Graphic Styles

A graphic style is a set of appearance attributes that can be saved and applied to other objects or paths. The Graphics Style panel is under Window > Graphic Styles. Illustrator has hundreds of preset styles to use, or you can create your own. To use a preset style, choose Open Graphic Styles Library in the Graphic Styles dropdown menu and choose from the list of Libraries. You can also click on the Library icon at the lower-left corner of the Graphic Styles panel to access the Graphic Styles Libraries.

Create a Graphic Style

To create a Graphic Style, create an object or path and apply appearance attributes such as fills, strokes, effects, and transparency in the Appearance panel. Once these attributes are applied to the object, select the object and drag it into the Graphic Styles panel to save the style. The pointer will show a green circle with a + in the center, indicating that the style has been added to the panel. Double-click on the name of the style to highlight and edit it. Hit return to exit and save.

Apply a Graphic Style

Create an object or path and click on the Graphic Style in the Graphic Styles panel to apply it. A Graphic Style stores the attributes applied to an object, however they do not store the shape of the object.

You can apply Graphic Styles to single objects, groups of objects, and layers. When you apply a graphic style to a group or layer, every object in the group or layer assumes the attributes of the Graphic Style.

Remove a Graphic Style

To remove a Graphic Style from the object or path, select the object or path and choose Clear Appearance from the Graphic Styles dropdown menu. This will remove all the attributes on the shape and leave it with no stroke, fill, or effects.

Edit/Replace a Graphic Style

In Illustrator, an existing Graphic Style can not be directly edited and resaved, it has to be replaced with another style. Select an object, path, or group that has the new attributes you want to use. Option-drag (Mac) or Alt-drag (PC) it onto the Graphic Style you want it to replace in the Graphic Styles panel. All occurrences with the Graphic Style will have the new style applied to it.

Break the Link to a Graphic Style

When replacing a Graphic Style, all occurrences of it are updated. If you want to have certain object not be affected by the updated Graphic Style, select the object or path and choose Break Link to Graphic Style from the Graphic Style dropdown menu. The object, group, or layer will retain its original appearance attributes, but they will no longer be associated with the original Graphic Style.