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Chapter 11: Applying Transformations and Distortions 401 Using Pucker & Bloat Although the Pucker & Bloat command undoubtedly has the coolest sounding name that Illustrator has to offer, this command is also one of the least practical. But Illustrator is a fun program, right? And these commands make it lots of fun. Puckering makes objects appear to have pointy tips sticking out everywhere, and bloating creates lumps outside of objects. Puckering and bloating are inverses of each other; a negative pucker is a bloat, and a negative bloat is a pucker. If you’re bewildered by these functions, stop reading right here. The following information spoils everything. Choosing Pucker & Bloat opens the Pucker & Bloat dialog box, as shown in Figure 11.30, where you can specify a percentage by which you want the selected paths to be puckered or bloated by either typing the amount or dragging the slider. FIGURE 11.30 The Pucker & Bloat dialog box Bloating causes the segments between anchor points to expand outward. The higher the percentage, the more bloated the selection is. You can bloat from -200 to +200. Using Bloat makes rounded, bubble-like extrusions appear on the surface of your object; using Pucker makes tall spikes appear on its path. When you drag toward Pucker, you can type how much you want to pucker the drawing. Pucker amounts can range from -200 to +200. The number of spikes is based on the number of anchor points in your drawing. Figure 11.31 shows the original text (top), the text being puckered (middle), and the text being bloated (bottom). Note Text is great to play with using these distortion commands because it’s still fully editable. You don’t have to create outlines first. 16_584750-ch11.indd 40116_584750-ch11.indd 401 6/3/10 7:56 PM6/3/10 7:56 PM Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work 402 The Pucker & Bloat command moves anchor points in one direction and creates two independent direction points on either side of each anchor point. The direction points are moved in the opposite direction of the anchor points, and the direction of movement is always toward or away from the center of the object. The distance moved is the only thing that you control when you use the Pucker & Bloat command. Typing a percentage moves the points that percentage amount. Note Nothing about the Pucker & Bloat command is random. Everything about it is 100% controllable and, to some extent, predictable. FIGURE 11.31 The original text (above) with Pucker applied (middle) and Bloat applied (below) 16_584750-ch11.indd 40216_584750-ch11.indd 402 6/3/10 7:56 PM6/3/10 7:56 PM Chapter 11: Applying Transformations and Distortions 403 Roughening objects Roughen adds anchor points and then moves them randomly by a percentage that you define. This gives objects a rough-appearing outline. Because the Roughen commands work randomly, you obtain different results when you apply the same settings of the same command to two separate, identical objects. In fact, the results will probably never be duplicated. The Roughen command is a good reason for having the Undo command so you can apply the command, undo, and reapply using a different value until you achieve the desired effect. Figure 11.32 shows an example of using the Roughen command. Tip Using the keyboard, you can continually reapply any command that works randomly and get different results. Select the object and then apply the command by choosing the menu item and typing the values. If you don’t like the result, press Ctrl+Z (Ô+Z) to undo it. Press Ctrl+Shift+E (Ô+Shift+E) to reapply the last effect using a different random value. One important limitation of the Roughen command is that it works on entire paths, even if only part of the path is selected. The best way to get around this limitation is to use the Scissors tool to cut the path into separate sections. Cross-Reference For more on the Scissors tool, see Chapter 6. FIGURE 11.32 The original text (top) with Roughen applied to it (bottom) 16_584750-ch11.indd 40316_584750-ch11.indd 403 6/3/10 7:56 PM6/3/10 7:56 PM Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work 404 The Roughen command does two things at once. First, it adds anchor points until the selection has the number of points per inch that you defined. Second, it randomly moves all the points around, changing them into straight corner points or smooth points, whichever you specified. Choosing Roughen opens the Roughen dialog box, as shown in Figure 11.33, where you can type information to roughen the illustration — literally. FIGURE 11.33 The Roughen dialog box Three options are available: l Size. How far points may move when roughened relative to the width or height (whichever is greater) of the selected path. Choose higher values to increase the apparent roughness. l Detail. How many points are created per inch. Choose higher values to create more points. l Smooth or Corner Points. If you click the Smooth radio button, all the anchor points added are smooth points. If you click the Corner radio button, all the points added are straight corner points. Use Smooth to create soft edges and Corner to create sharp edges. Roughen never takes away points when roughening a path. Tip You can use the Roughen command as a very hip version of the Add Anchor Points command. If the Size text field is set at 0%, the added points are added along the existing path all at once. Instead of going to Add Anchor Points again and again, just try typing a value of 25 in the Detail text field of the Roughen dialog box. You have instant, multiple Add Anchor Points. This technique is great for Tweak (explained later in this chapter) or anything else where you need a bunch of anchor points quickly. 