I'm using Illustrator 29.0, and this has got to be something simple I'm misunderstanding, but my issue is this:   Let's say I want to select a bunch of objects distributed over my screen -- but not all objects on the screen. I want to use a drag with the selection tool to assist in grabbing many objects, but a single drag with the selection tool can't get them all without bringing in unwanted objects. So I'd like to do something like 3 different drags and add to the selected objects each time.   I thought I used to do this with a shift-drag. But now that's "inverting" the selection, meaning that any object within the marquee is either added to the selection if it's not already selected, or being removed from the selection if it's already selected. So I can't manage to select all my objects without shift-clicking on each one and there are too many to do this quickly.   I tried to upload the file, but I'm getting an error that the content doesn't match the extension. ??? I saved as Illustratior 2020 format, and the extension is .ai   ... View more

I'm on Photoshop v 20. I want to put text in a rectangle (or possible other shape). I want to change the size or proportions of the shape, but not resize or distort the text. I've tried making a rectangle, then using the text tool (which turns into a kind of "balloon" when placed over a shape). At first it works, but any attempt to resize the shape will change the size of the text or distort the aspect ratio. ... View more

I want to use the rotate tool to BOTH (1) set center of the rotation to a point outside the object, (2) type in the degrees of rotation rather than "wing it" with the mouse. I've done the following: (1) Select rotate tool (2) Click to set the center of rotation (3) Followed the directions online for typing in an angle. I tried both double-clicking the rotate tool, and also typing an angle into the properties box. Neither one words (they both rotate around the center of the object.) Thanks, Mike ... View more

I'm trying to create an an image in Illustrator which involves lines of colored boxes. There will be four rows, and the rows will be far apart on the left and come together on the right. I've created a rough impression using Photoshop's Liquify tool. This of course looks horrible and I'm going for an effect in which the edges of the boxes stay aligned with the path rather than becoming parallelograms (as happened with Liquify). What's a way to do this in illustrator? I have **more** ideas about what to do with these paths but I'm starting with the simplest version for learning purposes. Mike ... View more

First the TL;DR. I want to create a custom blending rule so that I compare the brightness of two layers and compute an output value of white or black depending on which one is greater. Is there a way to do this? For those interested in what I'm going for, I have in mind this idea:: First, imagine a linear gradient, from black to white (moving left to right). Call this layer L1. Then imagine a honeycomb of black hexagons -- BUT, there is a lot of white space between the hexagons which have a thick white stroke separating them. Call this layer L2. Now, **blur** L2 a little so that the dark centers of the hexagons bleed into the white stroke and the white stroke becomes a little gray. So now it looks like fuzzy hexagons. Call this layer L3. Now I wan to blend L1 and L3 as follows: the resulting layer R1 will have a black pixel wherever L3 (the fuzzy hexagon) is darker than L1 (the gradient).  Otherwise it will have a white pixel. Imagine the final result: on the right, it will all black, because every part of the fuzzy hexagons will be darker than the white on the right side of the gradient L1. As you move to the left, only the darkest core of the fuzzy hexagons will be darker than L1, so you'll start to see, on R1, separated hexagons. As you move all the way to the left the hexagons become smaller and more separated. ... View more

Hello, I'd like to try joining two paths or segments in this way. I draw both of them separately. Path A has a point that is "open" (i.e. a point that has only one line coming away from it) Path B has an open point as well. I drag Path B over to Path A and drop the open point on the other open point. The paths join at their open paths. Is there a way to do something like this? ... View more

I updated AI a few weeks ago. What happened to the property bar across the top? Now all windows are on the right side. But crucial windows are missing. I can't even find where to change the point width of a stroke! I'd like to know (1) ideally how I can make it look like it did before, with lots of appearance options across the top of the window (none of the workspace options seems to do this) (2) at least how I can dock panes along the top manually (3) and at the very least, where is the pane for changing the width of a stroke? ... View more

I wanted to use a "hue" or "overlay" mode (or any of those alternative modes), call it layer A, to affect only the layer beneath it, call it layer B. It clearly was affecting all layers beneath it, so I put 'A' and 'B' into a group. 'A' was still affecting all layers beneath that group. So I alt-clicked on the boundary between A and B, to create a clipping mask. This changed things, but it doesn't quite look like the layers underneath the transparent part of B are entirely unaffected. It's hard to tell. It may be a difficulty that B is not entirely opaque. Is a clipping mask truly the right solution, and I'm I just deluded when I think it's not working? (My PSD is complex so it's hard to tell.) ... View more

My original problem was that I wanted to use Live Paint with colors that existed in CC library swatches. But the only way to change the Live Paint color is with the color picker (it ignores attempts to click on CC library swatches), and I can't see any way to select CC library swatches from within the color picker. Of course, if I could move all the CC library swatches over to local swatches, then I could use them from the color picker. What's the  best solution? And as an aside, it is just me, or is the "integration" (or lack thereof) of CC libraries with local resources very confusing? ... View more

I made an arc by first creating a circle, then snipping it. I want to join this arc plus two copies of it in a triangle like shape, like this: In this image, you see them roughly positioned. But I want to position them exactly with all endpoints coincident with the neighbor's endpoints, and then join the three segments. How do I do that? ... View more