When using Adobe Illustrator you will sometimes need to add text to your designs or maybe just by themselves. If you find yourself needing bullet points you may question where they are in Illustrator.
The lack of ready-to-use bullets may be bothersome to some people, but you can add them using the keyboard shortcut just as easily as you would in a word document.
My name is Aly, I am Adobe Illustrator certified and will be showing you how you can add bullet points to your document in Adobe Illustrator.
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Method 1: Keyboard Shortcut
The easiest way to add bullet points in Illustrator is by using the keyboard shortcut. Follow the steps below to learn a keyboard shortcut for adding bullet points.
Step 1: Have a new document open by going to File > New Document or open your existing document from File > Open.
Step 2: Use the keyboard shortcut Option + 8 to add bullets to text.
Note: the shortcut only works when the Type tool is selected. You couldn’t add bullets if you just used the keyboard shortcut to select the text with the Selection tool.
Step 3: Now let’s say you already have words on your document but they need bullet points. Place your cursor in front of the first chunk of text you need to have a bullet point and repeat the process by holding down Option + 8. Now that piece of text has a bullet point.
Repeat this process for each chunk of text you need to have a point.
Method 2: Character Panel
You can also create bullet points for text using the Character panel in Illustrator following the steps below.
Step 1: In your properties menu to the right-hand side of your workspace in Illustrator you should see a Character block. It will look something like my image below. Keep reading if you don’t see a character block in your workspace area.
Step 2: If you don’t you can access this by going to the top menu and clicking Window > Type > Character.
Step 3: After finding your character panel, you can now add bullet points. Let’s start with showing how you can add a bullet point before any text is on your screen.
Go ahead and select the Type Tool from the toolbar or use the Type Tool keyboard shortcut T.
Step 4: A text box will pop up like the image above, but before you start to type anything, find your character block on the right side of your working space. You will see options that say Bullets and Numbering a few spaces down.
Click on the first icon with the bullet points. This will now add a point to your text box and now you can add your text. Repeat this each time you need a bullet point before you type in your text.
Method 3: Adding Bullet Points to Already Existing Text
If you already have text but now need bullet points, follow the steps below.
Step 1: You can see from my image below I already have a list created, but I now need bullet points. I am going to highlight the entire text that I will want bulleted.
Step 2: I will click on the bullet icon in the Bullets and Numbering panel. Your text should now have bullet points next to them.
Tip: If you need to remove a bullet point, just highlight the section you need to remove and click on the bullet point icon back in Bullets and Numbering to delete that point without deleting your text.
And now you have achieved adding bullet points to your text in Adobe Illustrator!
Final Thoughts
Even though Adobe Illustrator isn’t necessarily made and inclusive of word processing it does have basic text features such as adding bullet points and numbering.
Learning how to quickly navigate Illustrator to add bullet points to your text is only going to help you be more quick and efficient in working on your projects. I hope that these methods will serve you well next time you need to add bullet points to your text in Adobe Illustrator.
Any questions about adding bullet points in Adobe Illustrator? Leave a comment and let me know.
