Let us learn how symbols work, and how to create them.

Create Symbols in the Symbol Panel

All you do is open the Symbols panel, and then drag the symbol that you want into your document.

However, you can also create symbols.

If you are using an object often, you should turn it into a symbol that will be stored in the symbol panel.

Let us learn to create a symbol using our bear that we drew in Illustrator.

We have grouped all the objects together that we used to draw this bear.

Now, go to the Symbol panel by going to Window>Symbols.

Select your object, and then click New Symbol in the Symbols panel.

Select a name for the symbol and the type, either movie clip or graphic.

Select your options.

Click OK when you are finished.

As you can see, our bear is now a symbol.

To place him in our document, we just drag the him from the panel to our artboard.

Now we have two bears, and it was easy.

The Symbols Libraries

You do not have to create symbols if you do not want. However, it is an easy way to duplicate objects that you use or create. Illustrator offers plenty of built-in symbols that you can use as well. These are stored in the Symbols Libraries.

To access the libraries, click the libraries button at the bottom left corner of the Symbols panel, .

You will then see the different categories of symbols.

You can select a category to see the different symbols within the category. We have selected Nature.

To move a symbol from the library to the Symbols panel, simply click on it. It then appears in the panel.

Delete Symbols

As well as creating symbols, you can also delete them.

To delete a symbol, click on it in the panel, and then click the delete button. It looks like this, . It is located at the bottom of the panel.

You would not be able to delete it if you have instances in your document.

If you do not have any instances, confirm that you want to delete it.

Create a Symbols Library

In addition to creating individual symbols, you can also create your own library.

Put the symbols that you want to save in your library in the Symbols panel. Get rid of any that you do not want to save to your library.

Next, go to the Symbols Libraries button, click it, and select Save Symbols from the dropdown menu.

Enter a name for the library, then click Save.

Duplicate and Edit Existing Symbols

As well as creating new symbols and using the Symbols Libraries, you can also duplicate an existing symbol, edit it to make changes, and then use the new version as a symbol too.

First, select the symbol that you want to duplicate in the Symbols panel. We were going to select the bug from the Symbols panel.

Click and drag the symbol to the New Symbol button.

There are now two instances of the symbol in the Symbols panel.

Next, click the Symbol Options button .

Set your options and click OK.

The two symbols are still identical. If you want to edit the new symbol, drag it to an artboard.

Now click Break Link to Symbol in the Symbols panel.

You can now edit the symbol.

Editing a Symbol

To edit a symbol, double click the symbol in the Symbols panel that you want to edit. Do not click the name in the library. Double click the actual symbol in the panel.

The symbol is now isolated in your document.

A gray bar appears above the document area that lets you know that you have the symbol in what is called Isolation Mode so you can edit it.

Now, make the changes that you want to the symbol.

Click the arrow in the gray bar to exit Isolation Mode.

Using the Symbol Sprayer Tool

Think of the Symbol Sprayer as a paint sprayer. You can spray multiple instances of a symbol onto an artboard at once. Then, all the instances that you spray will be grouped together in a bounding box so that you can move or resize the box.

To use the Symbol Sprayer, go to the toolbox. The Symbol Sprayer looks like this,

Select the symbol from the panel that you want to use, and then click the Symbol Sprayer.

Now, you can hold down your mouse to spray unlimited instances of the symbol onto your document.

In addition, you can just click on the artboard where you want the symbol to be.

When symbols are grouped together in a bounding box, like shown above, it is called a symbol set.

The Symbol Shifter Tool

The Symbol Shifter tool lets you alter the attributes of a symbol set.

The Symbol Shifter tool is grouped with the Symbol Sprayer tool. It looks like this, .

Select the symbol set, then click on the Symbol Shifter tool

Drag to shift the direction of the instances inside the symbol set.

Here is our before picture.

Here is our after picture.

The Symbol Sizer Tool

The Symbol Sizer tool lets you resize instances of a symbol within the set. It looks like this, .

To use it, click on the Symbol Sizer tool, and then click or drag the tool over an instance of a symbol within a set.

The Symbol Spinner Tool

The Symbol Spinner tool lets you change the orientation of an instance within a symbol set.

Click on the tool, and then click on a symbol instance. You will see directional arrows.

Adjust the symbol's orientation, and then release the mouse.

All the symbol tools work with your symbol sets in the same way. They just offer different results and effects.

The Other Symbol Tools

The other symbol tools are as listed.

The Symbol Stainer Tool allows you to recolor individual symbols within a set. The tool looks like this,

The Symbol Screener Tool lets you make symbol instances more transparent.

The Symbol Styler Tool allows you to apply graphics styles to instances.