User Guide Cancel

Character and paragraph styles

Search
Illustrator

Illustrator

Open on web
  1. Illustrator User Guide
  2. Get to know Illustrator
    1. Introduction to Illustrator
      1. What's new in Illustrator
      2. Common questions
      3. Illustrator system requirements
      4. Illustrator for Apple silicon
    2. Workspace
      1. Workspace basics
      2. Learn faster with the Illustrator Discover panel
      3. Create documents
      4. Toolbar
      5. Default keyboard shortcuts
      6. Customize keyboard shortcuts
      7. Introduction to artboards
      8. Manage artboards
      9. Customize the workspace
      10. Properties panel
      11. Set preferences
      12. Touch Workspace
      13. Microsoft Surface Dial support in Illustrator
      14. Undo edits and manage design history
      15. Rotate view
      16. Rulers, grids, and guides
      17. Accessibility in Illustrator
      18. Safe Mode
      19. View artwork
      20. Use the Touch Bar with Illustrator
      21. Files and templates
    3. Tools in Illustrator
      1. Tools at a glance
      2. Select tools
        1. Selection
        2. Direct Selection
        3. Group Selection
        4. Magic Wand
        5. Lasso
        6. Artboard
      3. Navigate tools
        1. Hand
        2. Rotate View
        3. Zoom
      4. Paint tools
        1. Gradient
        2. Mesh
        3. Shape Builder
      5. Text tools
        1. Type
        2. Type on a Path
        3. Vertical Type
      6. Draw tools
        1. Pen
        2. Add Anchor Point
        3. Delete Anchor Point
        4. Anchor Point
        5. Curvature
        6. Line Segment
        7. Rectangle
        8. Rounded Rectangle
        9. Ellipse
        10. Polygon
        11. Star
        12. Paintbrush
        13. Blob Brush
        14. Pencil
        15. Shaper
        16. Slice
      7. Modify tools
        1. Rotate
        2. Reflect
        3. Scale
        4. Shear
        5. Width
        6. Free Transform
        7. Eyedropper
        8. Blend
        9. Eraser
        10. Scissors
        11. Dimension
    4. Generative AI (not available in mainland China)
      1. Generate scenes, subjects, and icons using text prompts
      2. Generate vector patterns using text prompts
      3. Generate vector shape fills using text prompts
      4. Recolor your artwork using text prompts
    5. Quick actions
      1. Retro text
      2. Neon glow text
      3. Old school text
      4. Recolor
      5. Convert sketch to vector
  3. Illustrator on the web (beta)
    1. Illustrator on the web (beta) overview
    2. Illustrator on the web (beta) FAQ
    3. Troubleshooting issues FAQ
    4. Keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator on the web (beta)
    5. Create and combine shapes on the web
    6. Add and edit text on the web
    7. Apply colors and gradients on the web
    8. Draw and edit paths on the web
    9. Work with cloud documents on the web
    10. Invite collaborators to edit on the web
  4. Illustrator on the iPad
    1. Introduction to Illustrator on the iPad
      1. Illustrator on the iPad overview
      2. Illustrator on the iPad FAQs
      3. System requirements | Illustrator on the iPad
      4. What you can or cannot do on Illustrator on the iPad
    2. Workspace
      1. Illustrator on the iPad workspace
      2. Touch shortcuts and gestures
      3. Keyboard shortcuts for Illustrator on the iPad
      4. Manage your app settings
    3. Documents
      1. Work with documents in Illustrator on the iPad
      2. Import Photoshop and Fresco documents
    4. Select and arrange objects
      1. Create repeat objects
      2. Blend objects
    5. Drawing
      1. Draw and edit paths
      2. Draw and edit shapes
    6. Type
      1. Work with type and fonts
      2. Create text designs along a path
      3. Add your own fonts
    7. Work with images
      1. Vectorize raster images
    8. Color
      1. Apply colors and gradients
  5. Cloud documents
    1. Basics
      1. Work with Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Share and collaborate on Illustrator cloud documents
      3. Share documents for review
      4. Upgrade cloud storage for Adobe Illustrator
      5. Illustrator cloud documents | Common questions
    2. Troubleshooting
      1. Troubleshoot create or save issues for Illustrator cloud documents
      2. Troubleshoot Illustrator cloud documents issues
  6. Add and edit content
    1. Drawing and dimensioning
      1. Drawing basics
      2. Edit paths
      3. Draw pixel-perfect art
      4. Draw with the Pen, Curvature, or Pencil tool
      5. Draw simple lines and shapes
      6. Draw rectangular and polar grids
      7. Draw and edit flares
      8. Image Trace
      9. Simplify a path
      10. Symbolism tools and symbol sets
      11. Adjust path segments
      12. Design a flower in 5 easy steps
      13. Create and edit a perspective grid
      14. Draw and modify objects on a perspective grid
