Creating shapes using duplicates in Illustrator

1 - Create your shape. In this case we are going to draw a simple rounded petal flower so we are making a circular shape using the "Elipse" tool from the Toolbox and holding the "Shift" key while doing it to get a perfect circle. Give it the fill and/or stroke color you like.


2 - Create a second circle that will define the path for rotation. Place your first circle centered on top of the second one leaving some space between the two.


3 - With your top circle selected hit the [R] key or click the "Rotate" tool from your Toolbox and while holding the "Option/Alt" key click on the center of the second circle. This will bring out a dialogue window. You will want to change the angle your shape will duplicate across and how many times it will span around the second circle. We used Angle: 360/8 in this case (Angle: degrees / Number of shapes). When done, click "Copy" instead of "Ok". This will create a single copy of your object.


4 - Click Command/Control + D to repeat and duplicate your object in the desired increments. If you don't like the shape or number of shapes created the process is easy to correct and tweak until you do.



5 - We deleted some of the circles, changed the values to Angle: 360/7 and repeated the process.


6 - Finished flower.

by @lornacane