Rotating distorted objects

There are a couple of ways to rotate the warped objects while maintaining their "live effect" state. For example:

- Rotate with the Transform effect (see Effect > Distort & Transform).

- Convert the warped object to a symbol (see Symbols palette), then rotate it with any tool that can rotate things.

- Put the warped object into an envelope (see Object > Envelope Distort), then rotate it with any tool that can rotate things.

Keep in mind that there may be unexpected results if you release – for instance – the symbol with the Break Link to Symbol command that is located in the flyout menu of the Symbols palette.

Those effects are applied relative to the shape and orientation of the object when the effect is applied. Therefore if you rotate the base object, the effects change relative to the shape and orientation of the object. Expanding the object is one workaround however it leaves the effect uneditable from that point forward. Another workaround is to convert the object to a static Symbol. This allows you to rotate the object the way that the effects were originally applied without the effects changing during rotation. The effects are actually still editable by simply editing the symbol and all instances will be updated.

The effect remains "live" and is effectively re-applied to the rotated object(s). To illustrate:

The effect is, in Illustrator parlance, (part of) an "Appearance;" thus Jacob's suggestion that you expand your object's appearance (Object > Expand Appearance). That commits the effect to the object(s) and removes its "live" behavior:

Julie,

What happens if you expand it(s appearance)?