Scale, Shear & Distort Objects Using The Free Transform Tool In Adobe Illustrator

You can scale, shear, and distort objects by using the free transform tool in Adobe Illustrator. You also have the ability to rotate and by using modifier keys or a simple click of a button you can constrain your transformations.
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[@elwoodwhitaker7416]

Hey Mike, this was super helpful. I've been trying to figure out how to skew a graphic for 3 days and I found your video. Thanks so much.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Hey Elwood! Always happy to hear when some of my content can be helpful. Thanks for taking the time to let me know.

[@asvanum]

Thanks a lot, I was trying to find this kind of setting for so long, you really saved my day.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Glad I could help!

[@nassyam]

After watching numerous videos I came to watch yours and finally understood. Thank you for sharing!!

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

I'm happy my content could help! Thank you for letting me know.

[@greggfloyd1396]

Totally dig your clear instruction presentation with this tool on this vid, quick hit.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Thanks Gregg! More coming soon 🤘

[@johncrestani8708]

yes, this is my first time here. I hit the subscribe button before i got to learn anything new. Fingers crossed.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Thanks John! Hope you did end up learning something...?

[@johncrestani8708]

@@MikePickettDesignCo I am loving this channel, I need to expand my career and landed here yesterday! The content is dope thanks

[@rajatnanda643]

Thank you so much! I was stuck with the scaling problem since an hour and your short tutorial greatly helped.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Happy to help, glad it was able to speed things up for you!

[@scribblerat9083]

THANK YOU. Could not for the life of me figure out how to warp perspective and you have given me the answer! :D

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Thank you! Always happy to hear when some of my content was able to help out.

[@VeronikaPoloni]

Thanks Mike, keep 'em coming :) I hope your channel grows, we need more people doing AI tutorials!

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Thank you watching and commenting! No matter what happens, growth or not, I'll keep putting out content! I'm here to help new designers.

[@r9628]

just to the point what a learner would want. Appreciate it

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

I do my best to have very little fluff- some people still think I talk too much!

[@vkarolv]

thanks man! great!

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Glad it helped!

[@rehanfarooqui2071]

smooth video. many thanks!

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Thank you Rehan! 🤘

[@monabaloch5521]

Love from Pakistan ❤️❤️❤️❤️

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Right back at you from Canada!

[@monabaloch5521]

Great tutorials

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Thanks! Many more to come.

[@howardmathews5572]

There is sadly something very important that illustrator misses. There's no liquify-like tool like in photoshop. It would be extremely useful to make adjustments to a linework for example, instead of adjusting anchor points of both ends of the shape and trying too hard to keep them parallel so it looks neat, if you know what I mean.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Maybe something I can put in as a feature request... I’ll see if there’s anything already in the works. Have you checked out Astute Graphics? They might have a plug-in that would do what you’re looking to accomplish

[@morningdrums]

Nice video and I have a question. Ok, if you had a shape made with the box, you don't use solid fill just the stroke. You delete one side so it looks more like a U or a book. How can you manipulate one side and bend one side to face a different direction? Clarity, the box/rectangle is on its side, you delete the right-side wall. Now take the top line of the rectangle, how would you bend that back so top of rectangle is upwards?

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

You would want to use the Direct select tool to pick one or both of the top anchor points and convert them to a curved point. After that you could either drag the segment up or use the handles added to arc the line. Hope that helps.

[@mraaishgamer7764]

Thank you,👍

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

You’re welcome! Sorry for the late response 🤘

[@johnthematubis]

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Thank you! I appreciate you watching and commenting🤘

[@liona9093]

Omg thank u so much , u saved my lifeee !!!

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Happy to hear it! Thanks for watching and letting me know.

[@procuroemea8746]

Thanks for video. Can you do a video on how to copy section of an image and ad this onto side of image so you can increase width of image without affecting the graphics in image. Hopefully that makes sense.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Some clarification might help... but if you’re asking how to alter transform images (jpg, png, gif, etc) - that can’t be done. You’ll have to do that in Photoshop. If that’s not what you’re asking please feel free to respond and I’ll see what I can do to help!

[@BawonoSA173]

Okay, this is very helpful. I never thought of using that function, always use Photoshop for free transform works But it doesn't worked on images, as in photos & PNG images. The perspective transform won't work at all, at least if it's "Place…" option, haven't tried open image in new tab then drag them into the main work tab to make it work. How to fix that?

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Bawono. Thank you for your comment. Illustrator is for vector objects only. Although you can place or paste images into designs the majority of the editing tools will not work with photos. If you need to transform an image you'll have to do that in Photoshop and then import it to Illustrator.

[@goviktor]

Great video ! Thanks !

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Thanks Viktor!

[@nekokna]

thank you very much. iabsoluedly despised the skew tool (corel draw user trying to learn AI)

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Always happy to hear when my content helps! Thank you for watching and letting me know 🤘

[@rustopher65]

Thanks for the save.

[@inyaki7547]

Thank you sir been wondering how to do this ❤️❤️❤️❤️💯💯💯💯

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

You are very welcome!

[@henryandthehorses5085]

Thank you!

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

You’re welcome!

