Graphics Programs Reference
In-Depth Information
3 Experimenting with brushes.
When experimenting with brushes it's always best to
work with a duplicate. To do this, drag the brush you wish to modify to the New
Brush icon in the bottom right of the Brushes panel. Then to modify this brush, dou-
ble-click it in the panel. In Pattern Brush Options you can then try the different spac-
ing options as well as a different type of Auto-Corner, Fit, and Scale. Rename the
brush to reflect the modifications that you chose, and click OK. You can then apply
this brush to another path, or you can duplicate the original path, and then apply the
modified version so you can compare the brushes.
You can continue to make new brushes until you've experimented with all the
different parameters, and if the brushes are meaningfully named, you'll be able to
figure out if there is a different combination of Corner, Fit, and Scale you want to try.
If your image is a complicated shape, or has a repeating pattern, it will be more
challenging to find the right Auto-Corner. If you find you do not like the Auto-Corner
results, you may have to go back into your image editor and make adjustments to the
image and then try the Auto-Corners again. If that doesn't completely fix your
corners, you can manually edit the corners in Illustrator (see the following galleries
for more about updating brush definitions).
3
Auto-Centered Corner (left), Auto-Sliced Corner (right)
