Adobe Illustrator Tools Overview

Selection Tools

• Selection Tool (V):

  • Fundamental tool for selecting entire objects, groups, and clipping masks.
  • Also used for moving, scaling, rotating, and rounding corners.

• Direct Selection Tool (A):

  • Selects individual paths, anchor points, and handles.
  • Selects individual objects inside groups or clipping masks.

• Group Selection Tool:

  • No default shortcut.
  • Selects objects inside a group without ungrouping.

• Magic Wand Tool (Y):

  • Selects objects with similar properties like color and stroke.
  • Works across groups and clipping masks.

• Lasso Tool (Q):

  • Selects anchor points inside a drawn path, including those in groups and clipping masks.

Drawing Tools

• Pen Tool (P):

  • Draws paths by adding anchor points and handles for curvature.
  • Closing a path by clicking back at the first anchor.

• Add Anchor Point Tool (+):

  • Adds anchor points to a path.

• Delete Anchor Point Tool (-):

  • Removes anchor points while optionally preserving the path with Shift.

• Anchor Point Tool (Shift C):

  • Adds, removes, or edits handles on anchor points.

• Curvature Tool (Shift ~):

  • Similar to Pen Tool but creates curved paths automatically.

• Type Tools:

  • Type Tool (T): Adds and edits text.
  • Area Type Tool: Text inside a path.
  • Type on a Path Tool: Text follows a path.
  • Vertical Type Tools: Similar functionalities for vertical text.
  • Touch Type Tool (Shift T): Edits individual text characters.

Shape Tools

• Line Segment Tool (): Draws lines.

• Arc Tool: No default shortcut; draws arcs.

• Spiral Tool: No default shortcut; draws spirals.

• Grid Tools:

  • Rectangular Grid Tool: Draws grids with customizable columns and lines.
  • Polar Grid Tool: Draws polar grids with subdivisions.

• Basic Shapes:

  • Rectangle Tool (M): Squares/rectangles.
  • Rounded Rectangle, Ellipse (L), Polygon, Star, Flare Tools: Create various geometric shapes.

Brush Tools

• Paintbrush Tool (B): Creates hand-drawn styled paths.

  • Blob Brush Tool (Shift B): Fills compound paths, merging with existing ones.

• Shaper Tool (Shift N): Converts drawn shapes into geometric figures.

• Pencil Tool (N): Similar to paintbrush, for freeform paths.

Editing Tools

• Smooth Tool: No shortcut; smooths selected paths.

• Path Eraser Tool: Erases parts of a path.

• Join Tool: Joins open paths.

• Eraser Tool (Shift E): Erases parts of objects.

• Scissors (C) & Knife Tools: Splits and cuts objects.

Transformation Tools

• Rotate Tool (R): Rotates objects.

• Reflect Tool (O): Reflects objects.

• Scale Tool (S): Scales objects proportionally and directionally.

• Shear Tool: Skews objects.

• Reshape Tool: Reshapes paths; can add anchor points.

• Width Tool (Shift W): Adjusts stroke width at specific points.

Distortion Tools

• Warp Tool (Shift R): Deforms paths.
• Twirl, Pucker, Bloat, Scallop, Crystalize: Various deformation effects.

Transformation and Mesh Tools

• Free Transform Tool (E): Scale, rotate, shear, perspective transformations.
• Puppet Warp Tool: Distorts objects using a mesh.

Shape Builder & Live Paint Tools

• Shape Builder Tool (Shift N): Unites or deletes paths.
• Live Paint Bucket (M): Paints enclosed paths.

Perspective Tools

• Perspective Grid Tool (Shift P): Adds a perspective grid.
• Perspective Selection Tool (Shift V): Moves objects within the perspective.

Color & Gradient Tools

• Mesh Tool (U): Creates a color mesh on objects.
• Gradient Tool (G): Adjusts gradients.
• Eyedropper Tool (I): Copies colors and other properties.

Measurement Tools

• Measure Tool: Measures distances and angles.

Blend & Symbol Tools

• Blend Tool (W): Blends objects.
• Symbol Tools (Shift S): Creates and manipulates symbols.

Graph, Artboard & Web Tools

• Graph Tools (J): Creates graphs with data input.
• Artboard Tool (Shift O): Manages artboards.
• Slice Tools (Shift K): Creates and manipulates slices for web export.

Navigation Tools

• Hand Tool (H): Moves across the artboard.

• Rotate View Tool (Shift H): Rotates the view.

• Zoom Tool (Z): Zooms in and out smoothly.

Tips

• Most tools have additional functionalities when using Shift, Alt, or Ctrl/Cmd keys.
• Experiment with tool customization by pressing the Enter key.

Conclusion

• This overview provided insights into the 87 tools available in Adobe Illustrator. Each tool has unique functionalities and shortcuts to optimize design workflow.