How to round corners in Illustrator

There are two methods for rounding shapes within Adobe Illustrator. Using any of the following methods you can quickly round all corners of any selected shape.

There are many reasons to round corners within your project, and this quick guide should help you get started.

There are other alternative methods that can be used to round corners manually and ways to round individual corners in Illustrator. In this tutorial, we will first cover the basic methods for applying a consistent curvature to all corners of your shape, and then we will cover alternative methods.

Here’s how to do it:

Method 1:

1. Open your Illustrator project file
2. Select the object to be rounded
3. In the top menu, select Effects > Stylize > Rounded Corners.
4. Defines the curvature of rounded corners by entering a value in the Radius text box.
5. Click OK

Method 2:

1. Open your Illustrator project file
2. Select the shape you want to round
3. Click and hold any of the handles that appear just inside the corners of the selected shape.
4. Define the curvature of rounded corners by dragging the handle back and forth.

Why do corners need to be rounded?

Knowing how to round corners is important as it expands the different types of shapes you can make in Illustrator. By being able to manually adjust the corners of a square, triangle or rectangle, you can customize your project in many ways.

Corner rounding is not limited to basic rectangles. Once you learn how to round corners, you can round the corners of almost any shape in Illustrator.

Rounded corners offer a fresh, organic look to any shape. Compared to hard, sharp corners, rounded corners are much more inviting and attractive. This makes them ideal for marketing and branding purposes, for example.

Tools to use in Illustrator:

The easiest tool to use for rounding corners in Illustrator is the selection tool (V). With a simple click, you can quickly drag and adjust the corners of the entire object. This tool is especially useful for making visual adjustments to the object, as you can see in real time the modifications you make by dragging the corners in or out.

You can also use the direct selection tool (A) in the same way as the selection tool (V). The key difference is that the Selection Tool allows you to adjust the edges and size of the object, while the Direct Selection Tool allows you to adjust only the corners and positioning.

Another useful tool for rounding the corners of an object in Illustrator is the Transform Panel. By double-clicking on the object, you can bring up this panel and make specific manual adjustments to the corners.

Simplified method:

The simplest method for rounding the corners of an object is to use only the mouse.

1. Select the Selection Tool or the Direct Selection Tool with your Mouse in the upper left corner.
2. Double-click on the object you want to round the corners of
3. Click and drag the circular handles that appear inside the object.
4. Visually adjust corners to your liking

How to round a single corner:

Rounding a single corner is the same process as rounding all corners with one additional step.

1. Select the shape you want to round
2. When the Circular Handles appear inside the object, click on the one you want to adjust.
3. The circle will be filled in as shown below in the upper left circle

Now that you have selected a single Circular Handle you can click and drag to adjust that single corner.

How to round several corners:

Rounding multiple corners is a similar process to rounding a single corner. The only difference is that you will hold down the Shift key while selecting the individual corners you want to adjust.

Once you have selected all the circular handles of the corners you want to round, you can click and drag any of the selected corners to round them all.

How to adjust the radius of the corners:

If you need to round your corners to a specific numerical value, rather than just visually observing it, you will need to adjust the radius of your corners.

Here’s how to adjust the radius of your corners:

1. Select the object to be adjusted
2. Double click on one of the circular handles and the following pop-up window will appear
3. In Rectangle Properties, you will see the section to enter any specific radius to any corner you want.

Be sure to click the Chain Link button in the center to unlink the corners if you want to change the radius of individual corners.

How to change the type of corner:

Changing the type of corner is very simple. From the Transformation Panel where you can adjust the radius of your corners, left click on the Corner Type button and you will see a small pop-up window of the three different corner types.

1. Round
2. Inverted round
3. Chamfer

What to do if you cannot round the corners:

If your object is too small or there are too many corners, sometimes the Circular Handle may not appear when you try to round its corner.

An easy remedy for this is to Transform and Scale your object to make it larger to make the necessary adjustments.

How to eliminate rounded corners:

To eliminate rounded corners there are two easy methods:

• Method 1: If you made the corners yourself, you can undo those actions by clicking Command + Z
• Method 2: If someone else has rounded the corners, or rounded them some time ago, you can simply right-click and select Undo corner radius.

You can also revert the corners to their original state in the same way you rounded them in the first place.

Rounding corners on a rectangle:

Rounded corners on a rectangle work just like any other object. By adjusting the radius of one or more corners, you can make unique shapes and alterations to the original rectangle.