1. Introduction to Illustrator
CSC020, Computer Graphics
Introduction to Illustrator 1

2. Illustrator Vector Graphics
Popular Uses
Posters / Flyers
Infographics
Web Images
Web Icons
Company logos
html 2

3. Illustrator – Vector Graphics
Pixels don’t scale well
Vectors scale without losing quality 3

4. Illustrator – Vector Graphics
Vector: algorithm based
Pixels: bit based. 4

5. Vector vs. Bit Mapped Type Bit Mapped Letter “O” Original: Enlarged:
(rasterized)
Letter “O”
Original:
Type
Bit Mapped
Enlarged:
In a vector image, pixels get mapped for the target resolution

6. Illustrator – Similarities with Photoshop
Tools Palette is similar to PhotoShop.
Click and hold to see sets of related tools.
Arrow in lower right shows presence of tool groups. 6

7. Other palettes and panels
Layers are similar to PhotoShop.
Layering commands are in a pull-down menu accessed from the Layers Panel.
Align Panel supports object alignment.
Window -> Align if not visible 7

8. Other palettes and panels
File -> New supports various document types.
RGB (for displays). CMYK (for print).
Optional templates supply format and building blocks (Also, File -> New from Template) 8

9. Geometric Objects Create a new, blank 8.5 x 11 inch print doc.
Tear off Rectangle, etc. tool menu.
Add rectangles, squares (hold shift key while sweeping), rounded rectangles, ellipses, circles (shift).
Set stroke color and enable / disable fill color at bottom of Tools Palette. 9

10. Adobe Tutorial
Ellipse: Create Circle by holding Shift key 10

11. Useful Shortcuts Cmd-A Cmd-Shft-A V select everything
deselect everything V
direct selection
useful when you want to move something

12. Adobe Tutorial Add a inner circles, exactly ½ the size
Select anchor point at the top
Deselect large circle first
Drag to the right until edge of circle is found
Can deselect with:
cmd-shift A
Shift-click on object in Layers
Anchors and paths appear as highlights as they are crossed 12

13. Adobe Tutorial Center the circle
Copy and paste to create another circle 13

14. Adobe Tutorial Add a smaller circle centered inside
Hold Shift and option to draw from center 14

15. Adobe Tutorial Select the whole image
Shape Builder tool to select 2 sides of each circle
Drag across edges to remove 15

16. Adobe Tutorial Select bottom half and fill with black
Change setting for little hole
Black fill, no lines 16

17. Adobe Tutorial
Check out the layers! 17

18. Adobe Tutorial Command R to show rulers Create a guide line:
Select tool (V)
Click on the ruler
drag down or over 18

19. A Note about History There is NO history panel in Illustrator
unlike Photoshop!!!
There are, however, multiple undo/redo levels under the edit menu
Cmd-Z … undo last edit
Cmd-Shft-Z … redo last edit

20. Adobe Tutorial Draw a magnifying glass icon Open a new “Landscape” doc20

21. Adobe Tutorial Draw 2 circles, both centered on the guide
Shift and Option
Make sure all objects are unfilled 21

22. Adobe Tutorial Add the rectangle Add rounded rectangle
“alt” will draw from the center 22

23. Adobe Tutorial Select All Use shape builder Use shift to capture group
(adds to selection) 23

24. Adobe Tutorial
Draw 2 more circles to create crescent 24

25. Adobe Tutorial Use shape builder and shift to remove all but crescent
Select just the two circles
Hold “alt” on to get subtraction tool (cursor will turn to a minus)

26. Adobe Tutorial Add Color Can use shape builder Remove strokes
Double click
Select a color from swatches
Remove strokes 26

27. Adobe Tutorial
Select rotate tool for final step 27

28. Adobe Tutorial
Add to a flyer 28

29. Adobe Tutorial Pick a background rectangle Pick a pattern
Object -> Arrange > Send to Back
Pick a pattern
Send that back too 29

30. Adobe Tutorial
Shear tool to skew
Transparency multiply
to blend in 30

31. Adobe Tutorial
Add Drop shadow for effect
Effect -> Drop Shadow 31

32. Adobe Tutorial Pick your favorite font Use shift to resize
Rotate and center 32

33. Record a new “Cleanup” Action
Open a new document
Windows -> Actions
Place some shapes on the page.
Create New Action named Cleanup.
Record “Select All” then “Edit Cut”.
Stop the recording on the Actions panel.
Now you can replay “Cleanup” as you experiment with geometric shape tools. 33

34. Polygons
Point click without drawing to set number of sides and default radius.
Sweep polygon out from center, rotate.
Vary the parameters in the Control Panel.
Stars are similar to polygons with two radii.
Selection Tool (arrow) supports selection and basic geometric transforms.
Flare Tools has rings, rays, etc. 34

