Using the Graphic Designs feature on Adobe Illustrator, you can customise the graphs produced from the graph tools a step further. In this post I will be showing how to convert the “points” used in the Line Graph Tool and Scatter Graph Tool into any icon or shape of your desire.
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1) First draw the icons or shapes you intend to use for the graphs. Here I’ve used these two icons:
2) Select one of the icons with the Selection Tool and go Object > Graph > Design…
3) On the Graph Design window that pops up, click the New Design button to add the design to the graph design list. You can rename the design by clicking the Rename button. Hit OK, then select the other icon and repeat the same process to add that design.
4) Using the Graph Tools draw out your intended graph. For this tutorial I’ll be displaying both the Line Graph Tool and the Scatter Graph Tool to demonstrate customising markers for both graphs.
5) On the side toolbar select the Group Selection Tool.
6) Select all the points on the graph you want to convert into one of the icons. Make sure not to select the lines.
7) Now go Object > Graph > Marker…
8) Select your desired Graph Marker.
9) The graph marker design will replace the previous square points, but to the same size.
10) You can repeat the process to assign the other icon to the other data series (the different coloured points).
11) To increase the size of the markers, you will need to individually select each marker with the Group Selection Tool and then go Object > Transform > Scale…
Here I’ve set the scale to 300%. You can tick Preview to see the changes before you press OK.
12) Once you’ve increased the size of all the markers and can also use the Group Selection Tool to also change the stroke color of the line in the line graph to finish it up.
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