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Scaling


    Scaling an object enlarges or reduces it horizontally (along the x axis), vertically (along the y axis), or both horizontally and vertically, relative to the point of origin you designate. The default point of origin is the object's center point.

    To scale stroke weights and effects when you scale objects by dragging the bounding box or the free transform tool, select Scale Strokes & Effects in the General Preferences dialog box. When scaling objects by setting scale values in the Scale Options dialog box, you can turn the Scale Strokes & Effects option on or off (this option overrides the General Preferences option).

    Scale Strokes & Effects option on (left) and off (right)
    Scale Strokes & Effects option on (left) and off (right)

To scale with the bounding box:

  1. With the selection tool, select the object or objects to scale.
  2. Drag a handle until the selection is the desired size.
    • Shift-drag the handle to preserve the proportion.
    • Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) to scale from the center of the bounding box (instead of the opposite handle).

To scale with the free transform tool:

  1. With the selection tool, select the object or objects to scale.
  2. Select the free transform tool  the free transform tool .
  3. Drag a handle of the bounding box until the object is the desired size.
    • Shift-drag the handle to preserve the proportion.
    • Alt-drag (Windows) or Option-drag (Mac OS) to scale from the center of the bounding box (instead of the opposite handle).

To scale with the scale tool:

  1. With the selection tool, select the object or objects to scale.
  2. Select the scale tool  the scale tool .
  3. Do any of the following:
    • Drag the object to resize it around the center point.
    • Click to set a new point of origin, move the pointer away from the new point of origin, and then drag to scale the object.
    • Shift-drag along a diagonal to scale the object uniformly. Shift-drag vertically or horizontally to scale the object along a single axis.
    • To scale a copy of the object instead of the object itself, start dragging and then hold down Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS).
    • For finer control over scaling, start dragging farther from the point of origin.

To scale by specifying scale factors:

  1. With the selection tool, select the object or objects to scale.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • To use the default point of origin, choose Object > Transform > Scale, or double-click the scale tool.
    • To change the point of origin, select the scale tool, and click where you want the new point of origin.
  3. In the Scale dialog box, do one of the following:
    • Select Uniform, and enter a percentage in the Scale text box to preserve the relative height and width of the object.
    • Select Non-Uniform, and enter the horizontal and vertical scale factors as percentages to scale the height and width separately. The scale factors are relative to the specified point of origin and can be negative numbers.
    • Select Scale Strokes & Effects to scale the line weights of all stroked paths (as specified in the Stroke palette), and scale any size-related effects, along with the objects.
  4. To preview the effect before you apply it, select Preview.
  5. Do one of the following:
    • To scale the object, click OK.
    • To scale a copy of the object, click Copy.

To scale objects individually in a selection:

  1. Select the objects to scale. Then choose Object > Transform > Transform Each.
  2. In the Scale Horizontal and Vertical text boxes, enter the percentages by which to scale the selected objects.
  3. Select Preview to preview the effect before you apply it; then click OK.
  4. Uniform scaling with a non-default origin point specified (left); uniform scaling with the default origin point (right).
    Uniform scaling with a non-default origin point specified (left); uniform scaling with the default origin point (right).