Weddingbee Blog

All right, future Illustrator gurus, here we go! Today we’re going to learn how to use the glyphs palette.

Just like in my last Illustrator post, all screen shots are here from CS4 on a Mac. Things are super comparable to a PC. Also, I’ll be using the Feel Script font for this post, but you can use the glyphs palette to view any typeface.

Step 1) Create a new document (key command: Command N).

Step 2) Open glyphs palette. This can be done by going up to the top and clicking window > type> glyphs. The icon for the palette looks like this:

First, what is the glyphs palette, you ask? Well, in Illustrator (and InDesign as well) the glyphs palette can be used to show you the extended typeface you’re using. For example, a typeface might have more than one option for the letter “A.” Script typefaces, commonly used on wedding invitations, often have letters with additional swashes, specifically on capital letters.

Here’s an example of the expanded glyphs palette:

Step 3) Create a new text box and type (key command: T) like normal. For this example, I’m just going to use the word “Wedding.” This is what it looks like:

Step 4) Add a glyph! Use the type tool to highlight the letter you want to replace with a new glyph. On the open glyphs palette, the letter you’ve highlighted will show up highlighted in a little square. Double click on the character in the palette that you wish to replace the highlighted letter in your text box with. It will replace the letter itself, and all you have to do is repeat the same process to have all the glyphs you could want and more!

“Wedding” with glyphs will look like this:

Feel Script has a very large glyphs palette. If you’re curious, here are all the options I have for the lowercase “g.”

Anybody else gettin’ glyphy with it? Or better yet, any other suggestions for Illustrator tips?