Quickly Duplicate Rectangles

[Jim_Palik]

I am new to Illustrator. I have been watching a lot of videos. In these videos I see the presenter duplicating rectangles, what looks like clicking inside an existing rectangle and draging a new rectangle out on the artboard. No presentor tells how they are doing this and they do it very quickly. I always get a "Rectangle" dialog box requesting my width and height. I have tried every control and combination of control keys I can think of and nothing works.

How do I simply click inside an existing rectangle and drag and exact copy out to the artboard

Thank you, Jim

[Monika Gause]

In order to do this, take the selection tool (the black arrow)

Then grab the rectangle and drag to the side, press the Alt key and hold it while dragging.

Lift the Mouse, then the Alt key

If you need more copies, use Object > Transform > Transform again

You can get the selection tool by pressing Ctrl (or Cmd on a Mac) if a different tool is currently active.

Please do also read the documentation.

[Jim_Palik]

Thank you Monika, that was simple. I knew it would be. Please believe me when I say this.

I have been wrestling with Illustrator for a week. I have read so much documentation I am bleary eyed. No where could I find this simple answer.

Tell me where in the documentation this answer is located and I will send you a bottle of you favorite beverage.

Jim

[Monika Gause]

I know ... the documentation is hard to navigate.

When searching something in the documentation, I search for "adobe illustrator helpx" and then whatever I want to find.

The duplicating can be found here: https://helpx.adobe.com/ca/illustrator/using/duplicating-objects.html

There are also some great introductory videos: https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/how-to/shapes-basics.html