How to Quickly Make a Shattered Text Effect in Illustrator

You may think a complex vector effect takes a long time to make, but those complex effects are made using very simple techniques. Some take no more than 5 minutes to be accomplished! Making a shattered text in Illustrator is a very good example of these type of effects. Today I will show you how easily you can make a Shattered Text Effect in Illustrator in less than 5 minutes using nothing but the default Illustrator tools. The best part is you can use this technique not only on texts, but on any other vector shape as well. And you can fully control how shattered you want the effect to be.​

Step 1

Open Illustrator and make a new file at any size you want. In this case, I will set up mine to 1000 x 700 px.

Step 2

Select the Type Tool (T) and type your text using any font you want.

Step 3

With the text selected, go to Type > Create Outlines.

Step 4

Select the Pen Tool (P) and draw some triangles shapes as shown.

Step 5

Select one of the triangles and go to Object > Path > Divide Objects Below.

Step 6

Select all the divided pieces, and then simply move them to a position you like.

Step 7

Select another triangle, and again go to Object > Path > Divide Objects Below.

Step 8

Select all the divided pieces of that triangle and move them to any position you want.

Step 9

Now simply repeat the steps 5 and 6 until you complete all the remaining triangles.

Step 10

If you want to add more pieces to your text, simple repeat the process of making a triangle, dividing the object below, and moving the pieces to any position you like.