AboutKevin Stohlmeyer Expertise I am an Adobe Certified Expert. I can answer all your questions about Adobe Illustrator version 7 through the new Adobe CS3 version.
Experience I am an Adobe Certified Instructor for Adobe Illustrator and have been teaching this application to college students for the past 6 years. I now teach this as a corporate instructor.
Organizations Milwaukee Adobe Users Group
National Association of Photoshop Professionals
C2 Graphics Productivity Solutions
Education/Credentials BA - Graphic Design
Adobe Certified Instructor - Illustrator
Expert: Kevin Stohlmeyer Date: 4/22/2008 Subject: Triangle-to-circle blend
Question QUESTION: Hi Kevin,
In Illustrator CS3 I wanted to create a nice, rounded triangle, something in between a triangle and a circle, and I thought that I'd use the Blend Tool with a few steps and then expand it all and pick whichever step I found the nicest.
The problem is, where squares or circles work OK the Blend Tool does not seem to be able to find the center of a triangle. I blend from an equilateral triangle to a circle and expect the result to be symmetrical - it is, but off towards one point of the triangle.
Do you know if there is a way to position, or define, a center in the triangle and make the Blend Tool use it?
Or should I go another way altogether?
Thanks
Evan.
ANSWER: Hi Evan
I have an easier way to round your triangle. Go to Effects>Stylize>Round Corners. This should give you the effect that you are looking for. If you are trying to make the sides rounded try Distort>Bloat.
Either way make sure you use the Effects menu and not Filters. Effects can be edited using the appearance palette and filters are permanent.
Thanks
Kevin
---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------
QUESTION: No, sorry, it does not do it right. The two effects will not work together.
I would rather if there was a way to fix that center so things can latch onto it. Even if it is not easy. :)
Thanks
Evan.
Answer Hi Evan,
I recreated this effect using the Blend Tool and was able to achieve a center point using the Object>Blend>Create Blend. It does select the exact center of the object. The only other thing I can think of that you can try is to create the triangle using the star tool (3 sided star = triangle).
Otherwise, using the blend command did select the center of both.
