1. Symbols are best used for items that will be repeated or used multiple times over many areas of a project. We’ll place the illustration of an orange on the tree. Note: The size of the orange has been increased to show detail.

2. Select all shapes included in the orange illustration. Open the Symbols palette (Shift + Command + F11). In the Symbols palette, click the New Symbol button at bottom to open the Symbol Options palette.

3. Enter a name that will represent your symbol. Under Type, select Graphic, and click OK.

4. With your graphic safely saved into the Symbols palette, you can drag and drop it into your workspace.

5. Populate your tree with multiple instances of the orange symbol. Symbols are beneficial in cutting file size, since all instances of a symbol are facsimiles instead of actual shapes taking up space. They are also helpful when creating artwork for Flash, as they transfer easily and are instantly recognized as symbols.

6. Editing symbols in Illustrator is easy. If each orange had been created with separate vector shapes, a change in the color or shape of all the oranges would require multiple cuts and pastes. However, with symbols, all you have to do is double-click on the symbol icon in the Symbols palette to make a universal edit. (In this instance, a gradient was added to make the orange appear more realistic.)

7. Once finished with your edit, click on the Exit Isolated Group arrow in the upper-left corner of the workspace. You have now altered all instances of the orange symbol in one simple step.