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sgswink
Participant
September 10, 2025
Answered

Not accurately rotating elements around center of circle

  • September 10, 2025
  • 1 reply
  • 508 views

I found an odd issue with rotating elements around the centerpoint of a circle. To recreate the issue:

  1. Create a circle
  2. Create a triangle with points aligned to the circumference of the circle
  3. Rotate the triangle around the centerpoint of the circle 

 

Theoretically, the points of the triangle should remain aligned with the circumference of the circle. However, Illustrator is shifting the tringle off the circumference. The issue is only visible at high magnification, but  causes issues when trying to create precise compound shapes. 

 

I was able to recreate this issue across multiple machines, running Illustrator 29.7.1 and 29.8.1. No snap-to preferences are in use. 

 

Is this user error I am overlooking, or is there an issue with how Illustrator is computing the rotation? 

Correct answer Ton Frederiks

See this discussion:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/is-there-a-way-to-draw-a-perfect-circle-in-illustrator-cc/m-p/10429364

You may want to create a circle using a script that uses more than 4 anchor points for added precision.

Like the Circle scipt here: https://shanfan.github.io/Illustrator-Scripts-Archive/

Or the Ovalize script here: https://github.com/shspage/illustrator-scripts/blob/master/etc/ovalize.jsx

1 reply

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Ton FrederiksCommunity ExpertCorrect answer
Community Expert
September 10, 2025

See this discussion:

https://community.adobe.com/t5/illustrator-discussions/is-there-a-way-to-draw-a-perfect-circle-in-illustrator-cc/m-p/10429364

You may want to create a circle using a script that uses more than 4 anchor points for added precision.

Like the Circle scipt here: https://shanfan.github.io/Illustrator-Scripts-Archive/

Or the Ovalize script here: https://github.com/shspage/illustrator-scripts/blob/master/etc/ovalize.jsx

sgswink
sgswinkAuthor
Participant
September 10, 2025

Fascinating, somehow haven't run into this issue before. 

Ton Frederiks
Community Expert
Community Expert
September 10, 2025

It is hardly visible, so you only notice when zoomed in very far.