How to Make Two White Stroke Paths in Illustrator

Create multiple white strokes for a single path

When you need to create two white strokes that follow the same path in Adobe Illustrator, you could draw the two paths separately and continue adjusting them until the paths are perfect; however, this would take a lot of dedication to ensure the paths are exact duplicates. Fortunately, Adobe Illustrator provides a much easier solution to creating two strokes on the same path. Using Illustrator’s Appearance panel or creating an artistic brush, you can apply multiple strokes to a single path.

Instructions

First Stroke

1. Click on the “Rectangle” tool. Select the “Fill” icon and change the color to black. Draw a rectangle in the art board to create a black background for the white strokes.

2. Select the “Line” tool, then click on the “Stroke” icon in the Tools panel and change the color to white. Click on the “Fill” tool, then press the “None” button to remove the fill color.

3. Draw a line on top of the art board.

Second Stroke Using the Appearance Panel

1. Click on the “Window” menu and select “Appearance” to open the Appearance panel.

2. Click on the stroke drop-down menu and increase the size of the stroke.

3. Drag the white stroke on top of the “Duplicate Selected Line” button.

4. Click on the new stroke’s color drop-down menu and select black. Then, decrease the stroke size. You will now have two white strokes with a black stroke separating them.

Second Stroke Using the Brush Panel

1. Select the “Selection” tool, and select the white line.

2. Hold down the “Alt” key and drag the line to the desired distance that you want the second line to be. The original line will duplicate to the new location.

3. Click on the “Window” menu and select “Brushes” to open the Brushes panel.

4. Hold down the “Shift” key, and select both white lines.

5. Click on the Brushes panel flyout menu and select “New Brush.”

6. Click on the “Art Brush” radial button.

7. Draw a new path using any of the tools. Click on the new brush to convert the paths into two white strokes.

References

• Home Educate in the Sunshine State.com; How to Create a Multiple Stroke Path in Adobe Illustrator; June 2011
• Adobe Illustrator CS5: Create or Modify Brushes