16_584750-ch11.indd 40416_584750-ch11.indd 404 6/3/10 7:56 PM6/3/10 7:56 PM Chapter 11: Applying Transformations and Distortions 405 Transforming objects You find the Transform command under the Distort & Transform submenu of the Effect menu. The transform effect is similar to the Transform panel, except that you can go back and edit as well as see the preview before applying. Choosing Effect ➪ Distort & Transform ➪ Transform opens the Transform Effect dialog box, as shown in Figure 11.34. One really cool feature of this dialog box is the copies text field. Here, you can type a multiple number of copies, as shown in this duplication of a paper doll in Figure 11.35. FIGURE 11.34 The Transform Effect dialog box Tip If the Transform effect doesn’t come out quite the way you want, double-click the name of the effect in the Appearance panel to reopen the Transform Effect dialog box. Make any further changes you want and then click OK to modify the effect. Tweaking transforms Choosing Tweak opens the Tweak dialog box, as shown in Figure 11.36. In this dialog box, you define the amount of tweaking, including the horizontal and vertical percentages and which points are moved (anchor points, in control points, or out control points). Clicking the Relative radio button applies the effect to the Bounding Box edges of the object. Clicking the Absolute radio button moves the points based on the absolute measurements that you type. 16_584750-ch11.indd 40516_584750-ch11.indd 405 6/3/10 7:56 PM6/3/10 7:56 PM Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work 406 FIGURE 11.35 Paper dolls created with the Transform effect FIGURE 11.36 The Tweak dialog box Note No anchor points are added with the Tweak dialog box. If you type 0 in either text field, no movement occurs in that direction. Illustrator bases the percentage on the width or height of the shape — whichever is longer. If you click the Anchor Points check box, all anchor points on the selected path move a random distance corresponding to the amounts set in the Horizontal and Vertical text fields. If you click either the “In” Control Points 16_584750-ch11.indd 40616_584750-ch11.indd 406 6/3/10 7:56 PM6/3/10 7:56 PM Chapter 11: Applying Transformations and Distortions 407 or the “Out” Control Points check box, those points also move the specified distance. In control points are the points on one side of the anchor point that lead into the path. Out control points are the points on the other side of the anchor point that lead out of the path. Tip Consider using the Tweak option when you’re not sure of the size of the selected artwork or when you can only determine that you want points moved a certain portion of the whole but can’t determine an absolute measurement. Figure 11.37 shows an object that has the Tweak effect applied with the Relative option chosen (above) and the same values with the Absolute option chosen (below). The percentages you type pertain to the Bounding Box dimensions and move points up to those limits. If the Bounding Box is 5 inches wide and 2 inches tall and you type a value of 10% for width and height, the points move randomly up to 0.5 inches horizontally and 0.2 inches vertically in either direction. Using the Twist command The Twist command is found by choosing Effect ➪ Distort &Transform ➪ Twist. This cool command rotates or twirls the selected object, with more action being in the center of the object. In the Twist dialog box, as shown in Figure 11.38, you set the Angle of the twist. You can twist paths and text (without converting to outlines) to create some really great effects. One of my favorite looks is to take a starburst of lines and twist them into a flower or spirographic shapes using the Twist and Tweak effects, as shown in Figure 11.39. The top-left image has no Twist applied, but a 10° Twist is added to each consecutive image. A positive number twists the object clockwise; a negative number twists the object counterclockwise. Working with the Zig Zag effect The Zig Zag effect (Effect ➪ Distort & Transform ➪ Zig Zag) changes normally straight paths into zigzagged versions of those paths. When you first choose Zig Zag, the Zig Zag dialog box, as shown in Figure 11.40, opens. The Zig Zag dialog box allows you to specify various parameters of the Zig Zag effect, including the Size, which is how large each zigzag is, and the Ridges per segment, which is the number of zigzags. In addition, you can specify whether you want the zigzags to be curved (click the Smooth radio button) or pointed (click the Corner radio button). Like most of the other Illustrator effects, Zig Zag has a handy Preview check box. The Relative and Absolute options work just like the similarly named options in the Tweak Effect. Figure 11.41 shows an example of zigzagged artwork. 16_584750-ch11.indd 40716_584750-ch11.indd 407 6/3/10 7:56 PM6/3/10 7:56 PM Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work 408 FIGURE 11.37 The top object was tweaked using the Relative option; the bottom object was tweaked using the Absolute option. 