Stylize: Now You re Stylin

Stylize: Now You're Stylin'!

The group of Stylize Live Effects gets a bit more visibility than other effects for one main reason: the celebrity factor. Among the different effects you'll find in the Stylize submenu is the rock star of all Live Effects, the Drop Shadow. Although there's nothing that special about the Drop Shadow effect per se, it seems designers these days are trying to find untold ways to add drop shadows to their artwork. We don't discriminate between different Live Effects (we're an equal opportunity educator), and the reality is, plenty of other useful effects appear in the Stylize submenu including Add Arrowheads, Feather, Inner and Outer Glow, Round Corners, and the sleeper Live Effect of the yearScribble.

The Scribble effect looks simple at first glance, but refer to "What If . . . You Apply the Scribble Effect to Multiple Fills?" later in this chapter to see how powerful the effect can be.

The Add Arrowheads Effect

If you need to add arrowheads to the end of paths for creating diagrams or callouts, the Add Arrowheads Live Effect is just for you. With any path selected, choose Effect > Stylize > Add Arrowheads. From the Add Arrowheads dialog, you can specify 27 different types of arrowheads for both the start and/or end of your path (Figure 7.75). A helpful Preview check box makes it easy to see the results of the effect on your artboard as you experiment with different arrowhead styles.

Figure 7.75. The Add Arrowheads dialog offers a variety of styles, although unfortunately, there's no way to define or create your own.

The Drop Shadow Live Effect is covered in Chapter 3.

Illustrator uses the stroke width of your path to determine the size of the arrowhead, but you can adjust the size to perfection by using the Scale setting at the bottom of the dialog. You'll also notice that the arrowheads always match the orientation of the path, so if you adjust the path after you've added the effect, the arrowhead updates accordingly.

Another way to add an arrowhead to a stroke is to define and use a custom Pattern brush. Refer to Chapter 5 for more information on Pattern brushes.

The Feather Effect

Vector paths are known for their clean, crisp edges, but at times, you want a softer edge to your objects. That's where the Feather effect can be of help. Choose Effect > Stylize > Feather and specify an amount to determine how soft of an edge you want your shape to have. You can even apply a Feather effect directly to a placed photograph (Figure 7.76).

Figure 7.76. With a placed image selected, you can apply a Feather effect as you would to any vector object.

It's interesting to note that the Add Arrowheads effect works on both open and closed paths. The filter is also a great way to quickly figure out the direction of a path.

The Inner Glow and Outer Glow Effects

As a variation to the Drop Shadow effect, Illustrator also offers an Inner Glow and an Outer Glow effect. You can find both of these effects in the Effect > Stylize submenu.

Try using a Feather on an object that you're using as an opacity mask; this allows you to create a mask with soft edges.

The Inner Glow effect adds a soft glow to the inside area of an object. From the Inner Glow dialog, you can choose the Center option, which starts the glow from the center of the object and extends it toward the edges, or you can choose the Edge option, which begins the glow in the opposite directionfrom the edge toward the center of the shape (Figure 7.77). The Outer Glow effect adds a soft glow to the outside edges of an object.

Figure 7.77. Depending on the desired effect, you can specify an Inner Glow effect to start from the center (left), or the edge (right).

The Round Corners Effect

Illustrator's Rounded Rectangle tool is so year 2000. Welcome to today's fast-paced world where you can add rounded corners to any object, no matter how many corners the object has (Figure 7.78). When you select an object and choose Effect > Stylize > Round Corners, you can use the Preview check box to experiment with different Radius settings until you get just the look you need. Of course, you can always change the Radius setting because it's a Live Effect.

Figure 7.78. The usefulness of the Round Corners effect becomes apparent when you apply it to objects with many corners.

Glow effects can sometimes appear too soft for your needs. To beef up a glow effect, try applying two or three glow effects to the same object.

Unfortunately, you can't specify which corners of your object will get roundedthe Round Corners effect rounds all corners. If you only want some corners to be rounded in your object, you need to apply the Round Corners effect, and then expand the effect so that you can manually adjust each corner as necessary.

For an interesting effect, try applying the Round Corners effect to type.

