Expert: Amy - 10/11/2006

Question
I am using a PC, Windows 2000 with Illustrator 9.  I'm new to Illustrator and the book I have did not have borders in the index, so I'm assuming I have to draw them in with stroke tool.  Any advice on the easier way to do that?  I'm creating a 27 by 76 banner and want a border around the whole banner.

Answer
Hi Kathleen,

Just use the rectangle tool and assign it a stroke of whatever thickness and color you need.

Click the rectangle tool.

Click ONCE where you want the upper left corner of the rectangle to be.

A dialog box will appear with a width and height spec.
Type in 27 in and 76 in... just like I have it there with "in" after the number.

A rectangle of those dimensions will be created on the artboard.

Then, with the new rectangle selected, hit the F10 key on your keyboard. That will bring up the Stroke Window. You can also access the stroke window via the Window menu.

There you will see a width field. Enter .5 in, just like I have typed it there and you'll get a 1/2 inch wide stroke.

To change the color, make sure the rectangle is selected and hit the F6 key to bring up the Color Window.

The little colored boxes on the left of that Window are the stroke and fill. Hit the X key to toggle between the Fill Color and the Stroke color. The stroke color is the bottom one. When the stroke color box is active (in front of the fill box), change the colors on the right to whatever you need.

I hope this helps you!

Amy Pace