How to shrink down paths in Illustrator (cs6) whilst maintaining equivalent strokes?

Question

I have a selection of paths in illustrator (cs6).

I want to select all the paths and free transform them to something like a 3rd of the size. The problem is when I shrink them down, the stroke on the paths stays the same. So originally some had 1pt and 2pt stroke, bit when I free transform all the paths to a 3rd of the original size, the strokes are all still 1pt and 2pt big.

I don't want to have to go through each path and change the stroke, as it would take a long time. is there a tool/option in illustrator that can help with this?

Answer 1

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

Answer 2

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.

Answer 3

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.

Answer 4

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