Illustrator Tool Panel

When you start Illustrator, the Tools panel appears at the left of the screen. You use tools in the Tools panel to create, select, and manipulate objects in Illustrator. Some tools have options that appear when you double-click a tool. These include tools that let you select, type, paint, draw, sample, edit, and move images. To see the name of a tool, hover the pointer over it.

You can expand some tools to show tools hidden beneath them. A small triangle at the lower right of the tool icon signals the presence of hidden tools. Hold down the mouse button on the visible tool to view the tools hidden under it.

Some tools in the Tools panel have options that appear in the context-sensitive options bar. Additionally, you can also double-click a tool in the Tools panel to view and change the settings for that tool.

You can move the Tools panel by dragging its title bar.

Click the double-arrow on the title bar to toggle between the double-stack and single-column view of the Tools panel.

You can also show or hide the Tools panel by choosing Window > Tools.

Drag the pointer over the arrow at the end of the hidden tools panel and release the mouse button.

Click the close button on the panel’s title bar. The tools return to the Tools panel.

Click the icons at the bottom of the Tools panel to change the drawing mode from Draw Normal () to Draw Behind () or Draw Inside ().

Additionally, you can also change the screen mode by clicking the Change Screen Mode icon () at the bottom of the Tools panel and choosing the desired screen mode.