Articles: Illustrator Tips

Illustrator Review and Tips

By Dr. Ginger Rosenkrans

 

Chip in Toolbox
Foreground: color (to fill)

          Select color by dbl clicking in chip or going to Color palette

Background: Stroke (rules, lines width around object/image)

          Menu Bar>Select Point Size

 

Spacebar changes mouse to be hand so you could move document

 

CTRL + Z = UNDO can undo as many times. Not like PS where you have a History Palette

 

CTRL + 0 = fit everything in window

 

View>OUTLINE: to view the outline of an image

CTRL + Y: to bring color back

 

Docking a Tool

EX: Click on Rectangle Tool> click on Fly out Palette>very last object says Tear Off. Click on tear off and you can drag that entire toolset out on your workspace

 

CTRL + MINUS Key is ZOOM OUT

CTRL + PLUS key is ZOOM IN

 

Shift + Drawing tools gives you a perfect square (if in rectangle tool), circle (if in circle tool), etc.

 

SHIFT + ALT = Center point (when in a tool, like rectangle tool)

 

Polygon and Star tools
More choices when you click on the white space. Options dialog box pops up and you get more options, like:

Radius 1

Radius 2

Points

 

SHIFT + Click on corner handle = enlarge or reduce object proportionately

 

CTRL + R = Rulers

Right mouse click on rulers to select your measurement type (points, pixels, inches, etc.)

 

Practice Exercise: Fill, Stroke, Resize, Group

  1. Double click on Foreground Chip and select color
  2. Click on rectangle tool (below Text tool)
  3. Draw rectangle; color will fill in
  4. Click on Background in chip for stroke>Dbl Click> Select Color>menu Bar> Select point size
  5. Go to Navigator Palette (Window<Navigator)

-- Can move object by grabbing and dragging in Navigator or on slider in navigator

  1. Solid Arrow Tool: Selection Tool. It Selects Objects
  2. Outlined Arrow Tool: Direct Selection tool. Resizes objects, has echo points (fasteners) to drag and resize. Nickname “DS” tool.
  3. Selection tool> click and drag object on any area of workspace
  4. Select>Same> Fill color (or choose others) and the next time you draw it creates the same color and fill (if chose fill too)
  5. Draw another rectangle and it will create one just like you did
  6. Selection Tool: Click on white space and drag a selection that includes both of your objects. Let go and it will draw a bounding box. Now you can drag both items together.
  7. Direct Selection Tool> Select one of the boxes

n      point cursor on an echo point (fastener) till you see a small outlined box. Now you can click on the fastener and resize. Must be a white outlined box so you could resize.

13. Selection Tool> Select one of your boxes (bounding box occurs)

14. Double Click on Foreground Chip Tool>Select Color

15. Selection Tool: Draw a Marquee around both boxes> Obejct (in menu bar) > Group

--Now you can move both objects together

18. Click on one of the boxes and it selects both (marquee around both)> Object>

Ungroup.

          --now you can move the objects independently

 

Symbols

Window: Symbols Libraries

Drag symbol to document

 

Example of making custom pattern

Draw circle and fill with color

Draw polygon, fill with color, and drop inside circle

Draw a star, fill it with color, place inside polygon

Can right mouse click and while object is selected and select Arrange and arrange (front, back, etc) if desire

Go to Transparemy palette (if don’t see it, go to Window> Transparency

Drag slider in Opacity to change opacity of a selected object

Make any size. Can enlarge or reduce it.

Marquee all three With Marquee selection of all the objects, DRAG it into the swatches palette

 

Text Tool

  1. If you marquee the box with text tool first, it keeps it constrained and can’t do much with it.
  2. Select text tool
  3. Select Selection tool and select text till you see bounding box
  4. Can enlarge or reduce text size by pulling on bounding box. To constrain size hold Shift + Corner fastener and pull to enlarge or reduce /keep proportionate
  5. Type (up on menu bar) > Create Outlines > Object > Ungroup
    1. The type breaks up/ungroups so you could add effects
  6. Now you can add styles, brushes, effects
  7. Go to Window > Brush Libraries and select a brush library –really cool!
  8. Select a brush style and the text will change to that style. Try different brushes.
  9. to change brush style on just one letter, just use Selection tool and select any individual letter
  10. Open other brush library and experiment (check out banners—just drag to stage)

 

Text Effects

  1. Type with text tool
  2. Select font and size
  3. go to Selection tool and marquee the text you typed in
  4. Can also enlarge, reduce font size by pulling on fasteners
  5. EFFECT > WARP > ARCH UPPER or any other effect you’d like. Click on Preview to view

 

Text Path Tool

  1. Draw a circle without a fill and just a stroke
  2. Select Type on a Path text tool
  3. select where you want to type on the circle and begin. It will wrap around the circle.
  4. try other guides/paths, like use pen tool and draw waves with stroke and type along waves.
  5. Text path tool won’t work with fills, so to draw along fill, try the following exercise:
    1. draw waves and fill the waves with color. Copy the drawing (Selection tool + Alt and drag a copy of it to almost top of the original
    2. text path Tool> type text along the copy
    3. Drag copy to place so the text looks like it is wrapped along waves