When working in Illustrator we tend to think of our vector shapes in terms of the points, or nodes, that make up each shape. However, each shape is a combination of the both the points and the segments that join them. Because our control system (the Beziér Handles) stem from the points it’s easy to […]
Category Archives: Illustrator
In the previous post we looked at using Shape Builder to control how 2D vector objects overlap. We used a Celtic Knot design where two different motifs were ‘threaded’ to give the impression of passing in front of and behind one another. Now lets look at a similar concept using Live Paint. To start with […]
In two related posts over the next week I want to look at ways of controlling how flat 2D objects appear to overlap in vector graphics. Below is an example of a Celtic Knot design – notice how the various bands ‘thread’ through eachother. The circle motif in the centre passes infront of and behand […]
Drawing and editing symmetrical shapes in Illustrator is relatively straightforward when working with simple forms like ellipses and rectangles. However, things get more challenging as shapes become more complex. One option is to use the Reflect Tool but this means creating a reflected copy each time an edit is made and deleting the previously flipped […]
Illustrator’s Gradient Tool is perhaps the best available in the current Adobe line-up when compared with InDesign and Photoshop’s gradient functions and gives us a lot of control over how the gradient is positioned and scaled within an object. That said, it can still sometimes be challenging to get colours to sit exactly where you […]
Whilst doing some research the other day I came across a thread on a related issue on the Adobe forums. The poster of the problem happened to mention ‘pasting’ some Illustrator artwork into InDesign and was advised that you should always ‘place’ into InDesign. In fact there are cases where it’s perfectly acceptable to copy […]
If you’ve been using Illustrator for any length of time you’ll be aware of the Transform functions that reside under the Object menu. Go to Object>Transform and you’ll find Move, Rotate etc all grouped in one submenu. However, Transform functions can also be applied as Effects. Go to Effect>Distort & Transform and you’ll see Transform… […]
If you find yourself constantly configuring the same settings every time you create a new document in Illustrator then you may be glad to know we can save you the time and spare you the monotony. When we create a New Document in Illustrator we choose from a Document Profile to pre-configure settings for Web, […]
The Appearance Panel in Illustrator is the place to go to view and edit the appearance attributes of elements within your document. You’ll see a list of all the styling applied to any selected item, everything from fill and stroke attributes through to effect settings, all of which can be accessed and edited directly from […]
To show you how easy it is to create and use svg elements, here is a simple example. <svg xmlns=”http://www.w3.org/2000/svg” width=”500px” height=”300px” viewBox=”0 0 1500 300″> <text x=”250″ y=”150″ font-family=”Verdana” font-size=”250pt”> Hello </text></svg> You can also just use the text element by itself. This is a text element, selectable, and easy to format. To rotate the […]