How to Get Rid of the Outline When Making Shapes in Illustrator

When you launch Adobe Illustrator and create a new RGB- or CMYK-mode document or open an existing file, the program applies the default Basic Appearance to the shapes you draw: a white fill and black stroke. If you want to draw graphics without a stroke applied to them rather than remove the stroke after you finish creating your objects, take a few simple preparatory steps before you begin your drawing process.

Instructions

1. Create a new Adobe Illustrator file by choosing "New" from the File menu. Choose a document size and orientation using the "Artboard Setup" controls. Use the "Color Mode" radio buttons to set your document to CMYK or RGB mode. To create new objects in an existing document, choose "Open" from the File menu, and navigate to the location of your chosen document. Double-click on the file name to open it or click once on its name to select it, then click on the "Open" button.

2. Click on the double-headed arrow to the right of the fill and stroke color swatches in the Adobe Illustrator toolbox to bring the stroke swatch forward so you can edit it. Click on the "None" icon at the righthand end of the row of options below the fill and stroke swatches. The "None" icon looks like a white square with a red slash running through it from its bottom-left to its top-right corner.

3. Select the Pen, Ellipse, Rectangle, Rounded Rectangle, Polygon or Star tool from the Adobe Illustrator toolbox. Draw your freehand or shaped object.

4. Open the "Color" panel to change the fill applied to your object to something other than white. Open the "Stroke" panel if you change your mind and decide to add an outlining stroke to your object.

Tips & Warnings

• Open the Appearance panel to monitor the strokes, fills and transparency applied to your artwork.

• Use the Eyedropper tool to sample appearance attributes from one object and apply them to another. The same procedure works with graphics and with text.

• It can be easier to draw objects with the default Basic Appearance and change them after the fact than to draw them without an outlining stroke, particularly if you're using the Pen tool. The stroke helps you visualize what you're drawing.

• Deselect any actively selected artwork or text objects before you change the default stroke and fill colors in the toolbox or the list of swatches in the Swatches panel. Otherwise, the changes you make will apply to any selected objects.

References

• Adobe Systems: Using Adobe Illustrator CS5
• "The Adobe Illustrator CS5 Wow! Book"; Sharon Steuer; 2010
• "Adobe Creative Suite 5 Design Premium All-in-One for Dummies"; Jennifer Smith, et al.; 2010
• "Illustrator CS5 for Windows and Macintosh Visual QuickStart Guide"; Elaine Weinmann, et al.; 2011

Resources

• Read this Article in Spanish