How To Change Number Of Sides On Polygon Tool Illustrator

Illustrator How to Make a Triangle

The most bones building blocks in Adobe Illustrator are polygons. To demonstrate in Illustrator how to make a triangle (the nearly primitive polygon), the fastest and simplest place to starting time will be the Polygon Tool in the main Tool Bar. Using the Polygon Tool certainly isn't the merely manner of making a triangle, but information technology's the most logical identify to begin. This commodity has been written with the aid of Adobe Illustrator CS6, but the steps are the same no thing what version y'all're using.

Illustrator: How to Brand a Triangle - Tutorial past Nick Beresford Davies

Illustrator How to Make a Triangle

Using the Polygon Tool to Make a Triangle

If you click on the Polygon Tool a popup menu will appear showing:

Rectangle Tool
Rounded Rectangle Tool
Elipse Tool
Polygon Tool
Star Tool
Flare Tool

Illustrator CS6 Polygon Tool

Select the Polygon Tool. If you lot want to start with a Triangle, click once on the artboard where y'all want the shape to appear. A dialogue box volition announced asking what radius you want the shape to be and how many sides you desire it to accept. Yous can't go lower than 3, so enter 3 sides with a 60mm radius and click OK.

A triangle will appear.

Equilateral triangle created with the Illustrator Polygon Tool

Illustrator will think the last settings you entered, so if you desire to make some other triangle, perchance at a different angle, drag the cursor across the fine art lath (yet with the Polygon Tool selected) and you'll see the shape of a triangle announced and rotate as yous drag your cursor effectually the screen. The width and height of the shape will change every bit yous change the scale of the triangle. Release to commit the shape.

By default the triangle volition be created from the shape'due south centre. If y'all would like the signal of origin to be different, with the triangle you lot just created selected, and with the Polygon Tool notwithstanding agile, go to the Illustrator Control Bar at the superlative of the screen - Window/Control. Hither you lot'll see a picayune square reference point wireframe with nine niggling handles evenly spread around its edges and in the centre.

Reference Point Square

The heart handle will be selected if the triangle is beingness created from a fundamental point of origin. Click one of the other fiddling handles to change the reference indicate of origin and drag / create a new triangle. This time it'll be created from a different reference indicate.

If you'd like the triangle to be constrained to an axis when you lot create it in this way, press the SHIFT key when you drag / create it and it'll snap to the x-centrality.

Equilateral triangles

Creating a triangle using the to a higher place methods will ever result in an Equilateral triangle (with all sides of equal length and all three angles at 60°).

Isosceles triangles

If y'all'd like to scale the size of the triangle, only select the black pointer Choice Tool, select the triangle, hold down the SHIFT key and drag one of the handles of the bounding box, thus changing the size of the shape to the required size. If you'd like to catechumen the shape to that of an Isosceles triangle (two of the sides remain equal), release the SHIFT key when re-sizing.

Scalene triangles

If you'd like to convert the triangle to a Scalene triangle (with all sides and angles different), cull the white pointer Direct Pick Tool. Select one of the three points of the triangle and drag it in any direction you desire. This'll make the sides and angles uneven.

scalene triangle

The Polygon Tool can be used to make a shape with whatsoever number of sides you desire - not merely triangles. If you lot follow the aforementioned steps in a higher place and just increase the number of sides required, you lot'll create polygons with different attributes.

Polygons in Illustrator

Illustrator How to Make a Triangle Using the Pen Tool

There are many ways to skin a cat, and many ways to create a triangle in Illustrator. Some other way is to apply the Pen Tool and create the shape by clicking on the fine art board 4 times. The start three clicks create the kickoff three points, and the quaternary click closes the shape if y'all click on the first signal created.

Making a triangle with the pen tool

Alternatively you could create the 3 points and then select the two open up endpoints using the Direct Pick Tool. Object/Path/Join (Control J) volition shut the shape.

If you hold downwards the SHIFT primal whilst creating the triangle in this way, the angles of the sides volition be constrained to 45° increments.

Illustrator How to Make a Triangle out of a Square

Yet another way to create a triangle in Illustrator is to first create a square or rectangle by using the Rectangle Tool (found in the same sublist as the Polygon Tool on the Tool Bar). Elevate on the art board to create a rectangle, or SHIFT drag to create a perfect square.

Next, with the foursquare / rectangle selected, get to Object/Path/Add Anchor Points. Four new ballast points will appear on the shape, positioned precisely half way between the existing corner anchor points.

Add anchor points

Now choose the Pen Tool and hover over the top left corner until a little '-' symbol appears next to the Pen icon. Click when you come across this and the height left corner anchor will exist deleted. Echo this for the new anchor betoken one-half way down the left side, then the top correct, then the middle correct.

Extra anchor points in Illustrator

Once these iv anchor points have been deleted yous'll take your new Isosceles triangle, although y'all'll probably want to delete the terminal dividing anchor signal on the bottom middle edge in order to go unbroken sides all circular. Y'all can now edit this triangle in the same way equally whatsoever created by other ways.