Use the Magic Wand Tool in Adobe Illustrator CS6

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Video: Use the Magic Wand Tool in Adobe Illustrator CS6

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

1. 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

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

   .

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3. 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. 4
   Click "File" in the top-left corner of the window

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5. 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. 6
   For this tutorial, let's click "OK"

   .

   Now, you need an object.

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7. 7
   Double-click "Fill" color

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   Select a color and click "OK".

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8. 8
   Now, let's create a rectangle by clicking "Rectangle Tool"

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9. 9
   Draw a rectangle on the canvas

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   For more information, refer to our tutorials on how to create basic shapes and how to get perfect shapes.

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10. 10
    Next, click "Selection Tool" in the top-left corner of the vertical toolbar

    .

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11. 11
    Click the object

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    A blue outline should appear, signalling that the object is selected.

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12. 12
    Click "Magic Wand Tool" in the vertical toolbar

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    The "Magic Wand Tool" icon is located just underneath the black selection arrow. You may recognize this icon from Photoshop.

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13. 13
    A very simple way to use "Magic Wand Tool" is to click the object

    .

    If the object is simple, the whole object will be highlighted. "Magic Wand Tool" may work better on objects with a shading, a gradient, or more complicated patterns.

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14. 14
    Click the gradient button in the right toolbar

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    Alter the gradient settings. Please refer to "How to Create a Gradient in Adobe Illustrator CS6" for more information.

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15. 15
    Click "Magic Wand Tool"

    .

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16. 16
    Click the object

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    Unfortunately, the whole object is selected again. In other cases, "Magic Wand Tool" may form a ripple line as the selection. The tool will select areas with most prominent colors. You can specify tolerance of "Magic Want Tool" in Illustrator.

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17. 17
    Double-click the "Magic Wand Tool" icon in the vertical toolbar

    .

    This will open a dialogue box.

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18. 18
    You can click and drag the border of the box to an area that is more comfortable for you

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    The first option in this box, "Fill Color", is automatically checked, and its tolerance is set to 20, which is very similar to Photoshop.

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19. 19
    You can specify the "Fill Color" tolerance by clicking the "Tolerance" drop-down menu arrow

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20. 20
    Adjust the tolerance by clicking and dragging the scroller

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21. 21
    You can also type a value into the text box

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    If you increase the tolerance, then more will be selected from your shape. If you lower the tolerance, only the piece that you clicked will be selected. In other words, a lower tolerance will give you less control. A higher tolerance is better if you want, for example, everything of a certain color to be selected in an image. This dialogue box can also be used to specify on which part you want to focus.

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22. 22
    Uncheck "Fill Color"

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23. 23
    Check "Stroke Color" and "Stroke Weight"

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    This will let Illustrator to pick up on the strokes. There is another VisiHow tutorial on that. "Stroke Weight" will select every stroke within the number of points specified in the text box to the right. If, for example, all of the strokes in your document are thinner than the specified value, then they all will be selected. If you want only several to be selected, try to lower the "Tolerance" value for "Stroke Weight".

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24. 24
    You can change the tolerance for each of these options in the same way

    .

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25. 25
    At the bottom of this window, you can check "Opacity"

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    Then, you can change the "Opacity" by using the scroller or the text box. "Magic Wand Tool" is excellent for cutting and pasting certain areas of an image, duplicating a shape, and experimenting with and creating different effects, such as shading and 3D. Basically, Illustrator and Photoshop have the same "Magic Wand Tool" usage principles.

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26. 26
    When you have finished, simply click the "X" in the corner

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27. 27
    You can click "Selection Tool" again

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    You might be using it the most.

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This concludes our tutorial showing you how to use "Magic Wand Tool" in Adobe Illustrator CS6 in Windows 7. If you have any questions or queries regarding this tutorial, just add them to the comment section below. Thank you for choosing VisiHow!

If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.

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