The Scribble Effect

If there's one thing that you can count on with vector graphics, it's clean sharp edges. However, sometimes a design calls for something a little bit less technical and more natural. The Scribble effect in Illustrator is perfect for this task. And, as you will see, the power of the Scribble effect lies in its ability to randomize individual attributes, giving the effect a truly natural and hand-drawn appearance. One of the nicest things about the Scribble effect is that it has the ability to draw outside the lines. In fact, what the Scribble effect really does is convert your object into one long stroke (Figure 7.79).

Figure 7.79. Here, using one of the many settings in the Scribble effect, we illustrate how the object's appearance is converted to one lone stroke.

To apply the Scribble effect, select an object and choose Effect > Stylize > Scribble to bring up the Scribble Options dialog. The dialog contains five main settings that control the overall appearance of the Scribble effect. Some of the settings also have a Variation slider, allowing the scribble appearance to vary throughout your object.

As you will quickly find out, making even small adjustments to the Scribble effect settings can have a large impact on the appearance of the object. Using a combination of different settings, you can also achieve a variety of different styles for your Scribble. To illustrate this, Adobe added a pop-up menu at the top of the dialog that contains different presets (Figure 7.80). Switch between the different presets to see the ways you might use the Scribble effect. Unfortunately, you cannot define your own presets. However, you can always save your Scribble setting as a Graphic Style once you've applied it to an object.

Figure 7.80. A variety of presets help you quickly learn the different types of styles you can achieve with the Scribble effect.

Although it may seem a bit daunting at first, the different settings in the Scribble Options dialog are rather straightforward:

• Angle. The Angle setting defines which direction the stroke will travel. Click and drag the dial to adjust the setting or enter a value manually in the field.

• Path Overlap. The Path Overlap setting defines how far the stroke overlaps the edge of the object's path. This setting can also be set to a negative value, which effectively defines how close the stroke can come to the edge of an object's path. You can also set a variation, which allows the Path Overlap setting to randomly change throughout the object within the value that you define (Figure 7.81).

  Figure 7.81. Adding a Variation to the Path Overlap setting allows the Scribble effect to draw outside the lines using a natural technique.

  

  
  

• Stroke Width. The Stroke Width setting defines the thickness of the stroke that Illustrator uses to create your Scribble effect. Unfortunately, this setting does not have a variation slider.

• Curviness. The Curviness setting defines how much a stroke loops when it changes direction. A very small number produces more of a straight zigzag effect with pointy ends, while a larger number produce loose changes in direction with loopy ends (Figure 7.82). You can also define a Variation value so that this setting appears differently throughout the object.

  Figure 7.82. Smaller Curviness settings create sharp lines (left) while higher values create a more freestyle appearance (right).

  

  
  

• Spacing. The Spacing setting defines how dense the strokes appear. Again, this setting has a Variation slider, which allows the Scribble effect to vary the spacing throughout the object.

What If . . . You Apply the Scribble Effect to Multiple Fills?

Adding a Scribble effect to an object can certainly give it a hand-drawn look and feel, but there are times when you need something more than just strokes traveling in the same direction. Combining multiple fillseach with a different Scribble effect settingcan produce cross-hatching effects that produce wonderful patterns, textures, and edges. Here's how it is done:

1.	Using the Ellipse tool, draw a circle that is 4 inches in diameter.
2.	Give the circle a fill of Black with a stroke of None.
3.	With the circle selected, open the Appearance palette and target the fill by clicking it.
4.	Choose Effect > Stylize > Scribble to open the Scribble Options dialog.
5.	Choose Default from the Setting pop-up menu and make the following adjustments: set the Stroke Width to .01 inches; set the Curviness to 2%; and set the Spacing to .03 inches.
6.	Leave all of the remaining settings and click OK to apply the effect (Figure 7.83). Figure 7.83. Applying the Scribble effect to the circle gives it an interesting appearance.
7.	With the fill still highlighted in the Appearance palette, choose Duplicate Item from the palette menu to create a second fill with the same attributes as the first.
8.	Double-click one of the Scribble effects listed in the Appearance palette (it doesn't matter which one), to edit the effect.
9.	Change the Angle setting to 130 degrees and click OK to apply the edit (Figure 7.84). Figure 7.84. Adding a second fill with another Scribble effect gives the circle a lattice-like appearance. Notice the crosshatch effects around the edges of the shape as well.