballardcreative.com James Ballard

    Gotta love the option key! Just knowing to option click to set the point was gold! I was always so frustrated with that. Awesome sauce!

  • http://www.margaretnicholdesign.com margaretnicholdesign

    I use the rotate tool QUITE often. I work a lot with packaging and when you need to make sure things fold up right with the dieline the rotate tool is not only useful, but essential for precision.

  • http://www.digitalsutras.com Alankar Misra

    If I needed rays I’d use the transform again instead of the Alt copy technique. Transform like its shown in the video, hit “Copy” and then use Edit > Transform Again over and over to get the rays. Good video overall though. Crisp and clear. Thank you!

    • Cheryl

      Alankar – I used the Opt/Alt-Copy technique for two reasons: 1. To demonstrate said technique, and 2. because I didn’t want the rays to be uniform. So drag-copying them at random angles resulted in the rays overlapping, and then with re-coloring, you get the look of many different sized rays.

      But yes, Transform Again, or the Transform Effect would work for rays as well. Thanks for watching!

  • http://sosparkly.photoshop.com Sherri

    Cheryl,
    Always enjoy your content, thanks!

  • http://www.everythingink.ca Mike

    Cheryl,

    Great quick tip – especially the alt/click to get the dialog box (I didn’t know this). When making a uniform sunburst you can also make your first duplicate and then press ctrl / cmd + d multiple times to repeat the same action.

    Hope to see more from you.

  • Nahdia

    Good to know you can change degrees~!

  • Carlos Ferreira

    My options on the dialog box are grayed out. How can i change the angle of a pattern or gradient without changing the actual shape?