How to Use the Envelope Distort Command in Adobe Illustrator

Adobe Illustrator does many amazing things quickly, although sometimes the menu options are not so obvious. One example of this is a cool feature called envelope distort. The envelope distort functions let you distort an object based on some characteristics of another shape or grid. This guide will help you get started with this super cool tool.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Computer
• Adobe Illustrator
• Open Illustrator document

1. Draw a simple shape using one of the shape tools. Make sure you have a fill color chosen so that the shape shows up on your screen.

2. With your shape selected, go to object/envelope distort/make with mesh. You will be prompted to choose the size of a grid to distort your shape around. for now, pick 3 rows x 3 columns.

3. Choose your white arrow tool to drag points around in the grid. Your object will bend with the mesh you created.

4. Another way to use envelope distort is to make two different shapes, one on top of the other.

5. Select both shapes, and go to object/envelope distort/make with top object. All the shapes you selected will be distorted around the shape on top.

Tips & Warnings

• Expand your distorted shapes to further manipulate them.