1. Chapter 8 Recoloring Artwork and Working with Transparency, Effects, and Graphic Styles

2. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker The term opacity is a derivative of the word “opaque,” which describes an object that is not transparent or translucent but, rather, impenetrable. Simply put—you cannot see through it.

3. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker By default, objects in Illustrator are created with 100% opacity; they are opaque. Whenever one object overlaps another on the artboard, the top object hides all or part of the object behind it.

4. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker The Transparency panel allows you to control the degree to which an object is transparent. You can change the opacity amount by dragging the Opacity slider in the panel.

5. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker The Opacity slider works with percentages, with 100% being completely opaque and 0% being completely transparent, or invisible.

6. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker Blending modes are preset filters in the Transparency panel that vary the way the colors of objects blend with the colors of underlying objects when they overlap. You cannot determine the amount or intensity of a blending mode, but only choose whether or not to apply one.

7. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker Of all the blending modes, the most essential is Multiply. The Multiply blending mode makes the top object transparent and blends the colors of the overlapped and overlapping objects in an effect that is similar to overlapping magic markers.

8. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker Objects that overlap black become black, objects that overlap white retain their original color, and, as with magic markers, objects with color darken when they overlap other colors.

9. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker Multiply blending mode mimics the effect of overlapping transparent ink, like a magic marker

10. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker Because the Multiply blending mode reproduces real-world color situations, it is important for you to identify it as an essential component of your skills set.

11. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker You use the Color Picker to specify new colors to be used as fills, strokes, or parts of effects, such as drop shadows. The easiest way to access the Color Picker is to double-click the Fill or Stroke button on the Tools panel.

12. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker In addition to allowing you to choose a new color, the Color Picker offers a valuable opportunity for studying the most fundamental color model, HSB, or Hue, Saturation, and Brightness.

13. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker The hue is the color itself. Blue, red, orange, and green are all hues. The Color Picker identifies hues based on the concept of a color wheel. Because there are 360 degrees to a circle, the hues on the color wheel are numbered 0–360.

14. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker More than 360 colors can be specified in the Color Picker because each hue can be modified by its saturation and brightness value.

15. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker Saturation refers to the intensity of the hue. In the Color Picker, 100% is the highest degree of saturation. A saturation value of 0% means that there is no hue, only a shade of gray. A black-and-white photo, for example, has no saturation value.

16. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker In the Color Picker, 100% is the highest degree of brightness. A brightness of 0% is always black, regardless of the hue or saturation value specified.

17. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker Thus, 100% saturation and 100% brightness produce a “pure” hue. Any lesser amount of saturation or brightness is a degradation of the hue.

18. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker Color Picker dialog box Selected color Drag triangles along color slider to change hue

19. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker The Color Picker is made up of a large color field. The color field represents the current hue and all of its variations of saturation and brightness.

20. Using the Transparency Panel and the Color Picker Saturation values lie on the horizontal axis. Brightness values lie on the vertical axis.

21. Recoloring Artwork The Recolor Artwork feature uses the Color Guide panel and the Recolor Artwork dialog box as an interface for unprecedented dynamic color manipulation for an entire illustration. Rather than fill objects with various colors, you can now drag sliders and watch the colors in your illustration change as you drag.

22. Recoloring Artwork The Color Guide uses harmony rules, which are based on color models with complementary colors, to help you select colors for your illustration that work well together.

23. Recoloring Artwork Whenever you click a swatch on the Swatches panel or a color on the Color panel, that color automatically becomes the base color for the current harmony rule in the Color Guide.

24. Recoloring Artwork Color Guide panel Base color

25. Recoloring Artwork When you select an object on the artboard then choose a harmony rule in the Color Guide, the selected object does not change color. Instead, the Color Guide loads a group of swatches, called variations, based on the harmony rule. These swatches all work well together and can be used to color your illustration.

26. Recoloring Artwork The Recolor Artwork dialog box functions based on two modes: –Assign –Edit Both have essentially the same effect, but they use different methods to manipulate color.

27. Recoloring Artwork Your options for manipulating color in the Recolor Artwork dialog box are virtually unlimited, and that means that you are not limited to using only the colors in the harmony rule that you selected.

