Jacquelin Vanderwood
November 2004
The first thing we need to do is select the Star tool. That would really help in this lesson.
With the tool selected, click on the document area to open up the Options for Star. Set Radius 1 to 2 inch and Radius 2 to 1 inch. Let's use 6 points.
If we then hit Ok, the star we create will look like the one below. That's fine but let's say that's not quite what we had in mind.
Suppose we try to draw the same star with the Star tool and this is what we get. What do we do then?
Here's a little secret. Hold down the Alt key and BAM! you have your 6 pointed star just like you wanted it.
Oh but the star isn't level. How do I fix that? While drawing with the Alt key down, also press the Shift key.
Suppose I want a 6 pointed star but I want the points to be longer. How do I do that? With the Star tool selected, click on the document and create the star. Don't let go of the mouse. Now press the Control and Shift keys and DRAG. Pulling outward will make the star bigger and pulling inward will make the star smaller.
Another thing to keep in mind is that if you do not have the any keys pressed at the time of star creation, you can keep the mouse pressed and turn the star. If you pressed the Shift key you can increase and decrease the size while staying in the vertical position. If you press the Spacebar with the mouse pressed you can move the star anywhere on the document.
Here's something interesting. Create a 20 point star. Open Transform Effect and set copies to 7 and Angle to 10 degrees. To view the result, hit Preview and it will look as though we've spent at least an hour making a daisy. If we set the copies to 10 and Angle to 15 degrees we get something akin to a sun.
Copyright (c) 2004, Jacquelin Vanderwood, All Rights Reserved