Expert: Amy - 9/12/2004

Question
Hey there,

Is there any way that I can make a box have different color lines
on the sides? You know like in Excel when you select a cell and
make the border around it line by line...

I want to make a square that has black lines all around except
the left line to be pink. Is that possible?

Thanks!

P.S. I'm on a MAC.  

Answer
Hi Crystal!

That's an interesting question.  I guess it depends on how detailed you want the corners where the black and pink lines meet, but basically you can do it like this:

1. Create black-stroked box and deselect it.

2. Choose direct-select tool (the white arrow tool).

3. Click on the line segment of the side of the box you're going to make pink. Note: If you've clicked on it "correctly", you'll see hollow (white) anchor points appear on all corners.

4. Copy and "Paste in Front" (Cmnd+C then Cmnd+F)
  This will paste a copy of only the left side of the box.

5. Keeping that new left line selected, color it pink in the color window (F6).

6. To make the place where the black and pink meet more finished looking, change the cap of the pink line from a butt cap to a projecting cap by choosing the right-most cap button in the Stroke Window (F10).  Note: You have to choose "Show options" from the flyout menu in the Stroke Window's top-right corner to see the cap buttons.

7. If you wanted, you could now select the pink line and the black box and group them so they'll move together if you need to move them.

Does this answer the question?  Let me know!
-Amy Pace