Here is a quick tip that comes in handy for me all the time. I like to work out ideas analog. A frustration I have with notebooks, in general, is that lined and graph paper tend to be of inferior paper quality than sketchbooks. My solution is to create my own graph or ruled paper and place them behind my sketchbook sheets so that I can see the lines through the page in the same way a calligrapher would. Ruled or graph paper is easier to create with Illustrator than you may think.
Here’s how I do it
First, create a new document the same size as your notebook. For this example I’m going to use 8.5in x 11in. Next, select the line segment tool or simple press ‘\’. Then, click in the top left corner of your document. Clicking one time with this tool selected will cause an options prompt to appear. Enter the width of your document as the length and confirm the angle is 0 (for a horizontal line).
Confirm your line is in the right place by looking at the text boxes above your document. The ‘X’ value will most likely be half the document’s width, ‘Y’ should be 0, ‘W’ should be the document’s width and ‘H’ should be 0.
Now for the magic
With the line segment selected click Effects > Distort & Transform > Transform from the menu.
The values you’ll need may vary depending on your needs. Here is what you’d need for ruled paper with lines a quarter of an inch apart.
That’s it
There are more creatively fulfilling things you can accomplish with the transform tool, but that is another post.
Published by Ryan Parsley