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Use Width Tool in Adobe Illustrator CS6

Edited by Freya, VisiHow, Eng, Visihow Admin

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Video: Use Width Tool in Adobe Illustrator CS6

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You're watching VisiHow. In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to use "Width Tool" in Adobe Illustrator CS6 in Windows 7.

Use the Width Tool on Adobe Illustrator CS6.mp4-canvas263 294689.jpg

Steps

1
To begin, you should open Illustrator either from your desktop or by coming down to the bottom-left corner and clicking the Windows icon
.
This will reveal a list of recently used programs. You may find Illustrator there. It has a brown-and-orange icon with the letters "Ai".

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2
If you can't see Illustrator in the start menu, use the search bar along the bottom and start typing "Adobe Illustrator"
.

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3
Click "Adobe Illustrator CS6"
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It will immediately start loading and take you directly to the workspace.
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4
Click "File" in the horizontal menu in the top-left corner
.

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5
Click "New..." to open up a new document
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Alternatively, press "Ctrl" + "N" on the keyboard. You can also open an existing document. For more information, refer to our tutorials on how to create a new document and how to open documents.
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6
For this tutorial, let's click "OK"
.

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7
You can alter the "Fill" color
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For more information, refer to our tutorial on how to use "Stroke" and "Fill" colors.
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8
Let's create an object using "Ellipse Tool"
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To access "Ellipse Tool", click and drag "Rectangle Tool" to the right. Let's create a circle by holding "Shift" and clicking and dragging the cursor on the canvas. For more information, refer to our tutorials on how to create basic shapes and how to get perfect shapes.

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9
Click the width drop-down menu and click a higher value
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For example, "12pt". This will thicken the stroke.
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10
After that, click "Width Tool" in the vertical toolbar
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The "Width Tool" icon looks like a strange compass. You can also press "Shift" + "W" on the keyboard.
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11
Hover over the side anchor point
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A green line appears. This green line is the smart guide that should be enabled by default. There is another VisiHow video on how to enable smart guides. The details of this anchor point, such as the "Side 1", "Side 2", and general widths of the stroke, appear in a grey pop-up box.
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12
As you move the cursor over the object, you will see that there are green labels reading "path" and "anchor"
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13
Click and drag the cursor where the tooltip reads "anchor"
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Blue lines will appear around the existing stroke line. These lines indicate the new thickness of the stroke when you release the mouse button.
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14
Release the mouse button
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"Width Tool" simply makes the stroke wider or narrower. You can also use "Width Tool" on text if you want something more calligraphic.
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15
You can click and drag the anchor point on the other side to change the stroke thickness
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The underrated "Width Tool" is practical for creating detailed dynamic illustrations.
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16
Optionally, you can click the "Selection Tool" black arrow to continue working
.
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This concludes our tutorial showing you how to use "Width Tool" in Adobe Illustrator CS6 in Windows 7. If you have any questions or comments regarding this video or the program used, then just add them to the comment section below. Thank you for choosing VisiHow!