Dynamic Shapes Preferences

The Dynamic Shapes preferences dialog can be brought up in three ways: by choosing Dynamic Shapes Preferences... in the flyout menu of the panel; by double-clicking on the Dynamic Shapes tool icon in the toolbar; or by pressing the Return/Enter key when the Dynamic Shapes tool is selected.

Dynamic Shapes Preferences

1. Annotation Color

Changes the color which which the annotated controls are drawn for all Dynamic Shapes.

2. Large Control Handles

Enlarges the annotated control handles to make them easier to see on high-resolution screens.

Dynamic Shapes Large control handles

3. Differentiate Special Control Points

Surrounds the special control points of advanced shapes (see Dynamic Shapes Tool: Edit Existing Shapes) with a second square to differentiate them from the normal controls which change the size of the shape.

4. All Shape Buttons in a Single Row

Moves the advanced shape buttons to the same row as the standard shape buttons, in order to make the panel slightly shorter. Switching between standard and advanced shapes will take an extra click.

5. Define Slices by Percentage

Changes the values which specify slices from angular degree units to percentage units. This is helpful when using slices to create pie charts.

6. Recall Last Used Between Sessions

When enabled, each time Illustrator is launched the Dynamic Shapes panel will be restored to its previous settings, rather than its default settings.

7. Define New Shapes by Bounding Box

Changes the method with which new shapes are created by dragging with the Dynamic Shapes tool (see Dynamic Shapes Tool: Creating New Shapes Dragging). This preference can be toggled on the fly by pressing the S key.

8. Informational area

Shows a brief description of each preference control when the cursor is being hovered over it.

9. Help Button

Opens the help documentation in the Astute Manager. If this does not automatically appear, please ensure your Astute Manager is running first.