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Appearance panel overview



You use the Appearance panel (Window > Appearance) to view and adjust the appearance attributes for an object, group, or layer. Fills and strokes are listed in stacking order; top to bottom in the panel correlates to front to back in the artwork. Effects are listed from top to bottom in the order in which they are applied to the artwork.

For a video on using the Appearance panel and the Graphics Styles panel, see www.adobe.com/go/lrvid4022_ai .

Appearance panel listing attributes of a grouped object

A.
Path with stroke, fill, and drop shadow effect

B.
Path with effect

C.
Add New Stroke button

D.
Add New Fill button

E.
Add Effect button

F.
Clear Appearance button

G.
Duplicate Selected Item button

Reveal additional items in the Appearance panel

When you select items that contain other items, such as a layer or group, the Appearance panel displays a Contents item.

 Double-click the Contents item.

List character attributes for a text object in the Appearance panel

When you select a text object, the panel displays a Characters item.

  1. Double-click the Characters item in the Appearance panel.
    Note: To see individual character attributes for text with mixed appearance, select the individual character.
  2. Click Type at the top of the panel to return to the main view.

Turn an attribute on or off for selected object

  • To turn an individual attribute on or off, click the eyeball icon next to the attribute.
  • To turn all hidden attributes on, choose Show All Hidden Attributes from the Appearance panel menu.

Edit an attribute

  • Click in the attribute row to display and set values.
  • Click the underlined text and specify new values in the dialog box that appears.

Show or hide thumbnails in the Appearance panel

 Choose Show Thumbnail or Hide Thumbnail from the Appearance panel menu.