Using the Stroke palette

Stroke attributes are available only when you stroke a path. These attributes, available in the Stroke palette, control whether a line is solid or dashed, the dash sequence if it is dashed, the stroke weight, the miter limit, and the styles of line joins and line caps.

Use the Stroke palette to select stroke attributes, including the thickness (weight) of the stroke, how the stroke is capped and joined, and whether a stroke is solid or dashed.

To set stroke attributes using the Stroke palette:

1. With any selection tool, select the object with the stroke attributes you want to change.
2. Click the Stroke box in the toolbox to select the object's stroke.
3. Choose Window > Stroke.
4. To specify a stroke weight, enter the desired weight in the Weight text box or choose a value from the pop-up menu. You can enter a value in inches (in), millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), or picas (pi), and Illustrator converts it to an equal value in points.

The stroke weight determines the thickness of the stroke, in points. Illustrator strokes a path by centering the stroke on the path; half of the stroke appears on one side of the path, and the other half of the stroke appears on the other side of the path.

If you enter a weight of 0, the stroke is changed to None.

5. To see other options, choose Show Options from the Stroke palette menu; then select from the following options:
• Butt Cap for stroked lines with squared ends.
• Round Cap for stroked lines with semicircular ends.
• Projecting Cap for stroked lines with squared ends that extend half the line width beyond the end of the line. This option makes the weight of the line extend equally in all directions around the line.
6. Select one of the following options:
• Miter Join for stroked lines with pointed corners. Enter a miter limit between 1 and 500. The miter limit controls when the program switches from a mitered (pointed) join to a beveled (squared-off) join. The default miter limit is 4, which means that when the length of the point reaches four times the stroke weight, the program switches from a miter join to a bevel join. A miter limit of 1 results in a bevel join.
• Round Join for stroked lines with rounded corners.
• Bevel Join for stroked lines with squared corners.
• Dashed Line for a dashed line; then specify a dash sequence by entering the lengths of dashes and the gaps between them in the Dash Pattern text boxes. As with the stroke weight, you can enter a value in inches (in), millimeters (mm), centimeters (cm), or picas and Illustrator converts it to an equal value in points.

The numbers entered are repeated in sequence so that once you have established the pattern, you don't need to fill in all the text boxes. Dash patterns are specified in points.


Effects of line cap styles on dashed lines with dash gap of 1, 6, 10, 6