Illustrator

Day 2: Modules 3 & 4

Course Reference Handout

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Adobe Illustrator DAY 2 – Module 3
Painting with Brushes
Using the Paintbrush and Brushes Panel
Using the Paintbrush is similar to working with the Pencil tool,
except you click on a brush in the Brushes Panel and your
path can have a textured look, or vary in line weight. This
gives you more options than the Stroke Panel offers.
To Paint with Brushes:
 Choose the Paintbrush tool and open the Brushes
Panel (Window > Brushes). You can also set
brush options in the Control Panel.
 Click on a brush in the Brush Panel (or Control
Panel).
 Click and drag to draw with the Paintbrush.
Brush Categories:
 Calligraphic Brushes give you a varied thickness
line weight, much like a real calligraphy brush.
 Scatter Brushes repeat the brush art in a scattered
organic pattern.
 Art Brushes only use one copy of the art and
distort it along your path.
 Pattern Brushes repeat multiple copies of the art
along the path.
Brush Options:
 Double-click a brush to bring up its brush options.
Duplicate a Brush:
 Select a Brush, and then choose Brushes Panel
submenu> Duplicate Brush.
Loading Brush Libraries
You can load more brushes into your documents brush Panel
through Brush Libraries (Window > Brush Libraries).
To Load Brushes:
 From the Brushes Panel menu, choose Window >
Brush Libraries > and select any of the available
libraries (for example: Animals). The library will
open in its own Panel.
 Click on any brush you want in a Library Panel, and
it will be copied into your documents Brushes Panel.
The brushes in your brushes Panel will be
automatically sorted according to type (calligraphy,
scatter, art, and pattern).
Creating Custom Brushes
You can drag artwork into the Brush Panel to create your
own brushes from custom shapes. There are some
limitations to the art that can be used in brushes. You must
use vector-based art, not any kind of pixel-based art (such as
a photograph) or pixel-based feature (such as the drop
shadow filter). You cannot use Gradient or Pattern fills, or
Effects in your brush art. You can use Transparency.
To Create Custom Brushes:
 Select one or multiple objects.
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
Drag the art into the Brush Panel, or click the New
Brush button.
 In Brush Options, define what type of brush you
want to set up.
To Copy Custom Brushes:
 Brushes are stored in the document they are
created in, but can be copied easily to other
Illustrator documents.
 To copy brushes from another file: from the Brushes
Panel menu, choose Brush Libraries > Other
Library and browse to the Illustrator file containing
the brushes you want.
Transforming Objects
Scaling Objects
Change the size of objects in any of the following ways:
 Drag the corner of the Bounding Box with the
Selection tool.
 Select the object and double-click the Scale tool
to scale by percentage.
 Select the object and enter width and height
dimensions in the Control Panel or in the
Transform Panel.
Rotating Objects
Rotate objects in any of the following ways:
 Drag outside the corner of the Bounding Box with
the Selection tool.
 Select the object, and then choose the Rotate tool
and drag to rotate.
 Hold Alt while dragging with the Rotate tool to copy
and rotate.
 Double-click the Rotate tool to enter values in the
Rotate dialog box.
 Select an object and choose an angle in the
Transform Panel.
Reflecting Objects
To flip objects:
 Select an object and double-click the Reflect tool.
To flip horizontally choose Vertical Axis and click
OK, or choose Copy to flip and make a copy at the
same time.
Distorting Objects with Twirl Tool
To twist objects and create curves:
 Select the object and choose the Twist tool.
 Drag with the Twist tool on the object.
Distortion Effects
Try distorting objects with any of the following Effects:
 Effect > Distort & Transform > ZigZag
 Effect > Distort & Transform > Pucker & Bloat
 Effect > Distort & Transform > Roughen
Precise Positioning
Position objects with precision using any of the following
techniques:
 Specify X and Y locations in the Control bar or in
the Transform Panel.
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  Show Rulers (View menu) and drag from the rulers
to create guides.
 Right-click on the ruler to change the
measurement system.
 Select an object and choose Object > Transform >
Move (or Double-click the Selection tool to bring up
Move)
Free Transform Tool
To create an effect similar to perspective:
 Select an object and choose the Free Transform
tool.
 Click on a corner handle and then hold Control
while dragging.
Adobe Illustrator DAY 2 – Module 4
Working with Text
Creating Text
To create text:
 Choose the Text tool from the Tools Panel.
