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Drawing polar grids


    You draw polar grids by dragging or by setting specific grid parameters in the Polar Grid Tool Options dialog box.

To draw a polar grid:

  1. Select the polar grid tool  the polar grid tool , and drag diagonally.
  2. As you drag, do any of the following:
    • Press Shift to constrain the grid to a circle.
    • Press Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to extend the grid from all sides of the origin point.
    • Press Shift + Alt (Windows) or Shift + Option (Mac OS) to constrain it to a circle as it extends from the origin point.
    • Press the spacebar to move the grid as you draw.
    • Hold down ~ (tilde) to create multiple polar grids.
  3. To adjust the grid's dividers, do any of the following as you drag:
    • Press Up Arrow or Down Arrow to add or remove concentric circles.
    • Press Right Arrow or Left Arrow to add or remove radial lines.
    • Press X to change the logarithmic skew value for the concentric dividers inward by 10%.
    • Press C to change the logarithmic skew value for the concentric dividers outward by 10%.
    • Press F to change the logarithmic skew value for the radial dividers counterclockwise by 10%.
    • Press V to change the logarithmic skew value for the radial dividers clockwise by 10%.

To create a polar grid by specifying properties:

  1. Select the polar grid tool  the polar grid tool , and click where you want to create the grid's origin point and open the Polar Grid Tool Options dialog box.
  2. In the Polar Grid Tool Options dialog box, do any of the following and then click OK:
    • For Default Size, enter Width and Height values for the entire grid. Then click a corner of the Origin Point icon to determine the point from where the grid is drawn.
    • For Concentric Dividers, enter the number of circular concentric dividers you want to appear in the grid. Then enter a Skew value to determine how the concentric dividers are weighted toward the inside or outside of the grid.
    • For Radial Dividers, enter the number of radial dividers you want to appear between the center and the circumference of the grid. Then enter a Skew value to determine how the radial dividers are weighted counterclockwise or clockwise on the grid.
    • Select Create Compound Path From Ellipses to convert the concentric circles into a separate compound path and fill every other circle.
    • Select Fill Grid to fill the grid with the current fill color (otherwise, the fill is set to none).