• Adobe Illustrator, Tip

    Posted on May 24th, 2009

    Written by douglaspaulwade

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    Setup

    The sweep arrow tail has been created as a brush. I have a file already created in the file called, “Adobe Illustrator Startup RGB.ai”, which contains the brush. Download it and open the folder “C:\Program Files\Adobe\Illustrator 10\Plug-ins” (or where the application was installed). Rename the existing file “Adobe Illustrator Startup_RGB.ai” to anything you like and copy the download file into the folder. This file is for the RBG color profile only.

    Usage

    To generate a sweep arrow, launch Illustrator and open a “New” document, File > New. Select the radio button labeled “RGB Color” and click OK.

    New Document

    New Document

    When the new file opens, make sure the following palettes are visible: Brushes. If not visible, from the menu bar Windows, toggle on the items.

    Brush Menu

    Brush Menu

    The New window should appear, it should be similar to this example.

    Illustrator Desktop

    Illustrator Desktop

    Using the pen tool sa-pen or other tools, draw an arc (tail is first point) whichwill become the sweep arrow shaft. The arc should be a simple two-points arc. The arc should be consistent and fluid. This may be drawn on the original illustration first (for best fit).

    Line or Arrow Shape

    Line or Arrow Shape

    With the line still selected, turn off fill and stroke (located on bottom of the toolbar).

    Fill and Stroke

    Fill and Stroke

    Click on the brush that looks like a sweep arrow tail in the Brushes window.

    Brush Palette

    Brush Palette

    The arc will change to a sweep arrow without a head.

    Sweep Arrow Tail

    Sweep Arrow Tail

    With the line still selected and from the menu bar, select Filter > Stylize > Add Arrowheads…

    Stylize Menu

    Stylize Menu

    Change the End to 10 and Scale to 180% and click OK. Note: if the head of the arrow is on the wrong end, change the End to Start (on add arrowhead).

    Add Arrowhead

    Add Arrowhead

    If the head of the arrow is not filled, select the head only and apply black fill. The sweep arrow is complete. The arrow can be sized (adjusted from the end point) or moved.

    This entry was posted on Sunday, May 24th, 2009 at 9:52 am and is filed under Adobe Illustrator, Tip. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.

  • 2 Comments

    Take a look at some of the responses we have had to this article.

    1. Eli Ally
      May 12th

      I always use Adobe illustrator at work because i work in an animation studio. this is really a serious tool for the graphic artist..’*

    2. Microcontroller Programming ·
      Nov 7th

      adboe illustrator is feature packed and i love all of its great features ‘

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