[@SmokyFrosty]

Why do some of these tools not work with an imported embedded image :@

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

You're going to find that the majority of the tools in Illustrator will have little to no effect on raster images. Illustrator is vector software, so while it does have raster support manipulating images is not what its main purpose is. Photo manipulations could / should be done in Photoshop and then imported into Illustrator for any vector work to accompany the image.

[@MohamedLotfy2]

thanks 👍

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Welcome 👍

[@MDSalim-yc4rm]

TNX YOU SO MUCH FOR YOUR MOST IMPORTENT VIDEO

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Thank you for watching and commenting! 🤘

[@sajjadabouei6721]

thanks a lot

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

You’re very welcome. I appreciate the comment 👍

[@channg1886]

Well I have a question regarding the free transform after I play around with it. I start to use shapes like I normally do but then all the shape is changed to one perspective look like they are not in the right proportion how they used to form. For example if I try to make circle like I use to do by holding control now it turn out like a weird look oval And I want to turn off free transform so I can make a normal shapes I used to do again. Do you have any suggestions please

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

To go back to making normal shapes you should just have to select your shape tool and start drawing again.

[@keithdmaust1854]

Thanx

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Thank you for watching and commenting!

[@Pepe_LeMac]

I usually always use PS for mock ups, just by distorting a designs perspective and super imposing it where i need. However the outcome usually is abit more pixelated than id like. So i recently tried using AI's distort feature to save me time from going between programs, and I notice that while it does its job pretty well, and doesnt pixelate - it gives me some strange results like for example if there is a line of text that goes from one window to the next and theres a metal frame between, the text doesnt line up correctly and looks really off. But when i do it in PS the text lines up 99% of the time, just looks abit more pixelated.... any ideas whats going on here ? Its not just with text either, if i have a shape thats split into 2 halves because it needs to run over 2 windows with a frame in between, the shape just doesnt line up aesthetically when using free distort in illustrator, but lines up nicely when doing the same in photoshop...

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Hey Dean! Thank you for the question. I’m not 100% following the issue your experiencing, you can find my Instagram and Twitter on the about tab,if you would like to DM me on either one of those I can give you my email address where you can send me some screenshots or video captures and we can see if we can find the cause of the issue you’re having.

[@karlfoto611]

The free transform tool widget is missing for me. I'm on a mac running the latest illustrator. please help!

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

It could be that you have the basic tools menu turned on. Click the three dots at the bottom of the tools, then click the hamburger menu icon on the top right of the flyout. Next click Advanced. The other option would be to click the three dots, then drag the Transform tool over to the menu.

[@jayreagan5558]

@@MikePickettDesignCo How do you get to the advanced function? I don't see the three dots? Thanks for video!

[@geoffreycrete7020]

Yes, but how to distort a picture in Illustrator ??? :)

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Illustrator is a vector manipulation software. If you need to distort images you’ll have to use Photoshop.

[@nandor3077]

Adding a like for the KZbin algorithm. Great informative video. I'm currently taking some Skillshare classes. Although at the moment I feel that I'm in a creative rut, or block, etc. What do you do for 'practice'? I need something to challenge me but it doesn't feel organic at the moment. Thoughts?

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

I was in a pretty big rut a few months ago. I started looking around my house for everyday objects I could use as inspiration. I also took some time to scroll through posts on IG and Behance that weren't in my main discipline, I do mainly vector art now so I started to scroll things like photo manipulation, web design and other more. It inspired a number of my new pieces although you'd never know by looking at them.

[@nandor3077]

@@MikePickettDesignCo I want to send you some of my work for critique and thoughts. Good or bad. Do you have an email? Also, I'm looking forward to the podcast.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Hey Fernando - you can find my email address on the About tab. If you can't find it message me on Instagram or Twitter and I can send you the address there!

[@nandor3077]

Mike Pickett Design Co. just email you. 😁 please don’t sugar coat it and give me your honest feedback.

[@OkaMotret]

bagaimana dengan image?? apakah bisa menggunakan free tranfrom untuk membuat efect 3d seperti di photoshop

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Tidak, photoshop untuk foto - Illustrator untuk vektor.

[@aryowidyanggoro5421]

any idea of how you do it to a non vector object (image,jpg,png,etc) in AI?

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

@Aryo Widyanggoro unfortunately that’s a job that can’t be completed in Illustrator- you’ll have to use Photoshop.

[@aryowidyanggoro5421]

@@MikePickettDesignCo ah i see, thx for the respond

[@andychavez]

Thanks. It seems that there is a difference in how Photoshop handle free transform which the user has more control than that of illustrator. It's just the corners does not lock in illustrator just like what happened in your video. Any workaround?

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

The only workaround I can think of would be to use the direct selection tool and adjust each anchor point one at a time.

[@israrmalik4336]

is there difrence between sacle and tarasform toll

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

There is. The scale tool just only that, scales objects while the transform tool can rotate, scale, and more!

[@theygroup757]

Hi, that's great but doesn't seem to work on png or jpeg.. any ideas on how I can do that? TIA

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Yup, use Photoshop. Illustrator is for vectors.

