When configuring the blend settings, keep in mind that the size of the
final output affects the number of shapes required to make the blend
appear smooth. For large posters, you might need to use a lot of
shapes, but fewer shapes are required for small illustrations.
In addition, objects that you blend must have the same number of
anchor points for the blend to appear smooth. Canvas uses the anchor
points to calculate the steps and shapes in a blend; an inconsistent
number of anchor points can cause unwanted twists and distortions.
Using blends to create patterns
Although blends are often used to create gradual, smooth transitions
between shapes and colors, you can also use the Blend command to
create and evenly space a pattern across a layout. By specifying a low
number of shapes and widely spacing the front and back objects, you
can make each blend object a distinct object. This effect can be useful
for creating borders and other patterns.
Distorting shapes
The Envelope command lets you distort shapes and text, as if an
illustration was drawn on a rubber sheet and then stretched.
When an object is in envelope edit mode, its bounding box acts like
the rubber sheet. Canvas includes several envelope styles that offer
various handles you can use to stretch an objects bounding box.
Using this effect, you can create new shapes, add a sense of motion to
an illustration, or arrange text so it appears to be painted on a three-
dimensional object.
Tip
To ensure that blended objects
have the same number of
anchor points, copy an object,
edit its shape, and blend
between these objects.
The artist created this border by
first creating a flower-like multigon,
copying it, and drawing an oval. To
distribute the flowers evenly
around the oval, the artist selected
the two multigons, turned on the
Bind to a path option in the
Blend palette, specified a relatively
low number of shapes (15) for the
blend, and chose the oval as the
binding path.