Pleats please.

Somebody asked me if there was an easy way to create a basic pleat in Illustrator.

Pleats can be drawn as a row of parallel lines, each one the same as the next.

But what if those pleats are more fluid, change their profile from one to the other and you want them to blend smoothly.

Then you might want to try using the Blend tool.


1. Draw your two lines, the start and the end profile.

2. Select both lines and in the Menu bar select Object, Blend, Blend Options...

3. In Blend Options you can specify how the blend is made. For this example use the following:

4. Next select again from the Menu bar, Object, Blend and this time Make Blend.

5. You will end up with a smooth blend from one shape to the next in the number of steps you specified.

6. You can change the shape of the blend by selecting one of the start or end profiles with the Direct Selection tool and just reshaping it. The blend will refresh itself.

7. To use these lines as part of your drawing you will need to Expand its appearance.

This will let you add, remove and edit each line individually.

Search: blend tool illustrator fashion videos

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Search: blend tool illustrator

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Colour mixing online

Have a look at this if you are looking for some colour inspiration or a way to create, save and swap colour palettes:

http://kuler.adobe.com
You can register and save all your custom palettes to be used in Photoshop and Illustrator.
For example:
http://kuler.adobe.com/#themeID/75242
http://kuler.adobe.com/#themeID/106002

You are even able to make a palette from an image you upload or have loaded into Flickr
http://kuler.adobe.com/#create/fromanimage

Here is a video explaining briefly how to use Kuler

You can also have a look at ColourLovers for more colour and pattern palettes.
http://www.colourlovers.com