How to design sound waves in Illustrator
November 2, 2007 – 6:35 pm
This is a nice little trick using Illustrator’s Blend option.
To create perfect sine-waves – or something very close – first of all, draw a line. Then go Filter > Distort > Zig Zag… and choose the number and height of waves you want (remembering to click the smooth radio button, otherwise you’ll get a zig zag).
You then need to copy this beautiful wavy line and create a distorted version on top of it. To do this simply copy (Cmd/Ctrl-C) the wavy line and paste in front (Cmd/Ctrl-F). Put one line on a locked layer and, with your Direct Selection Tool (A), drag the peaks and troughs of the curves either up or down randomly. See below where the blue triangle is.
Then unlock the original wave and go Object > Blend > Blend Options… and select the number of Specified Steps you want. Then, with both selected, go Object > Blend > Make (Cmd/Ctrl-Option-B).
Amazing.. I never thought that it’ll be that much easy.. but yet to try it
5 Responses to “How to design sound waves in Illustrator”
If find there are no anchor points on your zigzag, then select it and go Object > Expand Appearance.
By ant on Nov 15, 2007
Very good point, ant. As with a lot of Illustrator effects, such as brush effects, Object > Expand Appearance will turn the effect into vector. Thank you.
By Rob Cubbon on Nov 17, 2007
Interesting Blog!! needed help with this about 2 months ago to bad i just found the blog
By web design new york nyc on Dec 28, 2007
you’re so full of neat tricks and tips Rob I may have to create a perm link to your tutorials on my site when it’s up and running
By aliput on Apr 28, 2008
Links are always gratefully received, aliput!
By Rob Cubbon on Apr 30, 2008