Adobe Illustrator CS6 Tutorial : How to Use The Blend Tool
Today I am going to cover a very interesting tool of Adobe Illustrator CS6 The Blend Tool. Its uses are almost magical. Once mastered you can create beautiful art.
Let's see how it works,
1) Create 2 circle at a distance from each other.
2) Select the blend tool from the tools pallet or press W on your keyboard to activate blend tool. Click on any of the points of circle. In this example I clicked on the center of the first circle and then click on the center of the second circle.
3) Double click on the blend tool icon in the tools pallet. This opens up a dialog box which has 3 options in the drop down menu.
a) Smooth Color: This option creates a smooth blend or gradient between the colors of the 2 object. Select the blend tool and click on any of the point on the circle.
b) Specified Steps: This create number of steps specified in the dialog box. Put in number of steps you need. Enter more steps to get smooth blend. I entered 2 so only 2 shapes were created in between to 2 circles.
You can achieve interesting effects by clicking on other point on the shape rather than center of the shape. In this example I have clicked on 1st point of the 1st star and then on the 5th point of the star on 2nd star.
You can create interesting art with blend tool. Let's see with an example.
1) create shape as below.
2) Select the blend tool and click sequentially on curves. Double click the blend tool and select specified distance 4px.
3) Duplicate and flip it on the other side.
4) Create 2 shapes as shown in red. Double click the blend tool and select specified distance 4px.
5) Select the blend tool and click on shape 1 and then shape 2.
6) Add facial features and change hair color. Add body.
Lastly blend tool has an option to wrap around the blended shapes around a shape or any path.
1) Create 2 stars shapes at a distance from each other.
2) Create a blend between the 2 . Double click on blend tool and select specified steps to 3.
3) Create a circle. Select both the star and circle.
4) Go to object > blend> Replace Spine.
5) Select the scissor tool and click on the first point.
6) Double click the blend tool and enter the value in specified Distance field up or lower the value as desired. You can expand the shape and apply various color effects.
So that was a comprehensive cover on the Blend Tool. Hope that was informative and you learnt a thing or 2 from it.
Practice and play around with that tool and and 1 day you will be able to create awesome art with it in a professional manner and become a Really Creative Graphic Designer.
Don't forget to share your art with me and follow me on Twitter and Pinterest.
Let's see how it works,
1) Create 2 circle at a distance from each other.
2) Select the blend tool from the tools pallet or press W on your keyboard to activate blend tool. Click on any of the points of circle. In this example I clicked on the center of the first circle and then click on the center of the second circle.
b) Specified Steps: This create number of steps specified in the dialog box. Put in number of steps you need. Enter more steps to get smooth blend. I entered 2 so only 2 shapes were created in between to 2 circles.
c) Specified Distance: This create the blend between the objects at the specified distance rather than steps. Each object or shape is equally place at the specified distance between the 2 objects or shapes. This is helpful to create diagrams or graphs where objects are need to be placed at a specific distance from on another.
That's what the blend tool options are. Blend Tool works not only on shape but on any path you make. Simply make the shapes and then click sequentially on the shapes you want to blend.
You can achieve interesting effects by clicking on other point on the shape rather than center of the shape. In this example I have clicked on 1st point of the 1st star and then on the 5th point of the star on 2nd star.
1) create shape as below.
1) Create 2 stars shapes at a distance from each other.
3) Create a circle. Select both the star and circle.
4) Go to object > blend> Replace Spine.
5) Select the scissor tool and click on the first point.
So that was a comprehensive cover on the Blend Tool. Hope that was informative and you learnt a thing or 2 from it.
Practice and play around with that tool and and 1 day you will be able to create awesome art with it in a professional manner and become a Really Creative Graphic Designer.
Don't forget to share your art with me and follow me on Twitter and Pinterest.
