Adobe Illustrator Tools

illustrator tools

You use tools in the Tools panel to create, select, and manipulate objects in Illustrator. Some tools have options that appear when you double-click a tool. These include tools that let you use type, and select, paint, draw, sample, edit, and move images.

Selection Tools

The Selection tool (V) selects entire objects.
The Direct Selection tool (A) selects points or path segments within objects. 
The Group Selection tool selects objects and groups within groups.           
The Magic Wand tool (Y) selects objects with similar attributes.
The Lasso tool (Q) selects points or path segments within objects.
The Artboard tool creates separate artboards for printing or export.

Drawing Tools

The Pen tool (P) draws straight and curved lines to create objects.
The Add Anchor Point tool (+) adds anchor points to paths.
The Delete Anchor Point tool (-) deletes anchor points from paths.
The Convert Anchor Point tool (Shift+C) changes smooth points to corner points and vice versa.
The Line Segment tool (\) draws individual straight line segments. 
The Arc tool draws individual concave or convex curve segments. 
The Spiral tool draws clockwise and counterclockwise spirals.
The Rectangular Grid tool draws rectangular grids. 
The Polar Grid tool draws circular chart grids. 
The Rectangle tool (M) draws squares and rectangles.
The Rounded Rectangle tool draws squares and rectangles with rounded corners. 
The Ellipse tool (L) draws circles and ovals.
The Polygon tool draws regular, multi-sided shapes.
The Star tool draws stars.
The Flare tool creates lens-flare or solar-flare-like effects. 
The Pencil tool (N) draws and edits freehand lines. 
The Smooth tool smooths Bezier paths.
The Path Eraser tool erases paths and anchor points from the object. 
The Perspective Grid allows creating and rendering artwork in perspective.
The Perspective Selection tool allows you to bring objects, text, and symbols in perspective, move objects in perspective, move objects in perpendicular to its current direction. 

Type Tools

The Type tool (T) creates individual type and type containers and lets you enter and edit type.
The Area Type tool changes closed paths to type containers and lets you enter and edit type within them. 
The Type On A Path tool changes paths to type paths, and lets you enter and edit type on them. 
The Vertical Type tool creates vertical type and vertical type containers and lets you enter and edit vertical type. 
The Vertical Area Type tool changes closed paths to vertical type containers and lets you enter and edit type within them. 
The Vertical Type On A Path tool changes paths to vertical type paths and lets you enter and edit type on them.

Painting Tools

The Paintbrush tool (B) draws freehand and calligraphic lines, as well as art, patterns, and bristle brush strokes on paths. 
The Mesh tool (U) creates and edits meshes and mesh envelopes.
The Gradient tool (G) adjusts the beginning and ending points and angle of gradients within objects, or applies a gradient to objects.
The Eyedropper tool (I) samples and applies color, type, and appearance attributes, including effects, from objects. 
The Live Paint Bucket tool (K) paints faces and edges of Live Paint groups with the current paint attributes. 
The Live Paint Selection (Shift-L)tool selects faces and edges within Live Paint groups. 
The Measure tool measures the distance between two points.
The Blob Brush tool (Shift-B)draws paths that automatically expand and merge calligraphic brush paths that share the same color and are adjacent in stacking order.

Reshaping Tools

The Reflect tool (O) flips objects over a fixed axis. 
The Rotate tool (R) rotates objects around a fixed point. 
The Scale tool (S) resizes objects around a fixed point. 
The Shear tool skews objects around a fixed point. 
The Reshape tool adjusts selected anchor points while keeping the overall detail of the path intact.
The Free Transform tool (E) scales, rotates, or skews a selection.
The Blend tool (W) creates a series of objects blended between the color and shape of multiple objects. 
The Width tool (Shift+W) allows you to create a stroke with variable width. 
The Warp tool (Shift+R) molds objects with the movement of the cursor. 
The Twirl tool creates swirling distortions within an object. 
The Pucker tool deflates an object by moving control points towards the cursor. 
The Bloat tool inflates an object by moving control points away from the cursor.
The Scallop tool adds random curved details to the outline of an object.
The Crystallize tool adds random spiked details to the outline of an object.
The Wrinkle tool adds wrinkle-like details to the outline of an object. 
The Shape Builder tool merges simple shapes to create custom, complex shapes. 

Symbolism Tools

The Symbol Sprayer tool (Shift+S) places multiple symbol instances as a set on the artboard.
The Symbol Shifter tool moves symbol instances and change stacking order.
The Symbol Scruncher tool moves symbol instances closer together or farther apart. 
The Symbol Sizer tool resizes symbol instances.
The Symbol Spinner tool rotates symbol instances. 
The Symbol Stainer tool colorizes symbol instances. 
The Symbol Screener tool applies opacity to symbol instances. 
The Symbol Styler tool applies the selected style to symbol instances. 

Graph Tools

The Column Graph tool (J) creates graphs that compare values using vertical columns.
The Stacked Column Graph tool creates graphs that are similar to column graphs, but stacks the columns on top of one another, instead of side by side. This graph type is useful for showing the relationship of parts to the total.
The Bar Graph tool creates graphs that are similar to column graphs, but positions the bars horizontally instead of vertically.
The Stacked Bar Graph tool creates graphs that are similar to stacked column graphs, but stacks the bars horizontally instead of vertically.
The Line Graph tool creates graphs that use points to represent one or more sets of values, with a different line joining the points in each set. This type of graph is often used to show the trend of one or more subjects over a period of time.
The Area Graph tool creates graphs that are similar to line graphs, but emphasizes totals as well as changes in values.
The Scatter Graph tool creates graphs that plot data points as paired sets of coordinates along the x and y axes. Scatter graphs are useful for identifying patterns or trends in data. They also can indicate whether variables affect one another.
The Pie Graph tool creates circular graphs whose wedges represent the relative percentages of the values compared.
The Radar Graph tool creates graphs that compare sets of values at given points in time or in particular categories, and is displayed in a circular format. This type of graph is also called a web graph.

Moving Tools

The Hand tool (H) moves the Illustrator artboard within the illustration window.
The Print Tiling tool adjusts the page grid to control where artwork appears on the printed page.
The Zoom tool (Z) Increases and decreases the view magnification in the illustration window.

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