How to Create Variable-width Stroke Profiles in Adobe Illustrator

Creating a variable width stroke is one technique that is often used to give a art a more organic, or hand-drawn look by letting you make the line thicker or thinner in different spots. If you create a varied stroke that you really like, the stroke can be saved for use in other projects.

1. Using the Line Segment Tool [ ], draw a line.
2. With the line selected, go to the Tool Bar and choose the Width Tool.
3. Hover over a point in the selected line where you want the stroke to be wider, then click, hold and drag away from the path.
4. Move to a different point on the line and hover over the outer edge of the fattened stroke. Click, hold and drag in toward the path to make the stroke narrower.
5. Continue going to different spots on the stroke edge, pulling toward or away from the path.
6. If you want to save the custom stroke, keep the line selected and go to the Options Bar. The Variable Width menu will show a profile of the selected line. Click to open the menu and then click the Save button.
7. A dialog box will open where the custom line can be named.
8. The custom line will remain in the Variable Width menu for use in any project. To apply the custom line to another object, select the object, then go to the the Variable Width menu and choose the custom line.