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Adobe Illustrator used to have an EffectWarp tool called Crystallize, that was good for creating starburst shapes & effects, like this:

enter image description here Source: http://av.riard.lt/blog/illustrator_crystallize_tool.html

It seems to have disappeared in the last few years (actually, sometime between 2015 & 2018). There's a totally different tool by the same name (EffectPixelateCrystallize). There's also a similar, but slightly different tool with a different name (EffectDistort & TransformZig Zag). There's also the Star shape tool. But none of them are quite the same.

What happened to it? Has the name changed?
Has it been removed? If so, how best might I emulate it?

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  • Hmmmm, I have CS6 and see no record of the Crystallize effect are you sure that existed? Also the article you linked doesn't mention the effect.
    – Welz
    Feb 14, 2019 at 2:05

1 Answer 1

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Nothing happened, it was never an effect*, just a tool.

You can access it by holding down on the Width Tool and switching to the Crystallize Tool

Tool Switch

To access the adjustments, double click on the tool (once activated).

Let’s look at adjusting the button for this tool. If you double click on the Crystallize Tool button you will get the Crystallize Tool Option window.


To make sure you are centered in the shape, just make sure to have Smart Guides on (Ctrl+U to toggle on/off) and then you will snap to the center point.


*This is in my CS6 version of Illustrator (2012). The article you linked makes no mention of an effect, only the tool.

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    Wow... 30 years and NEVER noticed that before ;) That's either a testament to my lack of observation or the futility of such a tool. I'm not sure which. :)
    – Scott
    Feb 14, 2019 at 4:21
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    @Scott it's a new one on me too. Can't think what I'd use it for though, even though it looks like fun! One thing that's true about Illustrator is that there's always something new to learn!
    – Billy Kerr
    Feb 14, 2019 at 12:03
  • @Scott it is quite a dumb tool, though it's one of the first tools I used when I started messing around with Illustrator. I would play with all of those warp tools to make these weird shapes :D
    – Welz
    Feb 14, 2019 at 12:38

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