How to Make a Coat of Arms in Illustrator
If you are familiar with the basic functions of the Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator, you can create a graphic design for a coat of arms that can be scaled for printing at any size, without losing resolution or having jagged edges. This tutorial features a technique whereby half of the design is copied in a mirror-image, which ensures exact symmetry and reduces the time required for drawing the elements.
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Instructions
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How to Make a Coat of Arms in Illustrator
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Open a new document in Illustrator and set the size to match your intended printed piece. (The graphic can later be re-sized to fit virtually any print job.)
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Begin to draw one-half of the basic shape of the shield on which the emblem for the coat of arms will be displayed. In the example presented here, a classic shape from the European Middle Ages is used. Draw the edges of the shield with smooth arcs, adjusting the proportions as necessary.
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Select the line arcs you have drawn. On the menu bar at top, select "Object," then "Transform," and then "Reflect." In the dialog box that displays, click the radio button to select "Vertical," then click the rectangular "Copy" button. The lines you have drawn will be copied as a mirror image directly above the first drawing.
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Align the two halves of the shield by selecting "Object" from the menu bar at top, then "Transform," and then "Move." Set the move coordinates to exactly the width of one of the half-shields you have drawn. Type the measurement of the width in the "Horizontal" box and also type "0" (zero) in the Vertical box. Then click "OK." The two halves of the shield will be precisely aligned.
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Select the two endpoints at the top of the shield with the indirect selection tool (the white arrow at top right on the tool bar). Align them exactly by selecting "Object" from the menu bar at top, then "Path," and then "Average." In the dialog box that appears, select "Both" for the Axis setting. This action will align the two top endpoints exactly.
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Join the endpoints together by selecting "Object," then "Path," and then "Join."
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Follow the same procedures in the previous two steps to align and join the two bottom endpoints of the shield halves.
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Fill the completed shape of the shield with the color of your choice.
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Draw the emblem for your coat of arms using the Pen tool. If you wish to copy a scanned drawing or digital photo, place the digital image on a separate layer, and carefully trace the outline with the Pen tool on a new layer, above it. In the example presented here, a stylized bird of prey was drawn by tracing an authentic medieval coat of arms. Half of the intricate design of the wings, body, legs and tail were drawn, and a mirror image was created and joined using the same technique as was used earlier in this tutorial to create the shield. The asymmetrical shape of the head was drawn separately.
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Fill the drawn shape of your emblem with the color of your choice and then delete the layer with the digital image you have traced. Align and scale the emblem to fit within the contours of the shield. Your scalable coat of arms is ready to print.
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References
- Photo Credit David A. Claerr
