Graphics Reference
In-Depth Information
Important
The best way to really see what the printed results of your artwork will
look like is to view the image (even if it is too big for the screen) at
100%.
Did You Know?
You can zoom in or out using shortcut keys regardless of what tool
you're currently using.
To zoom in, press Ctrl+Spacebar (Win) or
+Spacebar (Mac) and click or drag to define an area. To zoom out,
press Ctrl+Space-bar+Alt (Win) or
+Spacebar+Option (Mac) and
click or drag to define an area.
Viewing and Using Rulers
Carpenters know that precise measurements are essential to making things fit, so they
have a rule: Measure Twice, Cut Once. The designers of Illustrator also know that meas-
urements are essential and give you several measuring systems—among them are the
rulers. Rulers are located on the horizontal and vertical sides of the active document win-
dow, and serve several purposes. They let you measure the width and height of the active
image, they let you place guides on the screen to control placement of other image ele-
ments, and they create markers that follow your cursor as you move. Illustrator displays
rulers for documents (known as global) and artboards at the top and left side of the doc-
ument window; you can only show and use one at a time. If you want to show a ruler
around an individual artboard, you can display the video ruler. The point where 0 (zero)
appears on each ruler is called the
ruler origin
. The origin appears in the upper-left corner
where the rulers intersect. For artboards, the origin is oriented from the upper left-corner
and changes based on the active artboard. The coordinates of a ruler are also saved with
the document. The default measurement for a ruler is in points, which you can change in
Preferences.
Change Ruler Options
Click the
Edit
(Win) or
Illustrator
(Mac) menu, point to
Preferences
, and then
click
Units
.
