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A2D2
A2D2
Inspiring
May 1, 2025
Answered

Pucker and bloat tool not symmetrical??

  • May 1, 2025
  • 2 replies
  • 1298 views

Hi. I am trying to use the bloat tool to create a 5 petal flower from a regular pentagon.

 

In the Illustrator menu I navigate to EFFECT > DISTORT & TRANSFORM > PUCKER & BLOAT.

 

However, as shown in the screenshot, the result is not symmetrical. 

 

The red stroke is the pentagon stroke to which I am applying the effect. The other shapes are just to show alignment. The stroke is not aligned to the pixel grid and so it should be free to be drawn.

 

We can see that the different petals are different shapes.

 

Admitedly, I am using CS6 but is this the problem? Is there  something I am missing. I like the bloat effect for the type of flower I am trying to create but it needs to be symmetrical. Is there a better way to create the symmetrical 5 petal flower without drawing it?

Correct answer Monika Gause

Thank you for the replies. I couldn't find a way to show the centre of the bounding box in Illustrator. That would have helped me overlooking the difference between the centre of a geometrical shape and the centre of the bounding box. In InDesign the centre of the bounding box is at least shown when the object is being dragged.


The center of the bounding box can be turned on in the Attributes panel.

BUT: as long as it is still a live shape (and not just a path), this setting will show the actual center of the object. Center of the bounding box can then only be concluded from the side handles.

2 replies

Monika Gause
Community Expert
Monika GauseCommunity Expert
Community Expert
May 1, 2025

You can do it precisely like this: https://youtu.be/4UOHRjPnV1Q

You do not need the Join tool in the end when everything before has worked out precisely.

    Tina_Irvine
    Community Expert
    Tina_IrvineCommunity Expert
    Community Expert
    May 1, 2025

    Hi @A2D2,

     

    That is correct that it will not give you a symmetrical result from "pucker and bloat." If you're creating a lot of flowers, or plan to create more images that require radial symmetry, it might be worth considering an upgrade to your current Illustrator version. The "Repeat > Radial" tool is really handy for this: 

    https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/illustrator/using/repeat-patterns-desktop.html#:~:text=Create%20a%20radial%20repeat,Choose%20Object%20%3E%20Repeat%20%3E%20Radial.

     

    As for using the older version, this tutorial will help you with duplicating a petal shape and rotating it (you'll need to change the degrees for using 5 petals).

    https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/illustrator/using/create-a-heart-shaped-flower.html

     

      A2D2
      A2D2Author
      Inspiring
      May 1, 2025

      Thank you for the reply. The next question then would be "why does the pucker and bloat tool not give radial symmetry?".

       

      If it does not work symmetrically or with a predicatable path then it seems hard to understand how it does work.

      Tina_Irvine
      Community Expert
      Tina_IrvineCommunity Expert
      Community Expert
      May 1, 2025

      My apologies, I worded that incorrectly. The shape you were using doesn't provide symmetry with the pucker and bloat tool. You can try a different shape. A 6-sided / hexagon works better than 5 for symmetry. Hopefully this helps 🙂

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