How to repeat shapes in Adobe Illustrator

If you use Adobe Illustrator to create designs and vector illustrations, at some point you probably have needed to repeat a shape. Though you may have done it manually by clicking "copy" and then "paste" and moving it yourself, Illustrator has a tool than can do this for you and save you the time and the trouble.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Adobe Illustrator

1. 
    
   Screenshot by Barbara Holland

   Open Adobe Illustrator and create a new document. Choose one of the shape tools that are located on the toolbar. In this example, I chose a the ellipse tool.

2. 
    
   Screenshot by Barbara Holland

   Once you have selected the shape tool you would like to use, draw it on the stage. The size or the shape does not matter. This is only an example so that you can learn to use it in your own design projects.

3. 
    
   Screenshot by Barbara Holland

   With your shape selected, go to the top menu and click on "Effect". A drop down menu will appear. Go to "Distort & Transform" and then it will show you more options. From these options choose "Transform..."

4. 
    
   Screenshot by Barbara Holland

   Once you click on "Transform..." a dialog box will appear with several options. The first thing you should do is check the box that says "Preview" so that every time you make a change in the settings you can see what it does to your shape. In this example, I chose to repeat my shape 5 times. I also changed the direction and the angle of how the copies should be placed. Once you reach the point where you like the way your shape is repeated, click "Ok".

5. 
    
   Screenshot by Barbara Holland

   Now you have a repeated shape. You will notice that only the original shape is highlighted. This means that if you modify the original shape, Adobe Illustrator will modify the copies to match. If you move the original shape, the rest will move with it.

6. 
    
   Screenshot by Barbara Holland

   If you would like to change each different shape individually, you will have to expand the object. To do this, select the shape and then go to the top menu and click on "Object". A drop down menu will appear. Click on "Expand Appearance" and this will break each of the shapes into their own.

7. 
    
   Screenshot by Barbara Holland

   Once you have expanded the shapes, each one will have a selection box around them. They will be grouped, so to make changes to each one you will have to double click or ungroup them. You have now successfully repeated an image in Adobe Illustrator.

Tips & Warnings

• Experiment with the "Transform..." Tool so you can learn how many patterns or effects you can achieve by repeating your shapes.
• If you need to make changes to the Transform settings, select the shape and go to the "Appearance" box to open up the "Transform..." settings for that shape.
• Once you have expanded your shapes, the only way to go back to how you had them is with "Undo".

Resources

• Adobe Website