 Either click and type, or click and drag to create a
container for your text.
 You can type or paste text, or choose File > Place
to insert an entire text file.
 If you drag to create a text container. It will have an
IN PORT and OUT PORT used for threading text
between containers.
 To connect one text frame to another text frame,
use the main selection tool and click the Out Port,
and then drag to create a new text container. You
can also click the In Port to create a new text frame
before an existing text container.
Rows and Columns
To divide a block of text into columns or rows:
 Select the text with the Selection tool.
 Choose Type > Area Type Options.
Character Panel
When formatting text select text with the Text tool or with the
Selection tool.
 Open the Character Panel from the Window menu
or click on the Character link in the Control bar.
 Character options include: Font, Size, Leading,
Tracking, Kerning, Baseline Shift, Scaling,
Character Rotation, Language (for spell-
checking), All Caps, Small Caps, Superscript
and Subscript.
Paragraph Panel
When formatting text select text with the Text tool or with the
Selection tool.
 Open the Paragraph Panel from the Window menu
or click on the Paragraph link in the Control bar.
 Paragraph options include: Alignment, Left and
Right Indents, First Line Indent, and Space
Before and After Paragraphs, and Hyphenation.
Text on a Path
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To place text onto a path (such as a circle, spiral, or pencil
line):
 Draw a path or create a shape.
 Choose the Text Path tool and click on the path.
 Type or paste text and format in the Character or
Paragraph Panel.
Text Outlines
Create text outlines when you wish to use a feature or tool
that cannot operate on text (such as Twirling, using Gradient
Swatches, using a Distort Filter) or when you wish to reshape
or alter the letterforms. This is a popular feature for logo
design. Text outlines are also useful because the font
originally used does not need to be available for the text to
print properly.
To Create Text Outlines:
 Select your text with the Selection tool and choose
Type > Create Outlines.
 Choose Object menu > Ungroup.
To Create Symbols:
 Choose Type > Glyphs.
 Place your text cursor into a text frame, and double-
click a symbol.
Creating Gradient Swatches
You can create linear or radial gradations with any number of
colors, by using the Gradient Panel to create the gradation,
and saving the gradients in the Swatches Panel.
To Create a Gradient Swatch:
 Open the Gradient, Color, and Swatches Panels
from the Window menu.
 Click on color stops in the Gradient Panel and
choose colors from the Color Panel.
 To create additional color stops, click below the
gradient ramp in the Gradient Panel.
 To remove colors, drag the color stops off the
Panel.
 To use solid swatch colors in your gradient, drag
from swatches to the Gradient Panel, or choose the
color stop first and Alt-click the swatch color.
 After mixing the gradient colors click the New
Swatch button in the Swatches Panel to save the
Gradient as a swatch.
Creating Pattern Swatches
You can create repeating patterns by turning art into Pattern
Swatches. There are some limitations to the art that can be
used in pattern swatches. You must use vector-based art, not
any kind of pixel-based art (such as a photograph) or pixel-
based feature (such as the drop shadow filter). You cannot
use Gradients or Pattern fills, or Effects in your pattern art;
you can use Transparency.
To Create a Pattern Swatch:
 Drag vector-based objects into the Swatch Panel, or
select objects and then click the New Swatch
button.
Tips for Using Pattern Swatches
 Double-click the Scale tool to scale the pattern or
the object or both.
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  Preferences > General (Edit menu on PC,
Illustrator menu on Mac) includes an option
“Transform Pattern Tiles”.
 Transform and Scale options appear when you
access the Scale/Transform/Rotate tools.
 Double click on the Scale Tool .
 Crop pattern art by placing a rectangle with no
stroke or fill color under your art. This is called a
bounding box and can cut your art around the
rectangle when you create a pattern swatch.

Gradient Mesh Tool

To create a Gradient Mesh object:
 Select an object.
 Choose Object > Create Gradient Mesh.
To change colors in the mesh:
 Select the intersection points in the mesh with the
Direct Selection tool and choose colors in the Color
Panel.
 Select points by dragging with the Direct Lasso tool
and choose colors in the Color Panel.
To change shape in the mesh:
 Drag with the Direct Selection tool on vectors or
handles in the mesh to reshape the lines.4

Notes

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