My Favorite Adobe Illustrator(Ai) Hidden Gems

Brand Design

My Favorite Illustrator Tools (with Keystrokes + Menus)

1. Pattern Brush Tool

💡 Used to create repeating patterns along paths—great for borders and decorative elements.

  • Where to Find It:
    • Window → Brushes → Click the Brush Library icon (bottom left) → Pattern Brushes
    • Or: Draw a shape → Drag to Brushes Panel → Select “Pattern Brush”
  • Shortcut: No direct shortcut, but you can quickly open the Brushes Panel with F5

2. Duplicate Shortcut (Command+D)

💡 Repeats your last transformation (move, scale, rotate, etc.). Game-changer for grids and patterns.

  • Where to Find It:
    • Edit → Transform → Transform Again
  • Shortcut: Command + D (Mac) / Ctrl + D (Windows)

3. Smooth Tool

💡 Perfect for cleaning up wobbly anchor points—especially useful for lettering and custom shapes.

  • Where to Find It:
    • Under the Shaper Tool group in the Tools panel → Click and hold to reveal the Smooth Tool
  • Shortcut: No default shortcut—assign your own via Edit → Keyboard Shortcuts

4. Pattern Tool

💡 Lets you create seamless repeating patterns with precision.

  • Where to Find It:
    • Object → Pattern → Make
  • Shortcut: No default shortcut—manually open via the menu

5. Width Tool (Line Width / Variable Width)

💡 Use it to vary stroke thickness along a path—awesome for adding character to lines or creating faux calligraphy.

  • Where to Find It:
    • Tools Panel → Width Tool (looks like a line with two handles)
  • Shortcut: Shift + W

6. Join Tool

💡 Quickly connects two endpoints (e.g. cleaning up hand-drawn paths or letterforms).

  • Where to Find It:
    • Under the Shaper Tool group → Join Tool
  • Shortcut: No default shortcut
  • Pro Tip: Select two endpoints → Command + J also joins them (slightly different behavior)

7. Shape Builder Tool

💡 Combine or subtract overlapping shapes like a pro—way more intuitive than Pathfinder.

  • Where to Find It:
    • Tools Panel → Shape Builder Tool
  • Shortcut: Shift + M

8. Puppet Warp Tool

💡 Move and distort parts of an object using “pins”—feels like magic when fine-tuning illustrations.

  • Where to Find It:
    • Tools Panel → Puppet Warp Tool
  • Shortcut: E (Also used for Free Transform)

9. Recolor Artwork Tool

💡 Effortlessly swap palettes or test new colorways—especially helpful for branding work.

  • Where to Find It:
    • Edit → Edit Colors → Recolor Artwork
  • Shortcut: No default shortcut—must be opened from the menu or the Control Bar when art is selected

10. Outline Stroke

💡 Turns strokes into editable shapes—useful for customizing type or illustrations.

  • Where to Find It:
    • Object → Path → Outline Stroke
  • Shortcut: Command + Shift + O is for Outlining Text—not strokes, so this must be accessed via the menu

Have an Adobe Illustrator shortcut or tool you love and use that I didn’t mention? DM me over on instagram—I’m always looking to discover new workflow hacks! 😁  💌

🎙️ Listen to the podcast episode over on Better The Brand Designer podcast – S11E20