Applying Selection Techniques in Adobe Illustrator CS4
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Learn how to apply Illustrator selection techniques in this excerpt from Adobe Illustrator CS4 Classroom in a Book.
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- Choose File > Open, and open the L2start_02.ai file in the Lesson02 folder. This document has two artboards that you will navigate.
- You don't need the panels for this lesson, so hide them by pressing Shift+Tab.
You can also hide the panels individually or by groups using the Window menu.
- Choose 2 from the Artboard Navigation menu in the lower left corner of the document window. Make sure that the current artboard is visible by choosing View > Fit Artboard In Window.
- Artboard 2 shows the final assembled artwork.
- Choose 1 from the Artboard Navigation menu to return to the first artboard.
- Choose View > Zoom Out to see both artboards.
- Holding down the spacebar to temporarily access the Hand tool, click and drag the artboards to the left until you see both artboards completely.
- Choose View > Smart Guides to turn off the smart guides temporarily.
- With the Selection tool, select the white flower shape (the daisy). Notice that it is part of a group of objects (the word Group appears in the Control panel). To avoid grabbing a bounding box handle and accidentally resizing the shapes, click and drag the yellow center of the flower group to slide it to its new location as the head of the green flower stem on the left.
- Double-click the yellow center to enter isolation mode. Click to select the light yellow shape and drag it so that it's more centered on the other two shapes.
- Click outside of the shapes to deselect the yellow center.
- Press Escape to exit isolation mode.
- Using the Selection tool, drag the orange sunflower base and the brown sunflower center into position.
- With the Selection tool, click and drag across the leaf vein shapes below and to the right of the flowers to select all three shapes. Choose Object > Group.
- Click and drag the grouped leaf veins onto the right leaf. Click a blank area of the artboard to deselect the group.
- Select the orange and brown sunflower shapes with the Selection tool by Shift-clicking them. Choose Object > Lock > Selection to keep them in position.
You cannot select the shapes until you choose Object > Unlock All. Leave them locked for now.
- Select the Zoom tool in the Tools panel and click three times on the leaves at the bottom of the flowers on the current artboard (artboard 1).
- Using the Direct Selection tool, click the anchor point on the tip of the left leaf. When the individual point is selected it appears as a solid point (active); the other anchor points are hollow (inactive). Click and drag the individual anchor point to change its position.
If you are having difficulty accessing only one anchor point, choose Select > Deselect. Then using the Direct Selection tool, click and drag a marquee around the point, encompassing it with the selection marquee.
- Individually select other anchor points in the leaf shape and move them in different directions to reshape the leaf.
- Double-click the Hand tool in the Tools panel to fit the artboard in the window.
- Select the Selection tool. The sunflower center consists of four small, light brown ellipses. Click to select one of the ellipses. In the Control panel, click the Select Similar Objects button to select all four of the ellipses. Choose Object > Group. Drag the group into position in the center of the orange and brown sunflower.
- Using the Selection tool, hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to copy, or clone, the object. With the key held down, drag the flower center group to the center of the white flower. Position the cloned group as the white flower's center. Make sure to release the mouse button before releasing the Alt or Option key.
- Choose File > Save and close the file.
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