Creating Envelopes in Adobe Illustrator

If there is one thing I really love about Adobe Illustrator, it has to be reshaping objects with an “envelope.” Real envelopes are pretty boring things -- you can only use them for mailing letters. But in this tutorial, you'll discover just how powerful and versatile Adobe Illustrator‘s “Envelope Distort” is for reshaping almost anything. Yes, anything -- it's amazing! You'll be stuffing envelopes all day long, because the first thing to remember is whatever you put inside an envelope, you will be able to distort. This includes raster graphics, objects drawn with the pencil and brush tools, paths, gradient meshes and even unexpanded text, linear gradients and objects that have had 3D effects applied to them. It is really a powerful tool, so let's dive in and get started by creating the envelope.

Step 1 - Select all the objects you want to put inside the envelope.

I have this boring, rigid straight strip of film that I drew. It is made up of quite a mix of different types of objects. The face is a gradient mesh, there is text at the top and bottom of the strips and, for the countdown, numbers 3-2-1. The film itself is drawn with some simple rectangular shapes. I want to make it wavy and flexible like real film and make it look like it is coming right at you like a wiggling worm.



First, drag over the whole image using the Selection Tool (black pointer cursor) so that all objects are selected. Then click on the menu ‘Object‘ > ‘Envelope Distort‘ > ‘Make with Mesh...‘



A dialog box appears, asking you the dimensions of the grid that you want for your envelope. I'll enter 1 for rows and 3 for columns, then check the 'Preview' box to see the envelope appear on top of the film, and click OK. That's it, you've just created an envelope and everything is now inside it. The next part is where the fun begins.

Step 2 - Reshaping The Envelope

There are two tools you can use to reshape the envelope: the 'Direct Selection Tool' (white pointer arrow) and the ‘Mesh Tool.‘ You can use either one to simply select an anchor point or handle and move it. Magically, everything reshapes accordingly. I'll start by moving the top right corner anchor downwards and the bottom right corner anchor upwards like this:



Do the same to the other anchor points and handles along the strip of film. Move them left, right, up and down until you get a wavy effect you like. Something like this:



That's about it -- you've finished your drawing! But wait -- you notice the word “color” is spelled in American English and your UK-based media magazine won't like that. They want British English, spelled “colour.” Ah! You'll have to steam the envelope above the kettle for 10 minutes to open it up without ripping the envelope shape you've spent ages making. Luckily, there is an easier way, because you can still edit the contents of an envelope. Simply select the envelope and click on the menu 'Object' > 'Envelope Distort' > ‘Edit Contents.‘ You will now be able to edit the text and do any further adjustments, just as though it was not in an envelope. Once finished, you can return to editing the envelope instead of its contents, just by clicking 'Object' > 'Envelope Distort' > ‘Edit Envelope.‘

Step 3 - Expand Your Envelope

If you are done editing your envelope, you can get rid of it and leave the contents in the new distorted shape by clicking on the menu, 'Object' > 'Envelope Distort' > ‘Expand.‘ You do not have to do this, but if you are submitting it to Shutterstock, envelopes are not AI8 EPS compatible, so it is best to expand and get rid of the envelope. Once expanded the film is reshaped like below. You can see in the Outline View how without the envelope, the paths and other objects have retained the curves and shape of the original envelope.

Other Envelope Methods and Noteworthy Tips

There are three types of envelopes: ‘Warp,‘ 'Mesh' and 'Top Object.‘ For the film, we used the mesh. If you use the preset warps or top object envelopes, you'll have a lot of power in your hands – let‘s see how.

Draw a rectangle and fill it with a linear gradient, then select it and click on the menu 'Object' > 'Envelope Distort' > ‘Make With Warp.‘ A dialog box appears. Select a warp style -- there are many to choose from, including arc, bulge, wave, twist, flag, fish, etc. I've selected 'Flag.‘ Then, all you need to do is adjust the other settings to your heart's content.



The rectangle box is now waving like a flag, but the linear gradient fill within it is not. Here's how to fix this: select the flag, click on the menu 'Object' > 'Envelope Distort' > 'Envelope Options...' and a dialog box appears. Make sure that 'Distort Linear Gradients' is clicked and the gradients will now be wavy and conform to the shape of the envelope warp. Similarly, if you had filled the shape using a pattern fill, check the 'Distort Pattern Fills' box for similar results.



Next, draw a star on top of your flag using the star tool. Then, to the top or side, draw an irregular shape. I'm going to draw a fluffy puffy cloud with the pen tool. Make sure your irregular shape is right at the top of the stacking order by selecting it and clicking on the menu ‘Object‘ > ‘Arrange‘ > ‘Bring to Front.‘ You can also move the layer in the layers panel right to the top. Then select everything and click on the menu 'Object' > 'Envelope Distort' > ‘Make with Top Object.‘ This is the third type of envelope and it turns the top object into an envelope so everything else literally squishes into this shape.



Notice how powerful the envelope is, as you've just put the flag envelope inside the cloud envelope -- that's an envelope inside an envelope! There is no limit. In real life, putting an envelope inside another envelope only adds to your mailing weight, but in Illustrator you are free to put an envelope inside another envelope as many times as you want. Yes, it is that amazing.

The possibilities are endless, so start experimenting and you‘ll soon discover the beauty of envelopes.

You can view Sheila Pen's (Diamond_Images) gallery here.