How to Make a Cylinder in Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a great tool for creating all kinds of shapes. Because it is a vector-based program, it creates vector objects. Objects that can be made larger or smaller without any effect on their appearance. Cylinders are surprisingly versatile. When you stop to think about it, cylinders can be used to create everything from soda cans to tools. Learning to make a cylinder in Illustrator is a good stepping stone to creating a wide variety of art.
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Instructions
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1
Use the "ellipse" tool to create an ellipse at least four times as wide as it is tall. An ellipse 300 pixels wide and 75 points tall was created by selecting the "ellipse" tool and clicking once on the artboard. This brings up a dialogue box in which the ellipse's width and height are entered.
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2
Duplicate the ellipse by clicking on it with the "Selection" tool (black arrow), clicking "Alt" and dragging. A second, matching ellipse will have been created. Drag it so it is below the first ellipse.
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3
Create a rectangle the same width (300 points) as the ellipses by selecting the "rectangle" tool, which is in the same palette as the "ellipse" tool. The height doesn't matter.
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4
Open the "Align" palette by going to "Window>Align." Select all three shapes, and choose "Horizontal Align Center." This ensures all three shapes are centered.
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Align the ellipses and rectangles vertically by moving with the "Up" and "Down" arrows until the side-center anchor points of the ellipses match up with the corners of the rectangle. See photo.
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Select the top ellipse and choose "Object>Arrange>Bring to Front." Choose a color from the "Swatch" menu and color it in.
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Delete the bottom of the rectangle by selecting it with the "Direct Selection" tool (white arrow) and hitting "Delete." You now have a cylinder. Color the bottom ellipse and rectangle in a different color than the top cylinder to get the full effect.
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Tips & Warnings
When you have the cylinder colored the way you want it, group the pieces together ("Object>Group") and you can move or resize it any way you like. To change the colors, un-group the pieces and color them separately, then regroup.
This article uses Illustrator CS3; there may be slight differences in menu items in other versions but the basic steps will be the same.
