Continuing the typography series here at Planet Label, it’s time to move on to the Paragraph Panel.  This panel is responsible for formatting bulk text in paragraph form.  Much of the tools in this panel are self explanatory with the use of images alone.  To view the Paragraph Panel, go under Window > Type > Paragraph.  To catch up on our series, please visit the following links:

• Adobe Illustrator Typography 101 – Part 1: Type Tools
• Adobe Illustrator Typography 101 – Part 2: The Character Panel

1.  Align Left

Aligns text to the left.

2. Align Center

Centers the selected text.

3.  Align Right

Aligns the text to the right.

4.  Justify with Last Line on Left

Justifies all of the text, save for the last line.  The last line is left justified.

5.  Justify with Last Line Centered

Justifies all of the text, save for the last line.  The last line is centered.

6.  Justify with Last Line on Right

Justifies all of the text, save for the last line.  The last line is right justified.

7. Justify

Justifies all of the text.

8. Left Indent

Sets the left indentation of all applicable text.  The above has a left indent of 20 pt.

9.  Right Indent

Sets the right indentation of all applicable text.  The above has a right indent of 20 pt.

10.  First Line Left Indent

Sets the left indentation of the first line of a paragraph. The above has a left indent of 20 pt.

11.  Space Before Paragraph

Sets the space between paragraphs before the paragraph starts.  The above is set at 20 pt.

12. Hyphenate

Adds automatic hyphenation to text.

13.  Space After Paragraph

Sets the space between paragraphs after the paragraph is finished.  The above is set at 20 pt.

This wraps up our series on Adobe Illustrator’s typography tools. You’ll notice that there are more tools than what were mentioned, but the ones focused on are the foundational tools to lead novice designers into the direction of using the Glyph Panel, Open Type, Paragraph Styles and Character Styles.  If you have any questions regarding the additional tools, leave a comment and we’ll be happy to answer for you.  Tomorrow we plan on investigating font resources.

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