Adobe Illustrator CC 2015 User Manual
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209
Painting
Last updated 6/5/2015
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In the Bristle Brush Options dialog box, specify:
Name
of the bristle brush. Maximum length of the brush name can be 31 characters.
Shape
Select from ten different brush models, which provide a different drawing experience and appearance of
bristle brush paths.
Size
Brush size is the diameter of the brush. Like a physical media brush, the Bristle brush diameter is measured at
the point where the bristles meet the handle (the ferrule). Specify the brush size using the slider or directly entering
the size in the available text field. Range can be between 1mm and 10mm.
Brush size from the original Brush definition is displayed in Brush preview in the Brushes panel.
note: The bracket keys, [ and ], are used as shortcuts for decreasing and increasing the size, respectively. The bracket
keys increase and decrease the size in 1mm increments.
Bristle Length
The bristle length starts from the point where the bristles meet the handle of the bristle tip. The
length of the bristles can be specified in the same way as other bristle brush options, by dragging the Bristle Length
slider, or specifying the exact value in the Bristle Length field (25% to 300%).
Bristle Density
The bristle density is the number of bristles in a specified area of the brush neck. You can set this
attribute in the same way as other bristle brush options. It ranges between 1% and 100%, and is calculated based on
the brush size and bristle length.
Bristle Thickness
The bristle thickness can vary from fine to coarse (between 1% and 100%). Set the bristle
thickness like other bristle brush settings, by dragging the slider, or specifying the thickness value in the field.
Paint Opacity
This option lets you set the opacity of the paint being used. The paint opacity can vary between 1%
(Translucent) and 100% (opaque). The specified opacity value is the maximum opacity used in the brush. You can
use the numeric keys[0-9] as shortcut to set the opacity of bristle brush strokes where:
• 0 = 100
• 1 = 10%
• 9 = 90
In other cases, for example, if you enter 35 in succession, the opacity is set to 35%, and if you enter 356 in succession
the opacity value is set to 56 (last two digits). Any string of digits that ends with 00 are set as 100%.
Stiffness
Stiffness implies the rigidness of the bristles. If you set a low bristle stiffness value, the bristles are flexible.
They become more rigid when you set a higher value. The bristle stiffness ranges between 1% and 100%.
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Click OK to create the brush definition with the chosen settings.
With the brush tool selected, and a Bristle brush definition chosen in the Brushes panel, you can create artwork using
the Bristle brush.
If you try to print, save, or flatten transparency in a document with more than 30 bristle brush strokes, a warning
message is displayed. These warnings are displayed when you save, print, and flatten file content.