How to Make Border Swirls on Illustrator CS3

Create a custom swirl using Illustrator CS3.

Adobe Illustrator CS3 enables you to create shapes to build your own custom brushes of various types, including calligraphic, scatter, art and pattern brushes. The pattern brush provides various options, like scale, spacing and fit, to help you achieve the results you want. Create a pattern brush using a custom swirl shape and apply it to a rectangle to create a border with swirls in Illustrator.

Instructions

1. • 1
     Launch Illustrator. Press “Ctrl” and “N” to create a new document. Click Window and Swatches to display the Swatches panel if it is not displayed already.
   • 2
     Click the Spiral Tool icon; click and hold the Line Segment Tool icon if necessary to display the menu to choose from.
   • 3
     Click on the stage and drag upward to create a small spiral.
   • 4
     Click “F5” to display the Brushes panel if it is not visible. Click the Brush Libraries Menu icon located at the bottom of the panel, and choose Decorative and Decorative_Text Dividers. Click Text Divider 21 to apply the line shape to your spiral. Click the Stroke menu and set the value to “2 pt.” Experiment with the brush types and stroke size to get the desired swirl.
   • 5
     Click the Swatches tab and drag the swirl to it. Click the slash (/) icon to set the selection back to None.
   • 6
     Click the Brushes tab and then the New Brush icon at the bottom of the panel. Choose New Pattern Brush and click “OK.” Click the Side Tile icon and choose your swatch from the list shown. Click the Outer Tile icon and choose the swirl again. Set the scale size to “30%” and click “OK.”
   • 7
     Click the Rectangle or Ellipse tool in the Tools panel and draw a border on the stage. Click the brush you created to apply swirls to the border. Modify the stroke size as necessary using the Stroke panel to achieve the border size you want.