Simple Illustrator question on resize

[CES020]

I'm trying to transition from Corel into Illustrator and it's not going as smooth as I'd like it to go

Simple question- I have a logo I imported as a pdf, it's all vector format provided by customer. I need to scale it up to fit the sign blank. I can't seem to grab a corner and keep it proportional. In Corel, you can hold a key down and it will stay proportional. However, text, objects, anything I do in Illustrator just seem to free form expand all out of whack. I've gone into the transform tools and locked the X and Y together, but that didn't seem to matter when I grabbed a corner handle to enlarge it.

Is there a hotkey for that or do I have something unchecked I need to check?

Seems so simple and I am soooooo lost.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[sinetist]

Hold the shift key down while dragging to keep it proportional.

 

[petepaz]

hold the shift key or just use the scaling feature in your tool bar and tell it the % you want to enlarge

 

[CES020]

Dang it, I could have sworn I used that with no success. However, it seems to work now. Maybe I was holding down everything BUT the shift key.

Thanks! It's one of those days.....

 

[CES020]

Okay, maybe not. Tried it when I read this thread and it worked, went back into file and tried it, didn't do anything.

Grabbed the top right handle, the diagonal arrows come up for resizing, held the shift key down, doesn't constrain. Tried the top left handle, it constrained. Tried the top right, doesn't constrain. Tried the top left again, doesn't constrain.

Apparently I'm missing something key, or sequential. Any ideas?

I didn't think I was THAT stupid

 

[blackicefx]

Hold down SHIFT when dragging a corner to enlarge proportionally, the opposite corner will remain anchored to it's position. Hold down SHIFT and ALT to enlarge proportionally, the center of the graphic will remain anchored.

Matthew

 

[iSign]

shift key has worked from any of the 4 corners for me, every time for 20 years, through 10 upgrades... but make sure you let go of the mouse click/drag first, and then the shift key...

(I think it will constrain to proportionate, or height only, or length only... so you need to drag somewhere closer to a 45° angle than a 0° or 90° angle. I know this is the case with constrain moving objects, I think it effects scaling as well)

Which version are you using?

 

[CES020]

Thanks all, it's CS4, and it looks like it was a sequence issue. I'm used to Corel and being able to grab the corner and start moving, then hold the shift key down. I can't do it that way in CS4. I have to hold the shift key down PRIOR to moving the mouse at all, which is what I think you were saying Doug, right?

Works fine now. Just need to make sure I'm shifting before mousing

Thanks all!

 

[Idea Design]

... so you need to drag somewhere closer to a 45° angle than a 0° or 90° angle...

The drag angles are important. You can select what you want to resize, pick 'S' on the keyboard to grab the 'Scale' tool, position the marker from where you want to scale, then click and drag at 45° away from the marker (while holding shift to maintain proportion).

I find it easier to use the scale tool that try and use the bounding box.

 

[iSign]

Thanks all, it's CS4, and it looks like it was a sequence issue. I'm used to Corel and being able to grab the corner and start moving, then hold the shift key down. I can't do it that way in CS4. I have to hold the shift key down PRIOR to moving the mouse at all, which is what I think you were saying Doug, right?

Works fine now. Just need to make sure I'm shifting before mousing

Thanks all!

actually, I can start resizing (from the corner bounding box handles) and then hit the shift key after I started resizing... and that still snaps me back into proportion.. what I was saying about sequence was in the timing of letting go. The shift key needs to stay down until after you let go of the mouse click/drag. Same with the alt key if you want to resize from the center.

Also, that comment I made about 45°, I was wrong about that for resizing from bounding box. Like Idea design said, that is a concern when using the scale tool, with a manual mouse dragging method. This tool allows you to pin any point as your stationary point to resize from, as well as allowing you to just key in any percentage instead of dragging.

 

[CES020]

Interesting. I'm getting some inconsistent behaviors. I'll check for patches or updates when I get a chance, along with a reboot and see if that clears it up.

Thanks for the tips, I thought it couldn't be that complicated.

 

[John Butto]

Mac shift/opition

If your using a Mac and Illus it is the shift/option and drag "corner button" to keep it in the same proportions either smaller or bigger.

 

[Rick]

I don't use a bounding box in Corel or Illustrator. When I was a production monkey I would get odd type stretches and logos slightly off from the original because a power user of the program of choice would get to enthusiastic and let go of the shift key a little too soon and distort the logo. Be careful with any program and the bounding box. In Illustrator you can constrain proportions in the "TRANSFORM" panel and type in the size you need, or with the Cadtools plug in you can do it in scale to the size you need the element to fit in using "CadTracker"

 

[signmeup]

That really irritates me in Photoshop too. Why on earth isn't "constrain" the default mode? Why make us push a hotkey for the odd time we want to distort what ever we are re-sizing?

 

[jimbug72]

Yeah, you gotta make sure and release the mouse button BEFORE releasing the shift key. Shouldn't matter which handle you grab, and it should automatically revert to constrained if you press the shift key after clicking & dragging.

 

[rockz12]

Another thing to check especially with drop shadows / effects and strokes.. Double click your scale tool in the tool palette. Make sure Scale Stroke and effects proportionally is Checked.. This should always be checked. Not sure why they give you the option to scale without it.

 

[iSign]

plenty of reasons you might want to scale something & have the stroke width remain constant