[@KawsikRoy]

do that free distort on an imported jpg image. can you do that?

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

No, Illustrator is mainly for vectors. If you need to manipulate raster images you're best to use Photoshop.

[@pieralessi7426]

I have the last version but I don't have the options, neither in advanced

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Do you mean you don’t have the Free Transform Tool?

[@joseperes777]

Simple....as long it works ..in my Illustrator when I press E or Free form tool nothing happen...no bar with deform tools pops out.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Many things in Illustrator are version based.

[@hardcrowz3048]

That distort tool is only available in illustrator cc I guess it's missing on cs6

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Hey @Hard Crowz - Ya, I think it's something they added to CC. I can't seem to find any documentation for it prior to CC.

[@talhaaltaf4522]

How to apply it on an image

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

You can’t with Illustrator, that need to be done in Photoshop

[@surajitdhar]

how to transform in maximised zoom level ??? like precise transform

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

I'm not sure I'm following your question - this would be the same as doing any transform, just zoomed in. However, that said, it would be difficult to see what you're actually doing when zoomed in 64,000%.

[@surajitdhar]

@@MikePickettDesignCo when u zoom in a certain object, the transform handles on 4 side get lost like as they always come in the middle. Im talking about to grab the handle in the zoomed phase. how to transform then.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

@@surajitdhar Sorry, I don't have that issue. When I zoom in I can still see the bounding box as well as the anchor points on the shape. It could be that you have hit cmd + H, this will hide the anchor points on a shape, but that shouldn't affect the bounding box. If you can see it when it's zoomed out, it should still be there when zoomed in.

[@surajitdhar]

@@MikePickettDesignCo not anchor points on shape but the points that u need to grab to adjust the transform box, each comes on the 4 side of the transform box. It don't show when you select an object and extreme zoom it.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

@@surajitdhar again, sorry… I don’t have this issue, or at least I’m not seeing it as an issue. The handles will still be there, but they will not scale to the zoom. In other words - if the handle is 4 inches away from the anchor point when zoom is at 100% it will still be 4 inches away when zoomed to 64000%, meaning you would need to use the hand tool to move the canvas to get the handle into view. If you’re not seeing the handles at all, this may require support from Adobe.

[@jaysonfontela5761]

👍

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

You are welcome! My apologies for the late response🤘

[@iTheNem3sis]

I don't get the distort options/ panel.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Do you have an object selected??

[@kndrmbs5972]

This is the same for me. I'm using a CS6. I'm still new to this. I'm following a beginner's course. I was told to select an object and click on free transform tool then a free transform options panel will appear. In the tutorial, a panel appeared and he used perspective transform. But nothing's popping up on mine. If you ever reply, I would be so thankful. I'm learning illustrator for school. I'm to submit a digital drawing.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

What are you selecting? Is in an object like a sphere, rectangle or other shape?

[@kndrmbs5972]

@@MikePickettDesignCo @Mike Pickett Design Co. Oh! Thank you so much for responding! I'm following Gareth David's Illustrator for Beginners. I'm on the creating vector shapes video and I'm stuck. It was on the part where an ellipse shape was drawn.

[@iTheNem3sis]

@@MikePickettDesignCo I was selecting a tree illustration and wanted to create shadow by duplicating it and changing its perspective in a black/ grey colour.

[@simplekim4478]

If image, how to use free transform tool?

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

You can't, if you're manipulating images you need to use Photoshop. Illustrator is a vector tool.

[@RickGreenPhoto]

doesn't work with raster images

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

It's not meant to work with raster images - this is Illustrator NOT photoshop.

[@RickGreenPhoto]

@@MikePickettDesignCo I was trying to figure out how to import a photo and align it so I could laser cut it with mounting holes. My image was was not to scale and distorted in perspective. I know the dimensions to the holes for mounting and wanted to align them. I don't know how to do it and I thought that I could use the tool you showed but doesn't. hmmm

[@glen9747]

I dont have the other 3 options

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

What “other 3 options”?

[@glen9747]

@@MikePickettDesignCo For some reason I only have two options in the free transform tool, one is the free transform tool and the other option is the icon of a pin, but I tried clicking on a corner of my object and then pressing Command and suddenly the other options popped up, hey thanks so much for answering and this vid was so helpful

[@lizadelacruzbergon3773]

but I cant do it on images :(

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Illustrator isn’t for manipulating images, if you need to alter photos you need to use Photoshop.

[@jahmaitrapp2697]

This is a little misleading.... the thumbnail shows you distorting an image

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Illustrator is for Vectors, Photoshop is for images.

[@pepelota74]

You are using a deceptive image for your video thumbnail. You are not free distorting an image and your thumbnail shows that. Sorry but I will mark your video as disliked.

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

Do what you have to do! No deception here - illustrator is a vector based program, Photoshop is for images most people know that and don't expect vector software to do image manipulation - the thumbnail doesn't need to be an exact representation of what's in the video but if thumbing down my video makes you feel better 👍

[@dennisjonon6451]

Hi, where can i email you for questions about something i need help with i think you can help with.. thanks!

[@MikePickettDesignCo]

I would prefer to keep all questions here on the channel.