35. Line Segment and Related Tools
Close Rectangle, etc., tear off Line Segment.
Control-click for Transform and other actions.
Single click for line dialog box.
Shift-draw to snap line to 45⁰ alignment.
~-draw to fan out a series of line segments.
Shift-~-draw to keep them at 45⁰ alignment.
Alt-option draws out from original click.
Fill sets color for later use in closed figures. 35

36. Arcs Arcs have several keyboard shortcuts.
“C” toggles between closed and open arcs.
“F” flips an arc.
Up and Down arrows change curvature.
Alt-option draws out from original click.
Shift, ~ and Shift-~ draw are similar to line.
Single click to enter parameters. 36

37. Damage some Lines and Arcs
Draw and select one line segment per effect.
Double-click any of these tools to set parameters.
Hold cmd to select a different line/shape
Warp warps line and arc segments.
Twirl forms a spiral.
Pucker is an attractor for edges.
Bloat makes edges bloated.
Scallop scallops line / arc segments.
Crystallize stands line hairs on their ends.
Wrinkle generates random waves. 37

38. Spirals Single click to see parameters. Many segments pack tightly.
High decay expands spiral (> 110% is too big).
You may wind up hanging Illustrator with this one.
Control-click force quit AI in Mac Dock if you do.
Sweep to scale, Cmd-sweep for tightness.
Up / down arrow to add / delete segments.
Rotate, shift for 45⁰, space bar to move. 38

39. Grids
Rectangular grids have dividers, skew, number of dividers in Cartesian space.
Rectangular grids have dividers, skew, number of dividers in Polar space.
Options for fill.
Framing makes outer rectangle a path.
Compound ellipses treated as one object in some contexts, e.g., Direct Select. 39

40. Selection Select Tool selects an entire path.
Direct Select is similar to Photoshop.
Shift-select adds or subtracts selections.
Select-menu or control-click selections.
Select all-on-layer on the right side of a layer.
Object -> Group creates a composite object, Ungroup releases it.
Magic Wand selects on basis of color. 40

41. Miscellaneous Tools Object -> Transform has geometric transforms.
Object -> Arrange raises or lowers objects.
Rotate and Reflect Tools on Tools Panel.
Scale and Shear Tools on Tools Panel.
Reshape tool modifies predefined shapes, e.g., Reshape a spiral.
It is possible to Copy & Paste Paths between PhotoShop and Illustrator.
We will examine file-based data exchange later. 41

42. Selection Create a small set of shapes.
Selection Tool sweep, Object -> Group them.
Create a few more shapes.
Selection Tool sweep, Object -> Group these + former group into a second-order Group.
Selection Tool selects the entire group.
Direct Select selects vertices / edges.
Group Select, multiple clicks selects group hierarchy.

43. More Selection Lasso Tools selects vertices and edges.
Magic Wand selects based on Fill color, Stroke color, Stroke Weight. Double click the wand.
Selection Tool shift-click adds or subtracts.
Direct Select highlights a vertex beneath its cursor.
Select -> Same based on properties.
Select all on a layer via the Layers Panel. 43

44. Isolate Selected Groups
Select a group of objects.
Click Isolate Selected Group in Control Panel.
Group appears in Layers Panel.
Editing is limited to active group.
Clicking top gray bar ends isolation.
Object -> Ungroup removes levels of grouping.
Select -> Save Selection under a name. 44

45. Grids and Guides
Check View -> Smart Guides to get coordinate and related information.
View -> Grid shows a snap grid.
View -> Snap To Grid forces grid alignment.
Test, then disable this.
Illustrator -> Preferences -> Guides and Grid to set grid resolution.
Illustrator -> Preferences -> Smart Guides.
Enable the top set of options. 45

46. Moving / Copying Objects
Selection Tools moves whole objects / groups.
Apple-C / Apple-V for copy / paste.
Make and Select a Star
Object -> Path -> Offset Path with a .1 in offset, try Miter, Round and Bevel.
Window -> Align or alignment icons on Control Panel.
Align to Key Object uses reference object. 46

47. Automating a Composition
Put a single simple object (e.g., star) on the page. Select it.
Record the following actions:
Copy, paste (or Offset Path 0), align, scale, rotate (and / or other transforms), align centers, group, end record.
Click this action sequence repeatedly (slowly) to get spiraling-in shapes similar to the first assignment. You may run out of memory! 47

48. Transformations Window -> Transform and Align Panels.
Rulers help with number-based transformations on complicated, many-sided geometric shapes.
Object -> Transform has addition transforms.
Select -> right click also shows transform menu.
If you run low on memory, Save, Quit, restart. 48

49. PhotoShop Paths to Illustrator Shapes
DSC_0007.jpg into PhotoShop (in MoreLayers.zip).
Non-contiguous magic wand, tolerance 100.
Create and name a new Path from selection.
Use Path menu with 1 pixel tolerance.
Rename testpath, Edit -> Copy the path.
Create a new Illustrator document.
Set fill to gradient.
Edit gradient options later. Stroke to black. Paste the shape (compound path). 49