      15. Use objects as symbols for repeat use
      16. Draw pixel-aligned paths for web workflows
      17. Measure and plot dimensions
    2. 3D objects and materials
      1. About 3D effects in Illustrator
      2. Create 3D graphics
      3. Map artwork over 3D objects
      4. Create 3D Text
      5. Create 3D objects
    3. Color
      1. About color
      2. Select colors
      3. Use and create swatches
      4. Adjust colors
      5. Use the Adobe Color Themes panel
      6. Color groups (harmonies)
      7. Color Themes panel
      8. Recolor your artwork
    4. Painting
      1. About painting
      2. Paint with fills and strokes
      3. Live Paint groups
      4. Gradients
      5. Brushes
      6. Transparency and blending modes
      7. Apply stroke on an object
      8. Create and edit patterns
      9. Meshes
      10. Patterns
    5. Select and arrange objects
      1. Select objects
      2. Layers
      3. Group and expand objects
      4. Move, align, and distribute objects
      5. Snap objects to glyph
      6. Snap objects to Japanese glyph
      7. Stack objects    
      8. Lock, hide, and delete objects
      9. Copy and duplicate objects
      10. Rotate and reflect objects
      11. Intertwine objects
      12. Create realistic art mockups
    6. Reshape objects
      1. Crop images
      2. Transform objects
      3. Combine objects
      4. Cut, divide, and trim objects
      5. Puppet Warp
      6. Scale, shear, and distort objects
      7. Blend objects
      8. Reshape using envelopes
      9. Reshape objects with effects
      10. Build new shapes with Shaper and Shape Builder tools
      11. Work with Live Corners
      12. Enhanced reshape workflows with touch support
      13. Edit clipping masks
      14. Live shapes
      15. Create shapes using the Shape Builder tool
      16. Global editing
    7. Type
      1. Add text and work with type objects
      2. Create bulleted and numbered lists
      3. Manage text area
      4. Fonts and typography
      5. Convert text within images into editable text
      6. Add basic formatting to text
      7. Add advanced formatting to text
      8. Import and export text
      9. Format paragraphs
      10. Special characters
      11. Create type on a path
      12. Character and paragraph styles
      13. Tabs
      14. Find missing fonts (Typekit workflow)
      15. Arabic and Hebrew type
      16. Fonts | FAQ and troubleshooting tips
      17. Create 3D text effect
      18. Creative typography designs
      19. Scale and rotate type
      20. Line and character spacing
      21. Hyphenation and line breaks
      22. Spelling and language dictionaries
      23. Format Asian characters
      24. Composers for Asian scripts
      25. Create text designs with blend objects
      26. Create a text poster using Image Trace
    8. Create special effects
      1. Work with effects
      2. Graphic styles
      3. Appearance attributes
      4. Create sketches and mosaics
      5. Drop shadows, glows, and feathering
      6. Summary of effects
    9. Web graphics
      1. Best practices for creating web graphics
      2. Graphs
      3. SVG
      4. Slices and image maps
  7. Import, export, and save
    1. Import
      1. Place multiple files
      2. Manage linked and embedded files
      3. Links information
      4. Unembed images
      5. Import artwork from Photoshop
      6. Import bitmap images
      7. Import Adobe PDF files
      8. Import EPS, DCS, and AutoCAD files
    2. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator 
      1. Creative Cloud Libraries in Illustrator
    3. Save and export
      1. Save artwork
      2. Export artwork
      3. Create Adobe PDF files
      4. Adobe PDF options
      5. Use Illustrator artwork in Photoshop
      6. Collect assets and export in batches
      7. Package files
      8. Extract CSS | Illustrator CC
      9. Document info panel
  8. Printing
    1. Prepare for printing
      1. Set up documents for printing
      2. Change the page size and orientation
      3. Specify crop marks for trimming or aligning
      4. Get started with large canvas
    2. Printing
      1. Overprint
      2. Print with color management
      3. PostScript printing
      4. Print presets
      5. Printer's marks and bleeds
      6. Print and save transparent artwork
      7. Trapping
      8. Print color separations
      9. Print gradients, meshes, and color blends
      10. White Overprint
  9. Automate tasks
    1. Data merge using the Variables panel
    2. Automation with scripts
    3. Automation with actions
  10. Troubleshooting 
    1. Fixed issues
    2. Known issues
    3. Crash issues
    4. Recover files after crash
    5. File issues
    6. Supported file formats
    7. GPU device driver issues
    8. Wacom device issues
    9. DLL file issues
    10. Memory issues
    11. Preferences file issues
    12. Font issues
    13. Printer issues
    14. Share crash report with Adobe
    15. Improve Illustrator performance

