Using the Different Distorts - Adobe Illustrator Tutorial

Jacquelin Vanderwood November 15, 2003   1 Let's see what the different Distorts found in Illustrator can do. Open up Filter and Distort (a static filter).   2 With this Distort you can immediately view the wireframe which works very quickly. Go ahead and move the corner points and see how quickly it redraws.   3 Press OK. As you can see, I made the words Double Dip into outlines but the word ice cream is still text. This makes this filter difficult to use as it does not apply distort to all selected items. Hit Control+Z to undo.   4 Now let's access the live Distort effect.   5 The first thing we see is that we cannot see our artwork.  Distort using the corner points and press Ok.  6 As you can see, only the face and background became distorted. This Distort filter also dislocated some of the pieces of art.  One other thing that is noticeable is that our paths are still in the original position. You can use the Direct Selection tool to manipulate the paths then when you are happy with the results make the work permanent by choosing Expand. Press Control+Z to undo.   7 The last and best alternative for Distort is using the Free Transform tool (E). With this tool you can rotate and scale your artwork.   8 Start dragging on the corner point and then press the Control key. With the Free Transform tool it is much easier to keep control of the distort than using the previous two options. Our paths also transform right along with the distort.    9 Undo the last distort and then begin dragging again but this time press Shift+Control+Alt to distort the perspective. Undo.   10 This time press the Control+Alt keys. Undo.   11 Finally, use the Control+Shift keys. One drawback to all of these features is that they will not distort text. On the other hand, to really have full control of distorting your object or artwork, using the Free Transform tool is preferable. Now if we convert all of the text to outlines we can see that the redraw is much quicker and everything distorts accordingly.     Copyright 2003, Jacquelin Vanderwood, All Rights Reserved