More controls for the center point of the Transform effect: relative to artboard / object
I would like a few more controls for where Effect > Distort & Transform > Transform centers the transformation.
Next to the 3x3 centerpoint grid, there would be an "Origin" dropdown. offering the options of "Relative to Object" and "Relative to Artboard". "Relative to Object" is the current behavior, and should be the default option.
There would also be a pair of X and Y inputs to specify an offset of the centerpoint from whatever corner was chosen.
As an example of why I might want this: I have an Appearance stack for doing quick and dirty rimlighting of an object by adding a fill on top that's Transformed to about 95% of its size, with an off-center centerpoint and one extra copy; these are followed up by a Minus Back effect to chop most of it off. It's a fun technique that lets me block out a bunch of shapes with very stylized shading very quickly. But it's not good for light radiating out from a point in the image, I'd have to constantly change the transformation angle on multiple shapes.
With this request implemented, I could draw a point light source somewhere in the artboard, modify my lighting style to center its transformation on that light source, then quickly block out an entire dramatically-lit scene.
I've included a mockup, which I made by crudely cutting and pasting the similar controls from Astute's Phantasm Halftone plugin into the existing Transform effect.
Also while I am asking for Transform effect improvements, can we get a switch to change the Move sliders between the current setting of absolute numbers of whatever the document's measurement unit is, and a new setting of percentage of the object's size? That would be a big improvement to my automatic lighting workflow, too.
Margaret Trauth
shared this idea
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A related request:
Transform Each new features: proportional lock, origin offset, random seed
http://illustrator.uservoice.com/forums/333657/suggestions/46263133
