Introduction to Adobe Illustrator
Setting up the Project
For today's project, we will create a New project for Print.
- We will build it on a Letter size Artboard.
- We will set the measure to Inches.
Understanding Vector Graphics
The key to vector graphics
is to record a set of instructions on
how to draw the
image, as opposed to just storing a 'photo' of the image. This allows
the image to be redrawn by the computer at any size, with no loss of
quality. It does this by literally redrawing the image, rather than
magnifying the picture.
The computer does this by creating a 'connect the dots' set of
instructions. Each dot includes the angle at which the line comes into
that location, and the angle at which it leaves.
In Illustrator, we will have the following items to work with;
- Anchor - This is one of the 'dots' in the image
- Handle - We use this to control the slope and angle of the
line as it passes through the Anchor.
Being able to work with Anchors and Handles provides a great deal of
power, but it can be frustrating to get used to. It may take a lot of
practice to get a 'handle' on this concept, but it is well worth the
time and effort.
I will demonstrate with the pencil tool, and then show you how to use
the pencil, brush, and pen tools.
Playing with different drawing tools
Before we get into drawing our Island, I want to introduce a few new
drawing tools. These are designed for more 'freehand' drawing, than the
shapes tools we used last week.
The Pencil Tool
The pencil tool allows you
to draw a 'clean' line, using your mouse (or tablet).
- Illustrator will calculate all of the needed anchors and
angles required to create the shape using vector graphic instructions.
- Select the Pencil tool, and drag it around the Artboard,
making some curves in the process.
- Pick the Direct Selection Tool from the Toolbox Panel.
- Click an empty area of the Artboard to de-select the
curve you just drew.
- Move the mouse along your curve. As you move, you will
see the following items identified;
- Path - part of the line that makes up the curve.
- Anchors - the turning points in the curve
- If you have trouble seeing these, you may want to
zoom in on the drawing.
- Click on one of the Anchors in your curve.
- Notice that two little blue lines extend out from the
Anchor, with a blue dot at the end.
- The blue dot is the Handle we will use to modify the
way the line passes through the Anchor.
- The angle at which the handle comes out of the Anchor,
controls the angle at which the line passes through the Anchor.
- The Handle defines the 'peak' of the angle after
passing through the Anchor.
We will play with Anchors more shortly. For now lets skip on to the
next tool, the Brush.
The Paintbrush Tool
The Paintbrush Tool works much the same
as the pencil tool, except you can select a 'brush style', which
changes the style of the line.
- Select the Paintbrush Tool
- From the right side of the screen, open the Brushes panel.
- Note the different brush styles available on this panel.
- Note that the Brush style is also available on the Control Panel, at the top of the screen.
- Select a brush style, and then draw a curvy line, like you did with the pencil.
- You may try a few different brush styles to see the different effects.
- Select the Direct Selection Tool
- You can modify the anchors of a brush stroke the same way you did the pencil lines.
Clearing the Workspace
Before proceeding to the next tool, let's clear our workspace to make space.
- On the keyboard, hold down the Ctrl key, and press 'A'. This selects everything in your project.
- Press the 'Delete' key on the keyboard.
The Pen Tool
The Pen tool creates a line similar to
the pencil tool, but uses a different method for creating the Anchor
points. This is a little tricky, so remember that you can use Crtl-Z to
Undo, if you make a mistake.
Instead of drawing the curve on the screen, the pen tool allows you to specify the location of each Anchor.
- Select the Pen tool.
- Click to position the first Anchor, but do not let go of the mouse button.
- If you drag the mouse away from the Anchor, it will create the
Handle for this Anchor. If you forget to do this, you will need to use
the Convert Anchor Point tool, hidden under the Pen tool in the Toolbox.
- Once the Handle is pointing in the general direction you want to go for the next Anchor, let go.
- Keep in mind, you want to point in the direction, not drag to
the spot of the next Anchor. The Handle should be where the curve of
the line is likely to peak. You can adjust this later, once we complete
the shape.
- Position your mouse for the next Anchor.
- Note that as you move the mouse, Illustrator tells you the distance from you last Anchor.
- Click to place the Anchor, but drag out to get the Handle.
- Remember to point the Handle in the direction you want to continue the shape.
- Continue to Click to place additional handles, but wrap back around so that you can connect with your first Anchor.
- As your final Anchor, select your first Anchor.