16_584750-ch11.indd 40816_584750-ch11.indd 408 6/3/10 7:56 PM6/3/10 7:56 PM Chapter 11: Applying Transformations and Distortions 409 FIGURE 11.38 The Twist dialog box FIGURE 11.39 A range from a 10-degree to a 110-degree Twist was added to the original object (top left). 16_584750-ch11.indd 40916_584750-ch11.indd 409 6/3/10 7:56 PM6/3/10 7:56 PM Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work 410 FIGURE 11.40 The Zig Zag dialog box FIGURE 11.41 Art with a zigzag applied to it 16_584750-ch11.indd 41016_584750-ch11.indd 410 6/3/10 7:56 PM6/3/10 7:56 PM [...]... number of steps that Illustrator uses in the Blend Options dialog box l Blends create a knockout with transparency groups (If you don’t want this, change it in the Transparency panel by deselecting the Knockout Group option.) FIGURE 12.3 The final result is a linear blend 419 Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work Working with Blend Options Adobe has enhanced the Blending functions of Illustrator by making... Blends, Compound Paths, and Masks T hree of the more difficult areas of Illustrator to master are path blends, compound paths, and masks Of course, these are also three of the more powerful functions in Illustrator A blend is a bunch of paths created from two original paths Compound paths consist of two or more separate paths that Illustrator treats as a single path You use a mask to hide portions of... new step, with the objects distributed evenly from their centers Figure 12 .7 shows before and after a blend has been applied to a path In this case, the path used in the lower instance is a circle FIGURE 12 .7 This demonstrates how the original blend (top) is changed after applying Replace Spine (bottom) 423 Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work Reversing the spine This menu option reverses the sequence... by choosing Object ➪ Blend ➪ Make or using the Blend tool However, the end result is usually not very desirable 4 27 Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work FIGURE 12.12 Lines and rectangles are both used for end paths in blends here Calculating the number of steps Whenever you create a blend, Illustrator provides a default value in the Specified Steps text field of the Blend Options dialog box that assumes... like this: (300/53) × (300/53) = 5.66 × 5.66 = 32 A 400-dpi printer at a line screen of 65 has the following formula: (400/65) × (400/65) = 6.15 × 6.15 = 38 A 600-dpi printer at 75 lines per inch uses this formula: (600 /75 ) × (600 /75 ) = 8 × 8 = 64 Sometimes, you may want to reduce the number of blend steps in a blend from the default because either your printer can’t display that many grays or the distance... Blend ➪ Make You can also use the Blend tool by clicking on the two selected shapes 429 Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work 4 To change the number of steps, choose Object ➪ Blend ➪ Blend Options When blending black to white, Illustrator automatically uses 255 steps When blending other colors, Illustrator automatically chooses the best amount Feel free to experiment with changing the number of steps... applied to text 412 Chapter 11: Applying Transformations and Distortions FIGURE 11.43 Each warp style is shown in its own name 413 Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work Summary Distortions and transformations are some of the most fun effects that are built in to Illustrator In this chapter, you learned the following: l l Add awesome effects by using the Liquify tools in a brush-like fashion l The Distort... in your documents IN THIS CHAPTER Creating path blends Using Blend options Making a color blend Creating shape blends Understanding the Difference between Blends and Gradients In Illustrator, a blend is a series of paths that Illustrator creates based on two other paths A series of paths transforms from the first path into the second path, changing fill and stroke attributes as it moves A gradient is... to limitations inherent in Illustrator FIGURE 12.1 Blending to transform (or morph) a shape Because blends work on both stroke and fill attributes of objects, you can create some really exciting effects that aren’t possible by using any other technique, electronic or traditional 416 Chapter 12: Using Path Blends, Compound Paths, and Masks Creating Path Blends Originally, Adobe marketed the Blend tool... pressing W, click the top-left point of the left path, and then click the top-left point of the right path This step tells Illustrator to blend between these two paths, and it uses the top-left points as reference The Blend tool cursor changes from x to + in the lower-right corner Illustrator creates a spine between the two end paths, which are now transparent Figure 12.2 shows the resulting blend 6 . each path is a slightly different tint of black. 17_ 58 475 0-ch12.indd 4 171 7_58 475 0-ch12.indd 4 17 6/3/10 7: 57 PM6/3/10 7: 57 PM Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work 418 FIGURE 12.2 This blend moves. blend. 17_ 58 475 0-ch12.indd 419 17_ 58 475 0-ch12.indd 419 6/3/10 7: 57 PM6/3/10 7: 57 PM Part II: Putting Illustrator to Work 420 Working with Blend Options Adobe has enhanced the Blending functions of Illustrator. traditional. 17_ 58 475 0-ch12.indd 416 17_ 58 475 0-ch12.indd 416 6/3/10 7: 57 PM6/3/10 7: 57 PM Chapter 12: Using Path Blends, Compound Paths, and Masks 4 17 Creating Path Blends Originally, Adobe marketed