adobe illustrator

Change page: < 1 2 > | Displaying page 1 of 2, items 1 to 30 of 57.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Paths (part 3) - Understanding how fills and strokes relate to paths

If paths are the basic concept behind Illustrator, you may be wondering where the colors and patterns fit in. You apply all colors and patterns to Illustrator paths using fills and strokes. Basically, a fill is a color or pattern that appears within a path, and a stroke is a special style that you apply along a path.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Paths (part 2) - Understanding control handles and control handle lines

If an anchor point has a control handle coming out of it, the next segment is curved. No control handle, no curve. Couldn't be simpler.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Paths (part 1) - Understanding types of paths , Understanding anchor points

As stated earlier, paths consist of a series of points and the line segments between these points. These points are commonly called anchor points because they anchor the path; paths always pass through or end at anchor points.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Proofing and Printing Documents - Inserting File Information

You can add metadata to files saved in the PSD, PDF, EPS, PNG, GIF, JPEG, and TIFF formats. The information is embedded in the file using XMP (Extensible Metadata Platform). This allows metadata to be exchanged between Adobe applications and across operating systems.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Proofing and Printing Documents - Checking for Print Problems, Using the Document Info Panel

Before you print your document, it’s important to check the Summary category in the Print dialog box. The summary information is good to have if you’re having problems printing your job at a commercial printer. You can save the information and send it to the printer to help diagnose the problem.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Reshaping Objects with Envelopes

Envelopes are objects you can use to reshape other objects, except graphs, guides, or linked objects. You can use one of the built-in envelopes or create your own out of an existing object.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Applying Multiple Transformations

The Transform Each command allows you to transform multiple objects relative to their individual reference points instead of a single reference point. With the Transform Each command, you can scale or move objects horizontally or vertically, rotate objects by a specific angle, and create a mirror reflection of the objects.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Reflecting and Shearing Objects

The Reflect and Shear tools on the Tools panel allow you to be creative as you transform an object. The Reflect tool creates a mirror image of an object, while the Shear tool creates a slanted image of an object.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Rotating and Scaling Objects

After you create an object, you can change its orientation by rotating it or change its size by scaling it. For a freeform rotation, when you want to rotate the object in other than 90 or 180 degree increments, you can use the Rotate tool.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Using the Free Transform Tool

The Free Transform tool allows you to rotate, scale (resize), reflect (mirror image), or shear (slant) an object. In addition, you can apply perspective and distortion to an object.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Aligning and Distributing Objects, Transforming Objects

In addition to using grids and guides to align objects to a specific point, you can align a group of objects to each other. The Align panel buttons make it easy to align two or more objects relative to each other or to the page.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Duplicating Objects

Duplicating objects can be a powerful way of creating geometrical artwork. You can duplicate one or more selected objects by dragging them, using Arrow keys, copying to and pasting from the Clipboard, or using the Offset Path command.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Saving and Editing Selections, Moving Objects

If you frequently select the same elements in a document, you can save yourself some time by saving the selection with a name of your choice. After you save a selection, the saved selection name appears as a menu command at the bottom of the Select menu.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Selecting Similar Objects

The Select menu provides a variety of powerful selection commands for you to use in a document or artboard. In addition to the common commands, such as All, Deselect, and Inverse, you can also select objects whose attributes are similar to the current or last selection.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Selecting and Grouping Objects

Selecting and grouping objects makes it easier to work with multiple objects as if they were a single object. You can easily select, isolate, cut, copy, paste, move, recolor, and transform a grouped object.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Using the Magic Wand Tool

The Magic Wand tool (so named since it looks like a magic wand) is unique in the fact that you do not drag and select with this tool; you simply click. The Magic Wand tool creates a selection based on the shift in brightness ranges within an image.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Using the Direct Selection Tool, Using the Lasso Tool

Use the Lasso tool when you want to select shapes that are very close to shapes you don’t want to select. This tool allows you to draw around the shape, selecting everything contained within the drawn area.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Understanding Selections, Using the Selection Tool

There are several ways to select objects in Illustrator. With the Selection tool, you can select an object’s stroke or fill. You can only select an object using the fill if the path appears in Preview mode, and the Object Selection by Path Only check box is deselected in Selection & Anchor Display preferences.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Working with Perspective Objects, Customizing a Perspective Grid

The Perspective Selection tool allows you to select, move, scale, copy, and transform objects in perspective. You can also add normal objects, text, and symbols to the perspective grid. When you move or change a normal object to the perspective grid, its appearance and scale change to adhere to the grid.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Creating Perspective Objects

The Perspective Grid tool allows you to display a perspective grid that you can use to draw shapes and create scenes with 1, 2, or 3-point perspective. For example, you can create a row of trees down a street to create perspective.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Using the Shape Builder Tool

The Shape Builder tool allows you to create complex objects by merging and erasing simpler objects. The Shape Builder tool selects edges and regions of an object, which can be merged or erased to form a new object.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Creating Grids

The grid tools on the Tools panel allow you to create a rectangular or circular polar grid. The Rectangular Grid tool creates rectangular grids of a specified size and number of horizontal and vertical dividers. The Polar Grid tool creates concentric circles of a specified size and specific number of concentric and radial dividers.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Creating Arcs and Spirals

The Arc and Spiral tools make it easy to create unique and interesting shapes. These tools draw curved lines to create an individual arc or a Spiral wind. An arc consists of an x and y axis length, open or closed path, arc direction (known as the Base Along), arc slope, and arc fill (optional).

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Creating Polygons and Stars, Creating Line Segments

The Polygon and Star tools work in much the same way as the Ellipse and Rectangle tools do to allow you to easily create complex vector shapes. You can use these tools to create either polygons or stars.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Creating Pixel Aligned Objects, Creating Rectangles and Ellipses

The Illustrator Tools panel includes several tools for quickly creating simple geometric vector shapes. They are easy to use; you just click and drag on the Stage to create the shapes.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Objects - Understanding Vector and Raster Graphics, Understanding Paths, Selecting a Drawing Mode

Illustrator is an application that gives you great control over vector graphics, which include vector shapes and vector objects. Vector graphics are created using mathematical shapes, not pixels, and that’s why vector shapes are considered resolution-independent.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Layers - Showing and Hiding Layers and Objects, Merging Layers and Groups

If you have objects on multiple layers and want to consolidate them onto one layer, you can merge them together. You can merge two or more groups, or a combination of groups and sublayers (if they are both in the same top-level layer).

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Layers - Duplicating Layers and Objects, Locking Layers and Objects

You can duplicate a layer with the New Layer button. Drag the layer over the New Layer button and Illustrator creates an exact copy of the layer and appends the word copy at the end of the original layer name.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Layers - Arranging Layers and Objects

You can change the stacking order of the layers in the Layers panel. When you change the order in the Layers panel, the objects in the document window change too.

Adobe Illustrator CS5 : Working with Layers - Selecting Objects with Layers

When you click the Selection area to the right of the target circle for a specific layer, all the paths, groups, and objects on the layer become selected. A selection square appears next to that target circle. In addition, the target circle for each path and group becomes selected and ready for editing.