- Select the Direct Selection Tool from the Toolbox.
- You can now make adjustments to the Anchors and the Handles.
Clearing the Workspace (Again)
Before proceeding to the next tool, let's clear our workspace to make space.
- On the keyboard, hold down the Ctrl key, and press 'A'. This selects everything in your project.
- Press the 'Delete' key on the keyboard.
Drawing the Island
We will now begin drawing our Island
map. We will use the Pen tool, but we will also discover Layers,
Gradients, Symbols, and Borders.
Layers
Layers allow you to place a number of
Objects on a Transparent 'sheet' that can be hidden, locked, or
re-stacked, compared to other Layers.
It is good to include related objects on a single layer, allowing you
to work with each set of related items independent of other objects in
your project.
You can name you Layers to help organize the items in your project.
- Locate the Layers Panel on the right side of the screen.
- Note that there is a layer already in existence. This is where all of your work is done by default.
- Double-Click on Layer 1, and change the name to Background.
Coloring the Background (With a Gradient)
- Create a Rectangle that covers the entire Artboard.
- Select the Gradient Tool, and Click the center of the Rectangle to select it.
- A White to Black Gradient is created to fill the rectangle.
- A Bar is shown across the center with the controls to adjust the Gradient settings.
- When the Mouse is over this bar, you will see a little box
below each end of the bar which shows the color at that end of the
Gradient.
- Double-Click the white box at the left end of the bar.
- The color selection panel will be shown.
- The color pallet is set to grey-scale by default. You can change this via the drop menu in the upper right of the panel.
- Select the Swatches, on the left side of the Panel
- Select a lighter blue color from the available swatches.
- Double-Click the black box at the other end of the bar
- Select a darker shade of blue for this side.
Note: there is a Gradient Panel available from the Right-side of the
screen which will give you additional options, like the angle across
the object you would like the gradient to be drawn at.
New Layer, For the Island
- Open the Layers panel
- Along the bottom of the panel, locate the New Layer button.
- Double-Click the layer name, and enter 'Island'.
- Click the Eye to the left if the Background layer. This makes the layer Hidden.
- Click on the Island Layer, to select it as the layer you want to work in.
Drawing the Island
- Select an appropriate fill color (like a light brown).
- Select the Pen tool.
- Create a shape for your Island.
- Once the shape is closed, Select the Direct Selection Tool to make any adjustments.
- Once finished with Adjustments, Select the standard Selection tool, and make sure your Island is currently selected.
Adding a Drop Shadow
- From the Effect menu, select Stylize > Drop Shadow.
- You can click on the color (Black Square) to change the color of the Shadow.
- You can turn on the Preview, but be patient. It may take a moment for the preview to show up.
Re-activating the background layer
- From the Layers Panel, click the first box before the Background layer to make it visible again.
Adding an Icons Layer
- Add a new layer, and rename it 'Icons"
Adding Symbols
- The Symbols Panel may not be active currently. To turn it on, go to the Window menu, and make sure Symbols is checked.
- On the Symbols Panel, open the Drop Menu in the upper-right corner.
- From this menu, select "Open Symbol Library".
- Pick any of the libraries.
- Merge the new panel with the standard panel (if not already done).
- Note the arrows at the bottom of the panel, that let you page through the existing libraries.
- Drag Symbols to your island to indicate different features you would have on your vacation island.
- You can resize the symbols once they have been placed.
Adding a Border
To add a border to the page, we actually add it to the rectangle we drew as the background.
- With the standard Selection tool, click in an empty area of the blue background, to select the rectangle.
- Open the Brushes panel from the Right of the screen.
- If the Borders panel is not part of the brushes panel, then do the following;
- Click the Drop Menu in the upper-Right, and select 'Open Brush Library > Borders > (any)'.
- Click on different Borders to see how they look.
- Note the arrows at the bottom of the panel to allow you to move from library to library.
Adding the Logo
- Add a new Layer
- Note: New layers are added just above the currently selected
layer. If you do not select the top-most layer, then your new layer
will likely end up just above the Background. This is fine in this case.
- Note: You can drag Layers to reposition the order in the list.
- Name the new layer 'Logo'.
- From the File menu, select 'Place'.
- Select your Logo image from last week and click the Place button.
- Set the 'Crop to' option to 'Art', and click OK.
- Position the image as you like.
Save your file