Illustrator Star Tool Change Number Of Points
Vannessa Rataj
What does a star look like to you? A perfect five-point star or twinkling stars like the ones around unicorns? Who says a star has to have 5 points? You can be very creative and imaginative with a star.
Note: the screenshots are taken from Adobe Illustrator CC Mac version. Windows or other versions can look slightly different. Window users change the Command key to Control the option key to Alt.
4. To change the distance of the inner points to the endpoints. When you are clicking and dragging, press CTRL simultaneously, move your mouse towards for a small distance or away for a pointer star.
I have tried everything Google has to offer. I am trying to make a thin star (almost an x shape) with the star tool. When I draw a star it has hundreds of points on it. I have decreased it in the dialog box and deleted and when I go to draw a new star, hundreds of points reappear. I have trashed preferences. I have restarted Illustrator. I have used the dialog box. I don't know whats going on! Help!! Please!!
Just click on the artboard with the star tool and set the radius values you want for the star. Radius one is the outside parameter of the star, and Radius two is the internal parameter of those 5 points. Once you set this, the ratio will hold while you draw a star manually afterward.
Sorry I disappeared. I had to work. So I appreciate the responses but I do know how the star tool works, but its not working correctly. I will attach a screenshot. when I draw a star it has a random number of points. If I continue to make stars the points increase without me doing anything. The down and up arrows do not seem to do anything. If I reset the points to 4, it will give me one star. But the next ones will have more and continue to increase. I have held down command, opt, shift when I relaunched AI and that didn't help. Its crazy!! Lol. The number of points are random and vary from 37 up into the hundreds!
The star tool will always remember the last number of points your previous star was created with. So I'm with Monika, I'm wondering if you are using maybe a wacom, or more like a mouse with a tracking wheel. I've seen some designers scrolling up on the jog wheel while drawing a star and that has created this sort of problem before. Is there some other controller at play here? That would explain why resetting preferences in Illustrator would do nothing to fix it.
Nice work with the simple steps. I don't understand how to change the values for the radii and the number of points AFTER it has been created. There are numerous occasions after the original start is in place when it would be very advantageous to change those values without having to create a new star again. Can you add steps for that? I see people saying select the artboard. that doesn't do anything for me and why would it when I want to effect just a single object on the artboard rather than the whole artboard? Help?
Thanks. I guess using the zig zag effect does what I want. Not sure why the star tool doesn't allow the same values in the same way after creation. Anyhow, with zig zag I can now make a star shape and edit the number and length of spikes by creating a circle with the elipse tool then applying the zig zag effect, then using the appearance window to access and change those values later.
I recently got an iPad and have been trying to learn how to use illustrator on the iPad since its different working with a touch screen then working in a desktop space. Im very confused how the shape tool functions especially the star tool. I want to add or subtract points to the star and it seems I am unable to. Am I missing something? I don't understand cause the triangle tool allows you to add sides to your shape, but I don't see any such slider for the star tool. I don't see why they would bother putting the star tool in the iPad version if you have no ability to change the number of points or the radius 1 or 2.
No, you are not missing anything. The star tool on the ipad does not have a handle or a dialog box that allows you to add points. The star is not a "live shape," like the polygon is (and other shapes), so it doesn't have a handle on the desktop either. It does have a dialog box for settings on the desktop - and that doesn't exist on the iPad.
Does anyone have any idea on how I can fix this issue: when I click the down or up arrow on my keyboard when using the star tool the points do not increase or decrease, I've searched and tired a lot of different things and have yet to find an answer. Any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks!
Are you pressing the arrow keys during the process of drawing the star? It doesn't work after the star is drawn. You have to keep the mouse button depressed while using the arrow keys. If you are doing it that way and it still isn't working you may need to reset your preferences.
I'm on Windows and I tried to use the CTRL key for about 3 hours last night. Refused to change anything. I have no idea. Thanks for the confirmation that ctrl is still supposed to handle that function.
The star tool doesn't have the ability to change the number of points like the polygon tool does. if you could add your star and then add multiple points and adjust the "pointyness" like the desktop app that would be good
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There is an option to creat shapes and such usually represented by a square. Hold it down and you will see a polygon tool. Another toolbar will appear at the top of your screen and change the number of sides to 3.
In Illustrator, just use the star tool. What you do is click and drag to make the star the size you want, and then before letting off of the mouse, use the down or up arrow tool on your keyboard to change the amount of points on the star (In your case, use the down arrow until the star gets to three, and voila, you have a perfect triangle.)
Once the triangle is the size and shape you want, switch to the Paths Palette and CTRL click the icon in the layers palette next to the path you just drew. This will turn the path you just created into a selection.
We'll start with the easiest technique that you can use to make a star in Illustrator. Using simple techniques, you will learn how to add points to a star and change the number of points. Moving on, you will learn how to make a perfect star in Illustrator and how to edit a star shape. Finally, you will learn how to make sparkling stars and how to make a star brush in Illustrator.
Once you learn how to draw stars in Illustrator, you can head over to Envato Elements. This subscription-based marketplace has over 2,000 Illustrator add-ons you can download without restrictions! You can get find plenty of designs that can inspire you to create your own designs with stars. This set of Illustrator rounded stars is just one of the many examples.
Instead of learning how to draw a star in Illustrator point by point, you can select Illustrator's Star Tool and simply click and drag to quickly make a star in Illustrator. Hold down the Shift key as you click and drag if you want your star to stand upright.
Alternatively, you can select Illustrator's Star Tool and click on your artboard to open the Star settings window. Set the settings as you wish and click OK to easily make a star in Illustrator.
Pick the Star Tool, click and drag to create a new star shape, and make sure that you don't release the mouse button. Hold down the Control key and drag your cursor outside the shape to make a sharper star or move it towards the center of the star to create a chubbier star shape.
Press the Alt key if you only wish to see how your perfect star would look. If you drag the cursor, the star will regain its original size settings. You can hold down the Alt key as you click and drag, but again, once you release the Alt key, the star will return to its original size. If you wish to turn your star into a perfect star for good, simply press Alt-Control.
There are two methods that you can use to create a rounded star in Illustrator. First, you can select your star shape and go to Effect > Stylize > Rounded Corners. Set the Radius as you wish and click OK.
The nice thing about this technique is that you can use the Direct Selection Tool (A) to select particular anchor points and adjust the Corner Radius just for those points.
Set the settings as shown below, and make sure that the Colorization Method is set to Tints. This will allow you to change the color of the stars. Once you select all the settings shown below, click OK and the brush will show up in the Brushes panel.
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