How to make Dashed Line in Illustrator

Artists use dashed lines to add details and improve the engagement of an illustration.  Dashed lines also find extensive use in technical drawings. So, this article is dedicated to adding dashed lines. Let’s learn how to make dashed line in Illustrator.

Getting started

Use the pen tool(shortcut key P) to create a profile. We can also create a curved profile using the curved pen tool. The drawing toolbar should appear on the left side. By using predefined shapes like rectangle, ellipse, etc from the toolbar, we can create closed profiles as per our requirement. After a profile is created, we need to search for the Stroke panel in the Properties panel(at the right side of the screen). Otherwise, we can find the Stroke panel by going to the Windows menu and then opening the Appearance Panel. All stroke options are not visible by default in the Stroke Panel. So, click on the “Stroke” option to browse for more stroke options. Thereafter, you can see the “Dashed Line” check box. Activate the Dashed line check box for customizing the dashed lines.

Customizing dashed lines.

Understanding dash-gap features

The default dashed line option is a 12pt dash and a 12pt gap. In this section, we will learn further how to customize dashed lines. With illustrator, we can alter different dashes and gaps. Just below the Dashed Line check box, we can see the following sequence:

Dash-Gap-Dash-Gap-Dash-Gap.

This means the pattern we create with dashed lines can have a maximum of three distinct dash lengths and three different gap lengths. Just click on a cell and adjust the lengths to see what pattern suits the design best. On selecting any cell, hold down the shift key and press up or down to change lengths, without using a mouse. 

Dash geometry

A dash can be thought of as a rectangle. We can define the length of a dash or a gap as explained in the previous section. To change the height of the dash, we can use the stroke weight settings. The Weight tab appears on the top of the stroke panel. Adjust it to find a suitable fit for your illustration. Furthermore, we can round off the dashed line using the Cap tab in the stroke panel. Just click on the round edges icon in the Cap tab to get smooth-edged dashed lines.

Dash Alignments

Using dashed lines on a closed profile may produce undesired sharp edges. To make smooth and rounded corners, use the Corner tab and click on the rounded edges option. Also for the closed profile, we can align the dashes to the center, inside or outside the profile by using the Align Stroke panel.  

Dashes around the edges

On aligning the dashed line to a center alignment, you can see two icons beside the Dashed Line check box getting activated. Hover over the buttons to find out what they do. The first button preserves the dash-gap length. This means the corner of your profile might appear broken to maintain the dash-gap ratio. The second button aligns dashes to corners and path ends. Hence, the corners appear uniform and symmetric.

Adding colors to dashes

Click on the color box adjacent to the Stroke option. Here, you can try adding colors and gradients to the dashes 

Creating dotted lines

Many intuitive drawing features in Illustrator make the work of graphic designers simple. To begin with, the Dashed Line feature creates dotted lines as well. To create dotted lines, use rounded caps, and set dash length to 0pt. Increasing stroke weight increases the size of the dot. 

Adding dashed lines to Texts

Here’s another cool trick. Type any text using the text box tool. Remove the fill from the text from the appearance panel. It is preferable to increase the font size and choose a font with a thick outline option. For example, you can use the font “Integral CF” with an extra-bold setting.  Thereafter, go to the stroke panel by clicking on the Stroke option. Next, activate the Dashed Line check box. Now, the text outline should appear with the dashed line. Note that some functions like dash alignment and corner alignments are still inactive. That’s because the text is still editable. When you convert the text into an object(Shortcut key Shift + Ctrl/Cmd + o), the dash alignment options are also activated. It is a good practice to keep a copy of your text before converting it into an object.

Additional tips

We can use dashed lines for non-linear profiles as well. We can create dots or dashes on a varying geometry as well. Use the Profile section at the bottom of the stroke panel to create non-linear profiles. Apply dashed lines to them and you can create an array of dazzling illustrations.

Furthermore, you can replicate a dashed line pattern by using the eyedropper tool. Select a profile for applying dashed lines. Then, press I on the keyboard. Navigate the eyedropper tool to the reference profile. Click on it, and it is done.

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