Compass: A Lesson in the Pen Tool

You will need this image to complete this tutorial.

1. Open the compass.ai Adobe Illustrator file from the zip file you downloaded. This is a template we will use to make your compass shape. Open your layers palette and highlight the arrows layer. Select your Pen Tool (P)

2. Click View=> Pointer. This should take you to the pointer template for making the inside pointer in your compass. With your pen tool set to black stroke, click on the point marked 8. click on the point marked 9. hold your control key down and click elsewhere. Use your selection tool to select this line segment. Set the Stroke on the stroke palette to a weight of 4 pt. Click filter=> stylize=> arrowheads.
 

3. Set the start box to arrowhead #3. Set the end box to arrowhead 17. Set the scale to 50% and click ok.

Double click your magnifying glass tool to set the magnification of your artboard to 100%.

4. Set your default colors, and then set the fill color to no fill by activating the fill palette on the tool box and clicking the no fill button below. The stroke remains black. Select your pen tool again. Click the pen tool in the square marked capitol A. This will set an anchor point for our starting shape at A.

5. Click in the square marked lower case a. A new anchor point is added to the first anchor and a line segment occurs between the anchors. You will see a highlight over your black segment.

6. You can end the line segment by holding your control key and clicking away from the anchor. Select the line with your selection tool and set the weight of the stroke on the stroke palette to 7

7. Select your scissors tool from the tool box. The scissors will allow you to "cut" a line segment.. Move the scissors over the middle of the line segment. Click on the middle of the segment. Half of your segment will now be highlighted with a new ending anchor. Switch to your direct select tool and grab the new anchor and move it toward the edge of the circle on the template to shorten the segment to go for outside to the circle. Click on the other new anchor point on the other half segment and drag it to the circle edge to make this segment shorter. Click select=> deselect.

8. Repeat steps 4-7 for a segment connecting Points B and b.

9. Repeat steps 4-7 for segments E-e and D-d but use a stroke weight of 4 pt.

10. Once you have all the line segments drawn and sized, it is time to add arrowheads. arrowheads is a style that is built into illustrator. Remember we started all our lines on the capitol letter points, A, B, D, E.

Select your selection tool. .Click on the segment A1. Click Filter=> stylize=> Add Arrowheads. This will open the arrowheads dialogue box. Select the arrowhead # 16 from the start(top) box. Set the end box to non. Set the scale to 200 %. Click ok.

11. Use the selection tool to select the 3-a line segment. Since a was the ending  point of our drawing, we will need to put our arrowhead on the end when we stylize it. Click Filter=> Stylize Add Arrowheads. Set the start to none. Set the end to arrowhead 15 and scale to 100%.

12. Repeat steps 8 - 9 for the B-2 and b-4.segments to add arrowheads. Be sure you add the starting point to B-2 and the ending point to b-4.

13. Use the select tool to add arrowheads # 14 at 150% to the starting ends of E and D (if you started your segment on E or D.). If you goof, just click edit=> undo. Add arrowheads  to e and d on the start end so the result so far looks like on the right.

14. Open your layers palette and lock your arrows layer. Unlock your bubble layer and highlight it.

15. Select the pen tool set to black stroke. Click without releasing at point 1 to add an anchor there and drag to the right to the red handle dot. This will bend the line some. CLick in point 2 and drag down to the red handle dot. Click on point 3 and drag left to the red handle point. Click on point 3 and drag up to the red point. Mouse over point 1 until you see a o appear next to your pen tool. The circle means that by clicking there you will close the shape. Click to close the shape and drag to the right again to the red dot. You should have a nice black outline circle now. Use your selection tool to select it and change the stroke weight to 5 pt.

16. While the bubble circle is still highlighted, click on the fill color swatch on the tool box. Open your color palette and set the CMYK color of 40, 0, 50,0 so that a faint green fills your circle. Set the transparency to 45 percent.

17. While your circle is still highlighted, double click the scale tool. Set the scale to 100% and click COPY. On the new copy, set the fill to no fill and the stroke to black, weight= 5. Set the transparency on the transparency panel back to 100%.

18. With the new circle still highlighted, double click on the scale tool. Set the scale to 95% uniform and click copy. Now set the weight to 10 point with dashed line, dash 4pt, gap 10 point.

19. Now double click the scale tool again. Set the scale to 95% uniform and click copy. Now set the weight to 10 point with dashed line, dash 1 pt, gap 5 point.

20. Click directly on the green fill in the ring behind. Click object=> arrange=> bring forward.

21. Click View=> bubble to display the template for making the bubble. Choose the pen tool. Set your stroke to white  and your fill to no fill for now. Set the stroke weight to 1 on the stroke palette. The dotted lines of the template represent where we want the resulting directional lines and handles to go. Click on the number 5 point and drag up and to the right to match the dotted line. Click on the number 6 point and drag down and to the right so that the opposite handle and direction follows the dotted line above point 6. Hold your alt key down and click directly on the anchor for point 6and drag down again, but this time matching the handle below the #6. Click on point 7 and drag to the left to match the handles. mouse over the end point to see the o under the pen tool. hold your alt key down and click drag up until the direction and handle below matches the bottom dotted line. Set the transparency palette to softlight, 100%. You can rotate if need be.

22. Click inside your kidney shaped bubble and move over your green bubble centered on 10 pm.. Set the fill to white, stroke to no stroke. While your kidney shape is still highlighted, double click your scale tool. Set the scale to NON-uniform at -80% scale height and width. Click Copy. Use your selection tool to move the new kidney to center over 4pm on the compass. Set the transparency on the transparency palette to 75% and softlight.

23. move the first pointer you made over the compass and position it in the circles. while it is highlighted, click Object=> arrange=> Send to back.