This article shows you three ways to draw symmetrical shapes other than the basic shapes such as circles and squares.
The Symmetrical Distort Tool
The Symmetrical Distort tool allows you to distort shapes symmetrically.
Let's transform a rectangle.
Press and hold the Free Transform tool in the Tools panel and tap the Symmetrical Distort tool.
Drag the upper right handle of the rectangle to the left.
As you can see in the animation, when you move the upper right handle, the upper left handle moves symmetrically at the same time.
The resulting shape is symmetrical.
This tool transforms a shape symmetrically by moving a handle of the bounding box.
For this reason, you cannot transform the middle part of the shape.
Flip, Copy, and Join
Flip & Copy
This section explains how to create a symmetrical shape by creating a half-sectional shape and then copying it in reverse.
Let's flip and copy the butterfly drawn only in the left half.
Tap the Move tool and swipe through the three objects in the Layers panel.
When the objects you want to flip are selected, tap the Geometry panel.
Tap the Transform button.
Select the right center for the Reference Point option and the horizontal direction (horizontal) for the Flip option.
Turn on Copy Objects and tap the Apply button.
The objects have been copied and flipped horizontally.
Although it appears to be complete, the butterfly's body remains split in two.
Let's join the bodies into a single object.
Join
This section explains how to join the original half-section shape and the flipped copy to form a single shape.
Tap the Layers panel.
On the layer panel, you can see that the butterfly's body is divided into two objects, left and right.
Let's join them.
With the right half of the butterfly body selected, swipe the left half object.
Tap the Path panel.
Tap the Join button.
Now the butterfly's body is joined and a symmetrical butterfly is completed.
The Path Width Tool
The Path Width tool is used to widen the width of a line, and can widen it symmetrically. This feature allows you to create symmetrical shapes.
Widen the middle of a line
Unlike the Symmetrical Distort Tool, the Path Width tool can transform the central part of the shape.
Let's transform a straight line into a symmetrical shape.
Swipe the object in the Layers panel.
Tap the Path Width tool.
Swipe the center of the straight line to the right.
As you can see in the animation, it transforms symmetrically.
Change the position of the widened part
Swipe the center dot downward.
As you can see in the animation, the shape is transformed.
Widen the ends
Swipe the top anchor point to the right.
As you can see in the animation, it has transformed.
Change end from round to square
As a result of the widening of the end, the upper part of the shape became semicircular because the ends of the original straight line were rounded.
Let's turn this into a square end.
Tap the Appearance panel.
Tap the gear icon in Stroke.
Of the Cap options, tap the square.
The end is now squared.
Clear the widened part
If you want to clear the widening part, first tap the center point.
Next, tap the trash can icon.
As you can see, the widening part is now cleared.
In the following article, we present a tutorial on how to draw a face using these three methods.
Thank you!
