CREATIVE TIP OF THE WEEK: Best ways to create rainbows in Adobe Illustrator

The best ways to create rainbows in Adobe Illustrator! Learn how to use the warp, blend and 3D inflate tools in this quick and easy tutorial.

 

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

SOLID COLOUR GRAPHIC RAINBOW:

  1. Use the rectangle tool to create a long thin rectangle. Duplicate this as many times as you need. Hold ALT + SHIFT to duplicate the shape. Hold CMD + D to duplicate the last step.
  2. Colour your rectangles with your chosen colours.
  3. Group the rectangles (Object> Group). This is very important to do as otherwise the next steps will not work correctly.
  4. Go to Effect> Warp> Arc.
  5. Select Arc in the drop down menu.
  6. Put the ‘Bend’ option at 100% for a full rainbow.
  7. Explore the sliders to get the rainbow effect you want and click OK to apply.
  8. You can now scale your rainbow proportionally. Hold shift while rescaling to maintain the exact shape.

GRADIENT RAINBOW:

  1. Follow the steps above to create your rainbow.
  2. Go to Object > Blend > Blend Options and choose ‘Smooth Color’.
  3. Go to Object > Blend > Make to create the gradient effect.

3D RAINBOW:

  1. Follow the above steps to create your rainbow.
  2. Go to Effect> 3D and Materials > Inflate.
  3. Move the ‘Perspective’ slider to full to make your rainbow look round.
  4. Move the slider on ‘Metallic’ to add a metallic shine to your rainbow.
  5. Explore the lighting sliders to achieve the effect you want.

TIPS:

  • Remember to always group your rectangles before making your arc!
  • Explore the many different effects in Adobe Illustrator to create new rainbows.
  • Experiment with adding pattern to your rectangles using the draw inside tool.
  • Experiment with more or less colours and different combinations.

We’d love to see your results on socials. Tag @makeitindesign #makeitindesign.

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