How to Measure Angles in Illustrator
By Elle Smith
Updated September 28, 2017
When precision in documents is essential, Adobe Illustrator provides a bounty of tools an artist can use to create accurate measurements of images, distances between objects on the page and angles, among others. Illustrator's virtual tape measure is a speedy way to calculate an angle's degree directly on the artboard.
Open a new Illustrator document. Select the artboard size, orientation and choose either CMYK or RGB for the color profile.
Click on the “Tool” palette. Select the rectangular “Shapes” or “Line” tool from the palette and draw an angle on the page.
Click the “Eyedropper” pane of the Tool palette and hold it down until a submenu appears. Select the “Measurement” tool, which looks like a ruler.
Place your cursor on the page and click between two points to measure the angle. Alternatively, click and drag the tool from point to point to measure the distance. Hold down the "Shift" key while dragging the tool to constrain it to 45-degree angles.
Read the Info box pop-up to find the angle measured. The Angles pane is on the right side of the panel, second pane down.
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Writer Bio
Elle Smith has been an advertising professional for more than 25 years. Her work for ABC, CBS and Sony Pictures Television has appeared on radio, on air, in print and outdoors. In addition, Smith has more than 20 years experience in marketing, graphic arts, commercial photography and print production, and is a licensed real estate agent with property management certification in California.