Step and repeat using rotation

[Steve Fermor]

Hi,

I need to be able to rotate a drawn object in a circular manner and with precise gaps, not guesswork, between them. The most obvious example I can think of is a clock. If I wanted to create 60 one second markers, how would I go about this? Has anyone done anything like this?

Many thanks.

[Rene Andritsch]

Taking the example of a clock I would go about this way. First create a center point with guides. We need that to set the center point for the rotation later. Then create a line or rectangle at your desired distance from that center point.

As you want 60 markers you have to use an angle of 6 degrees for your rotation (360/60). Then select the element you want to rotate, activate the Rotation Tool (R) and ALT/OPT click onto the center point (where the guides cross). This will call up the Rotation Options. Put in 6 into the degree field and then press “Copy” (you can also activate the preview first).

After that you can repeat that with the function “Transform Again” from the object menu. If you have to do that often – like in this case – it is easier to allocate a keyboard shortcut to it.

[Steve Fermor · Accepted solution]

Thank you so much, I had forgotten about Transform Again. I can certainly use this on a forthcoming project. I did get what I wanted on this instance by a somewhat more difficult route. I produced and elipse, stepped and repeated with no offsets, rotated it 6 degrees, and repeated this procedure unti I jad a quarter circle. Grouped it and rotated it 90 degrees twice, then ungrouped and regrouped it, and rotated it again until I got the result shown. Your method is better I think.

[Peter Spier]

This sort of thing is usually easier to do in Illustrator, especially if there are odd numbers involved. Any possibility you could do the art there, then place it in InDesign?

[Steve Fermor]

Thanks Peter, I thought illustrator was the place to be, and I do have it, but I really hate the software. When forced to use it many years ago, I always thought it was the poor man's Freehand (if you remember that one) and still do. As you can read above I did get there in the end, but thanks for the pointer.

[Peter Spier]

I'm far from an Illustrator power user, but I was thinking of the ability to do blends along a path with designated number of steps, just to make clear where I was heading.