Bending Objects in Illustrator

April 30, 2007 5:49 PM

Using Adobe Illustrator 10, how do I bend an object along a path?

I've used the special tools for placing text along a path, but is there a reasonably easy way to get the same effect with an arbitrary object?

posted by iconjack to Computers & Internet (4 answers total)

Best answer: Easy way? Somewhat.

1. Creat the art you want to bend.

2. Turn it into a brush. You can do this by dragging the artwork onto the brushes palette. Form the pop-up, select the "new art brush" radio button.

3. Create the path you want to bend the art along.

4. Stroke the path with the brush you just created.
posted by lekvar at 5:57 PM on April 30, 2007

Put your guiding shape on top of the shape to be changed.
Select both
Choose envelope>Distort>Make with top object


or for a different technique assuming your objects are discrete like characters

Select your path
Convert it to a guide by >View>Guides>Make Guide
Turn on Smart Guides
Take your objects and they will "snap" to your path.
posted by b33j at 6:14 PM on April 30, 2007

lekvar wins :)
posted by doctor_negative at 10:07 PM on April 30, 2007

Response by poster: b33j, I played around with the Envelope/Distort function you mentioned but I could never get the effect I was looking for. In more skilled hands, I'm sure your method is a good one.
posted by iconjack at 6:35 AM on May 1, 2007