- Getting started
- Understanding strokes and fills
- Creating shapes
- Making selections
- Editing shapes
- Using variable-width strokes
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Using variable-width strokes
You can make many different styles of lines for your strokes. In addition to the basic solid line, you can choose a dotted, dashed, or ragged line, or even customize your own. You can also create lines with variable widths and edit the variations with the Width tool.
Adding thick and thin outlines
The variable width of strokes can help give your drawings more expressive character.
Select the Ink Bottle tool, and in the Properties panel, choose 6 for the Stroke Size and Width Profile 1 for the Width.
Click the large green octopus head.
Animate applies the thick-thin width profile to the outline of your green fill.
With the Selection tool, choose a single stroke segment around the green head, and then change the Stroke Size to 4.
Now you have two different stroke widths around your shape.
Delete the stroke around the bottom oval shape. You’ll connect the octopus tentacles there, so you won’t need the black outline.
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Refining variable-width lines
In addition to applying different width profiles to a stroke, you can customize where the bulges appear and how wide the bulges are with the Width tool.
Hold down the Shift key and click the three line segments of one of the eyebrows.
In the Properties panel, change the Stroke Size to 10.
Change the Width to Width Profile 1.
The straight line turns into a thicker line that is skinny on the ends and fatter in the middle, giving it a little more personality.
Click the three dots at the bottom of the Tools panel to edit the Toolbar.
Drag the Width tool from the Drag And Drop Tools panel to your Tools panel so that you can use it. Click off the Tools panel or press the Esc key to collapse it.
Move your mouse pointer over one of your variable-width strokes.
Anchor points appear along the line to show you where the thick and thin portions of the line are located.
Drag the handles at any anchor point to change the width of the line. Exaggerate some of the restrictions and bulges.
Drag an anchor point along the stroke to move its location.
Drag anywhere along the stroke to add a new anchor point and define the width at that location. Animate displays a small plus (+) sign next to your pointer to indicate that you can add an anchor point.
Modify both eyebrows of your octopus as you see fit, and apply a different width profile to the outline around the eyes as well.
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