How to Make Regular Shapes in Illustrator Cs5

The vector-based graphics program Adobe Illustrator offers a myriad of design possibilities with its impressive collection of graphics tools. However, if you only need to create regular shapes, it can handle that too. The Shapes tool offers several basic shapes that you can create via simple mouse dragging. At first, it may appear the only shape available is the rectangle, but accessing the Shapes tool reveals several other available options.

Instructions

1. Open a new page in Adobe Illustrator.

2. Click "Windows" and check "Tools," if you do not see the vertical left-hand toolbox.

3. Click and hold your left mouse button on the rectangular icon, located in the eighth position from the top. If you have trouble identifying it, press "M" to automatically select it. When you click-hold on the icon, a pop-out menu appears with other shape tools.

4. Click the shape tool you prefer, such as "Rectangle," "Rounded Rectangle," "Ellipse," "Polygon," "Star" or "Flare." For circles, select "Ellipse." For squares, select "Rectangle" or "Round Rectangle."

5. Click and drag your mouse across the canvas to create the shape. To constrain rectangles or ellipses to perfect squares or circles, hold the "Shift" key while dragging. Likewise, hold the "Shift" key to keep other shapes from rotating while dragging.