Hidden Tools in Adobe Illustrator that you didn’t know
Hidden Tools in Adobe Illustrator that you didn’t know – One of the most popular graphic design programs available is Adobe Illustrator. Graphic designers mostly utilize it to create Vector pictures and designs.
Despite Illustrator’s user-friendliness, it has a ton of capabilities that you probably weren’t aware it had. This is due to the fact that they have been concealed from view for the entire time. We’ll show you where to look for them and how to utilize them in this post.
Where do I find the Hidden Tools in Illustrator?
As seen in the Illustrator environment, the default place to find tools is ToolBox. The ToolBox by default displays just 16 tools, by selecting and holding a few of the tools, you can easily access other tools related to them.
For Example, the Rectangle tool carries both the Ellipse and Star tools. You can locate them by selecting and holding the Rectangle tool.
Despite putting only 16 tools on the display screen, there is a three-dotted (…) button at the bottom of the toolbox that displays all 87 tools in Adobe Illustrator once selected. These 87 tools include hidden tools.
What Are Illustrator’s Hidden Tools?
These tools under the three-dotted (…) button are arranged under categories to help you locate them easier.
There are 6 categories, there include Select, Draw, Type, Paint, Modify, and Navigate.
Each category has several icons that are grayed out because the default toolbar already has them. There are no selectable icons in the hidden toolbar, but they will momentarily show up there when you utilize them.
1. The Hidden Select Tools
In comparison to Photoshop, Illustrator doesn’t employ the Magic Wand tool (Y) as much. It makes it simple to choose groupings of colors. The default toolbar contains all of the other Select tools.
2. The Hidden Draw tools
As stated above, the Draw category comprises 44 tools, with 11 of them grayed out as they can be found on the main toolbar. The Rounded Rectangle, Polar Grid, Rectangular Grid, Add Anchor Point, Delete Anchor Point, Spiral, and Flare, as well as several graphs, symbols, perspectives, and other tools, are among the 33 surviving tools.
The Polar Grid tool allows users to draw a grid applied to a circle. It is also described as the spider web tool.
Symbol Sprayer tool (Shift + S), allows users to spray pain on selected across the canvas.
Symbol Sizer is used to resize sprayed symbols, Symbol Shifter used to move individual symbols, the Symbol Stainer if for recoloring while Symbol screener is used to adjust the transparency.
3. Hidden Type Tools
The majority of Type tools are already on the toolbar, and in our Adobe Illustrator typography tutorial, we’ve covered some of the hidden Type tools. However, you may locate them in the hidden toolbar under the Type category if you’re having trouble finding them or want to know what else is accessible.
Any closed route may be converted into a text box using the Area Type tool, which can then be used to alter the path’s form. This works well for designing layouts and adding text to places with unique shapes. The same functionality is provided by the Vertical Area Type tool, except your text is displayed vertically rather than horizontally.
Read also – Who is a Graphics Designer? & How to be One
5. The Hidden Paint Tools
Compared to other hidden tools, the Paint tools are less absurd because they are not hidden at all. The majority of the Paint tools found in the hidden toolbar are also found on the standard toolbar, though some of them might be tucked away beneath other icons, like the Mesh tool, which is stacked beneath the Gradient tool.
The Live Paint Bucket (K) and Live Paint Selection (Shift + L) tools are the only two whose default settings are not used. The majority of people are familiar with the former’s keyboard shortcut. If you’ve ever searched for these Paint tools without success, you now know where to look.
6. The Hiden Modify Tools
The Eyedropper, Reflect, Shear, and Width tools are among the Modify tools that you use frequently without giving it a second thought (the latter is used to scale paths in Illustrator). The tools indicated above can all be found on the standard toolbar, but those that aren’t can be found tucked away behind the ellipses.
Read also – How to Use Color Grading Feature in Adobe Lightroom
You may click and drag any route or anchor point with the Reshape tool to relocate it wherever you wish. You are not limited to Bezier curves, anchor points, or angles.
For all your customization requirements, you may also find the Twirl, Crystallize, Pucker, Bloat, and Warp tools here. The Modify tab also contains the Puppet tool. The Puppet tool in Photoshop may be used to create animations; it functions similarly to Illustrator.
7. The Hidden Navigate tool
The Print Tiling tool is the only Navigate item that is absent from the main toolbar. Utilizing the Print Tiling tool will enable you to see the cut-off regions and margins and conserve space when printing your design. This makes sure that when you print, there won’t be excessive quantities of white space or corners that are chopped off.
How do i add the Hidden tools to my toolbar?
It will be simpler if the hidden tools are put to the toolbar rather than having to trace the different tools indicated above to the three-dotted menu. We will walk you through the steps to do that.
- Go to the menu bar, select Window
- in the drop-down menu, select Toolbars then New Toolbars.
- Name your new Toolbar then select the tools you wish to have in your new Toolbar.
Final words
Super-powerful Adobe Illustrator is a program with a ton of unreleased capabilities. We have shown you the few things we think you are unaware of. Keep in mind that each tool and feature has a specific purpose.
Hidden Tools in Adobe Illustrator that you didn’t know
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