What are some tips and tricks for using the appearance panel to style strokes and fills?

1 Accessing the appearance panel

To open the appearance panel, go to Window > Appearance or press Shift + F6. You will see a list of attributes for the selected object, such as fill, stroke, opacity, and effects. You can add, remove, or rearrange these attributes by clicking on the icons at the bottom of the panel. You can also apply attributes to specific parts of an object, such as a group, a layer, or a path.

2 Adding multiple strokes and fills

One of the coolest features of the appearance panel is that you can add multiple strokes and fills to the same object, and control their order and visibility. To add a new stroke or fill, click on the plus icon next to the stroke or fill icon at the bottom of the panel. You can then adjust the color, weight, and alignment of the stroke, or the color and opacity of the fill. You can drag and drop the attributes to change their order, or click on the eye icon to hide or show them.

3 Applying effects and transformations

Another way to enhance your stroke and fill styles is to apply effects and transformations to them. To do this, select an attribute in the appearance panel, and click on the fx icon at the bottom of the panel. You will see a list of effects that you can apply, such as drop shadow, 3D, distort, and stylize. You can also apply transformations, such as move, rotate, scale, and shear, by selecting an attribute and clicking on the transform icon at the bottom of the panel. You can edit or delete any effect or transformation by double-clicking on it in the appearance panel.

4 Using graphic styles and appearance editing

If you want to save and reuse your custom stroke and fill styles, you can use graphic styles and appearance editing. Graphic styles are presets that you can apply to any object with one click. To create a graphic style, select an object with the desired appearance, and click on the new graphic style icon at the bottom of the graphic styles panel. You can then name and organize your graphic styles in the panel. To apply a graphic style, select an object and click on the graphic style in the panel. To edit a graphic style, select an object with the graphic style applied, and make changes in the appearance panel. The graphic style will update automatically.

5 Using blends and opacity masks

Finally, you can create more complex and dynamic stroke and fill styles by using blends and opacity masks. Blends allow you to combine two or more objects with different appearances, and create smooth transitions between them. To create a blend, select two or more objects with different appearances, and go to Object > Blend > Make or press Ctrl + Alt + B. You can then adjust the blend options in the blend panel. Opacity masks allow you to control the visibility of an object based on another object. To create an opacity mask, select an object with an appearance, and place another object on top of it. Then go to the transparency panel, and click on the make mask button. You can then edit the mask in the transparency panel.