)
When it comes to working on Illustrator, Guides are one of the most instrumental tools available. You can use guides to create aligned and accurately measured and placed designs, which are instrumental when creating clean and professional templates.
You can enable guides in Illustrator using the View tab on the menu at the top of your Illustrator window. Through this, you can enable three main types of guides on Illustrator: rulers, grids, and SmartGuides, which each allow you to carry out different tasks.
If you are interested in learning more about each kind of guide and what it can help you with, you are looking at the right article! Throughout this tutorial, we will help you understand what each guide brings to the table and how to enable it on Illustrator!
How To Enable Guides On Illustrator
All of the guides we will discuss in this article are accessible through the View tab on your overhead menu on Illustrator. If you’re looking for a video tutorial, here is a walkthrough on Illustrator guides:
Moving on, let’s explore how you can enable each type of guide on Illustrator and what each kind of guide is best used for.
Ruler Guides
Ruler guides are best for designating specific areas of your design and can also be helpful when you want objects to be aligned with specific areas of your workspace. To make rulers show up in Illustrator, you can follow these steps:
- Go to View in the overhead menu, and from the drop-down list, select Rulers.
- Alternatively, use the shortcut Ctrl+R (on Windows) and Command+R (on macOS) to show the ruler guides on your design space.
To use the ruler, you can click the side or top of the art space (where the ruler is) and drag the guide wherever you want it to land.
You can also lock the guides by going to View, Guides, and then selecting Lock Guides. This will allow you to move things around without disturbing the guides.
Grid Guides
You can use grid guides when you want precision in your design, especially when you want accurate measures of distance and space.
One of the best applications of grids is when you are working on Logos or other artworks requiring precision and accuracy. To select grids:
- Go to View, and then choose the option Show Grid.
- You can adjust the style, size, and color of the grid lines using the Preferences tab. Navigate to Guides and Grid to choose the style you are looking for.
This will allow you to select the exact size you are looking for in the grid. Additionally, you can adjust the lines’ style, including their color.
Smart Guides
You can use Smart Guides all over Illustrator, and it has the ability to quickly give you information about precision and alignment, particularly regarding the distance between objects. You can enable SmartGuides using the following:
- In the View tab, where you can select SmartGuides to switch it on
- Using the Ctrl+U (on Windows) and Command+U (on macOS) shortcuts.
Final Thoughts
As you can see, there are many different types of guides that you can use in Illustrator. Whether you are looking for precision, alignment, or just a way to measure distances between objects easily and quickly, guides on Illustrator can be incredibly helpful.
