: How to shrink down paths in Illustrator (cs6) whilst maintaining equivalent strokes? I have a selection of paths in illustrator (cs6). I want to select all the paths and free transform them

@Welton168

I find using the keyboard "CMD-K" or "Ctrl-K" and selecting/deselecting the scale stroke and effects option is the easiest and fastest route to keep control of an scaled object's appearance.

You can also turn the object/s into a symbol and then you can scale to your heart's content and when you need to edit the paths again they won't have a bizarre pixel size, like 3.544px instead of 1px. Symbols are terrific for keeping absolute control of accurate work.

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@Murray976

In CS6, there are also 2 places via the Transform Panel to toggle the Scale Strokes & Effects option:



You may have to choose Show Options from the Transform Panel menu to see the check box.

Users requested it get moved to the UI directly because they were weary of having open preferences all the time to change the setting. So, Adobe added a checkbox to the Transform Panel in CS6. The menu item in the Transform Menu has always been there.

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@Twilah924

Another way to get there is under the General Preferences settings:

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@Speyer780

Using the Scale tool, tick the check box which says "Scale strokes and effects" before scaling. That reduces your strokes proportionally.

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