Using Symbols in Illustrator

Symbols can potentially save you a lot of time. Illustrator comes with hundreds of symbols, and there are hundreds more available on the Internet. Before we discuss how to incorporate symbols into our illustrations, let’s define a symbol.

A symbol is an art object that can be used over and over. Each time a symbol is used within an Illustration, it is referred to as an instance of that symbol. An instance of a symbol can be added one-by-one, or can be sprayed onto an illustration via the Symbol Sprayer tool. And, since the original symbol is stored in the symbols panel, one can make a change to the original symbol and that change will be applied to all instances of that symbol. If you are a Flash user, and this is starting to sound very familiar, it is! The use of symbols in Flash is very similar to using symbols in Illustrator.

Illustrator Symbols

Let’s look at the symbols that come with Illustrator. At the bottom of the symbols panel, click on the Symbol Libraries Menu icon.

Symbol Libraries Menu

There are many symbol libraries available. They range from the Tiki Library to the Nature Library to the Map Library. I recommend checking out the symbol libraries before taking the time to create an art object. There are hundreds of commonly used symbols readily available. There is even a Sushi library!

Let’s take a look at the Nature library.

Nature Symbol Library

To add grass to my illustration, I first add the symbol to the symbols panel by clicking on the grass symbol inside the Nature Symbol Library. This adds it to the symbols panel. To add the grass to my illustration, I click and drag the grass symbol from the symbols panel on to my illustration. This adds an instance of the symbol to my illustration. Or, if I want a lot of grass in my illustration, I can use the Symbol Sprayer Tool. This tools let’s me spray on multiple instances of grass easily and quickly.

Symbol Sprayer Tool

If I click and hold the sprayer tool over my illustration, it adds the symbol multiple times as long as the mouse is pressed.

If I want to spread out the grass into a larger area, I click and drag while pressing the mouse.

If I decide I want to have blue grass instead of green grass, I simply edit the symbol in the symbols panel. To do this, double-click the symbol in the symbols panel. This opens the symbol in its own artboard area. Notice the top left of the window. It will have a back arrow followed by the name of the symbol. This indicates you are editing a symbol.

Symbol Editor Mode

I change the color of the grass to shades of blue, then click on the back arrow to exit. This saves the changes to the symbol. The changes are immediately applied to any instance of that symbol in my artwork. (I changed the color of the grass to blue using the Live Color option, which is another discussion in Illustrator.)

If I want to vary some of the instances of the grass, I could use the symbol tools, available under the Symbol Sprayer Tool. We won’t cover the use of the different symbol tools in this overview tutorial, but the symbol tools allow us to change various attributes including:

• Size
• Rotation
• Transparency
• Color
• Positioning

Before closing this discussion, let’s look at creating our own symbol. To create a symbol, draw the symbol, then click and drag it to the symbols panel. This will open a dialog box that lets you name the symbol.

Add Symbol

Name Symbol

The symbol is now readily available for further use within your artwork.

New Leaf Symbol

Next time you find yourself needing a specific object over and over, don’t forget the symbols available within Illustrator. It may be just what you need to easily complete your Illustration.