Learn how to create and work with Character, Paragraph Styles, and style overrides.

When you create a brochure or any artwork with large amounts of text, Character and paragraph styles help you maintain consistency. Read on to know how to create, edit, load, and delete Character, Paragraph Styles, and how to remove style overrides.

Adobe Illustrator deeplink

Try it in the app
Work with the Character Styles panel in a few simple steps.

Open Illustrator
Use Character Styles and Paragraph Styles to easily maintain text consistency
Use Character Styles and Paragraph Styles to easily maintain text consistency

Before you proceed with Character and Paragraph Styles, learn more about text, path, and objects:

Create character and paragraph styles

A Character style is a collection of character formatting attributes that you can apply to a selected range of text.

A Paragraph style includes both character and paragraph formatting attributes. You can apply it to a selected paragraph or a range of paragraphs.

Use Character and Paragraph styles to save time and ensure consistent formatting throughout your artwork. Follow these steps to easily create a new Character or Paragraph style:

  1. Select text.

  2. Select Window > Type > Character styles to open Character styles panel.

  3. Click Create New Style button to create a style with the selected text format.

    You can follow similar steps in the Paragraph styles tab to create a new Paragraph style.

Character and Paragraph Styles panel
Character and paragraph styles panel

A. Character Styles tab B. Paragraph Styles tab C. More Options D. Delete Selected Styles E. Create New Style F. Add selected Style to my current Library G. Style Name with Overrides H. Default Style 

Edit styles

You can change the format of the default or new Character, Paragraph style anytime.

Edit Character, Paragraph Styles

Follow these steps to edit and apply a style to selected text or set the style for new text:

  1. Open Character and paragraph styles panel.

  2. Select the Character styles tab. You can see a list of available styles.

  3. Go to More Options > Character Style Options.

  4. Select a category from the list of available options and make the changes.

    character Style options

    Add or adjust the following options to create a new style or modify an existing one:

    Character Style Options
    Character Style Options

    General

    View the style settings of the selected style.

    Basic Character Formats

    Change the Font Family, Font Style, Size, and other basic character format options.

    Advanced Character Formats

    Adjust the Horizontal and Vertical Scale, Baseline Shift, Character Rotation, and Language options.

    Character Color

    Change the Character Color, Tint, Weight, and Overprint Fill or Stroke options.

    OpenType Features

    Set the Figure, Position, Ligatures, Alternates, Ordinals, or Fractions options.

    Paragraph Style options

    Add or adjust the following options along with Character Style Options:

    Paragraph Style Options
    Paragraph Style Options

    Indents and Spacing

    Adjust Alignment, Indents, and Space Before and Space After options.

    Tabs

    Set Tab, X, Leader, and Align On options.

    Composition

    Set Composer and Roman Hanging Punctuation.

    Hyphenation

    Add or adjust the settings for Hyphenate options like Words Longer Than, After First, Before Last, Hyphen Limit, Hyphenation Zone, and Hyphenate Capitalized Words.

    Justification

    Adjust settings for Word, Letter and Glyph Spacing, Auto Leading, and Single Word Justification.

Load styles

If you have a preferred text format that is used frequently, you can follow these steps to load styles from another Illustrator file into your current artwork:

  1. Open Character, paragraph styles panel.

  2. Follow any of these options:

    • Choose Load Character Styles or Load Paragraph Styles from More Options.
    • Choose Load All Styles from More Options to load all the styles.

  3. Double-click the Illustrator file that contains the styles you want to import.

Load Character, Paragraph Styles from another Illustrator File

Delete styles

Don't need a particular style? You can follow these steps to easily delete Character, paragraph styles:

  1. Select a style name in the Character styles panel or the Paragraph styles panel.

  2. Follow any of these options to delete a Character or Paragraph style:

    • Choose Delete Character Style or Delete Paragraph Style from More Options.
    • Click the Delete    at the bottom of the panel.
    • To delete all unused styles, choose Select All Unused from More Options, and click the Delete.
Delete Character, Paragraph Styles
Delete Character, Paragraph Styles

When you delete styles, the appearance of paragraphs tagged with the style doesn’t change, but their formatting is no longer associated with a style.

Remove style overrides

An override is any change made to an existing style. If there are any overrides to a Character, Paragraph style, you can see a plus sign next to the style name.

Follow any of these options to clear overrides and return the style to its original format: 

  • Click the style name.
  • Choose Clear Overrides from the More Options.
  • To maintain the new appearance of the selected text, choose the Redefine Style from the More Options.
Remove Style Overrides
Remove Style Overrides

Tips and tricks

  • Select some text or insert a cursor within your text to see the Character Style and Paragraph Style in the respective panel.
  • By default, every character is in Normal Character Style, and every paragraph is in Normal Paragraph Style.
  • You can drag a style onto the Create New Style to copy an existing style.
  • You can drag a style onto the Delete    to delete it.

More like this

Have a question or an idea?

Ask the Community

If you have a question to ask or an idea to share, come and participate in Adobe Illustrator Community. We would love to hear from you and see your creations.

 Adobe

Get help faster and easier

New user?

Quick links

View all your plans Manage your plans
View quick links
Hide quick links
Adobe MAX 2024

Adobe MAX
The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online

Register Now

Adobe MAX

The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online

Register Now
Adobe MAX 2024

Adobe MAX
The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online

Register Now

Adobe MAX

The Creativity Conference

Oct 14–16 Miami Beach and online

Register Now

Legal Notices    |    Online Privacy Policy