Creating sketches and mosaics in Illustrator

Create a sketch using the Scribble effect

  1. Do one of the following:

    • Select the object or group (or target a layer in the Layers panel).

    • To apply the effect to a specific object attribute, such as a stroke or fill, select the object, and then select the attribute in the Appearance panel.

    • To apply the effect to a graphic style, select a graphic style in the Graphic Styles panel.

  2. Choose Effect > Stylize > Scribble.

  3. Do one of the following:

    • To use a preset scribble effect, choose one from the Settings menu.

    • To create a custom scribble effect, begin with any preset, and then adjust the Scribble options.

  4. If creating a custom scribble, adjust any of the following Scribble options and click OK:

    Angle

    Controls the direction of the scribble lines. You can click any point on the angle icon, drag the angle line around the angle icon, or enter a value between –179 and 180 in the box. (If you enter a value that’s outside that range, the value is translated to its equivalent in‑range value.)

    Path Overlap

    Controls the amount the scribble lines stay within or extend beyond the path boundaries. A negative value constrains the scribble lines within the path boundary and a positive value extends the scribble lines beyond the path boundary.

    Variation (for Path Overlap)

    Controls the lengths of the difference in scribble line lengths relative to each other.

    Stroke Width

    Controls the width of the scribble lines.

    Curviness

    Controls the amount the scribble lines curve before they reverse direction.

    Variation (for Curviness)

    Controls how different the scribble line curves are relative to each other.

    Spacing

    Controls the amount of space between scribble line folds.

    Variation (for Spacing)

    Controls how different the amount of space is between scribble line folds.

Create a mosaic

  1. Import a bitmap image to use as the basis for the mosaic. The image must be embedded, not linked.

    You can also rasterize a vector object to use it as the basis for the mosaic.

  2. Select the image.

  3. Choose Object > Create Object Mosaic.

  4. If you want to change the dimensions of the mosaic, enter values for New Size.

  5. Set options to control the spacing between tiles and the total number of tiles, along with any other additional options, and click OK:

    Constrain Ratio

    Locks the width or height dimensions to the dimensions of the original bitmap image. Width calculates the appropriate number of tiles to use for the width of the mosaic, based on the original number of tiles for the width. Height calculates the appropriate number of tiles to use for the height of the mosaic, based on the original number of tiles for the height.

    Result

    Specifies whether the mosaic tiles are color or grayscale.

    Resize Using Percentages

    Changes the size of the image by percentages of width and height.

    Delete Raster

    Deletes the original bitmap image.

    Use Ratio

    Makes the tiles square, using the number of tiles specified in Number Of Tiles. This option is located below the Cancel button.