28. Recoloring Artwork The big difference between Edit mode and Assign mode is that Edit mode does not show you a list of your current colors. Instead, when in Edit mode, the illustration on the artboard is your only reference to your current colors and how they’re being affected.

29. Recoloring Artwork In Edit mode, you adjust color by moving the color tools to different positions on the color wheel, and the corresponding colors in the artwork are affected.

30. Recoloring Artwork If you click the Unlink harmony colors button, you can move the color tools independently of one another. In addition, you can select any of the color tools, then modify that color with the color sliders at the bottom of the dialog box.

31. Recoloring Artwork In most cases, when you select artwork and then choose a harmony rule in the Recolor Artwork dialog box, the harmony rule will not have the same number of colors as the number of colors in the selected artwork.

32. Recoloring Artwork When the harmony rule contains fewer colors than what is selected in the artwork, the color in the artwork must be reduced to whatever is available in the harmony rule. This is achieved with tints.

33. Recoloring Artwork Reducing the color results of multi-colored artwork to a two-color job is probably the most practical feature offered in the Recolor Artwork dialog box.

34. Recoloring Artwork In addition to locking and unlocking or hiding and showing objects and layers, Isolation Mode is a feature that helps you select objects with ease. When you use Isolation Mode, the selected objects appear in full color, while all the remaining objects on the artboard are dimmed and unselectable.

35. Recoloring Artwork This allows you to access the isolated objects without any of the other objects getting in the way.

36. Recoloring Artwork When you are in Isolation Mode, the Layers panel displays only the artwork in the isolated sublayer. You cannot access any other layers. When you exit Isolation Mode, the other layers reappear on the Layers panel.

37. Applying Effects to Objects The commands listed on the Effect menu can be applied to objects to alter their appearance without altering the objects themselves. You can apply effects, such as distort, transform, outline, and offset, without changing the original size, anchor points, and shape of the object.

38. Applying Effects to Objects This object is a simple square with a number of effects applied to it, creating the appearance of a complex illustration. One square with multiple effects applies

39. Using the Appearance Panel Many effect dialog boxes include a color box that, when clicked, opens up the Color Picker. Of all the ways to choose colors in Illustrator, using the Color Picker is the most sophisticated.

40. Using the Appearance Panel In the Color Picker dialog box, you can specify colors numerically as CMYK, RGB, HSB, or hexadecimal (a numbering system based on 16). You can also access the Color Picker by double- clicking the Fill or Stroke button on the Tools panel.

41. Using the Appearance Panel The Appearance panel: –lists appearance attributes –is the gateway for controlling and manipulating all of the appearance attributes of your artwork –shows the fills, strokes, and effects that you have applied to your artwork –offers you the ability to manipulate those attributes

42. Using the Appearance Panel Add New Stroke button Add New Fill button Add New Effect button Clear Appearance button Duplicate Selected Item button Delete Selected Item button Appearance panel

43. Using the Appearance Panel You can change the order of attributes on the Appearance panel simply by dragging them up or down. The hierarchy of attributes directly affects the appearance of the object.

44. Working with Graphic Styles Graphic styles are named sets of appearance attributes that are accessed on the Graphic Styles panel.

45. Working with Graphic Styles To create a new style, select the artwork whose attributes you want to save as a style, then do one of the following: –Click the New Graphic Style button on the Graphic Styles panel –Drag a selected object from the artboard into the Graphic Styles panel –Drag a thumbnail from the Appearance panel into the Graphic Styles panel

46. Working with Graphic Styles A graphic style can include: –Fills –Strokes –Effects –Patterns –Opacity settings –Blending modes –Gradients

47. Working with Graphic Styles However, you can only create a graphic style from a single set of attributes. In other words, you can create the graphic style from one object and all of its attributes.

48. Working with Graphic Styles When you apply a graphic style to an object, the new graphic style overrides any graphic style that you previously applied to the object. When you apply a graphic style to a group or a layer, all objects in the group or on the layer take on the graphic style’s attributes.

49. Working with Graphic Styles Graphic styles are associated with the layers to which they are applied. If you move an object from a layer that has a graphic style applied to it, the object will lose the graphic style attributes.

50. Working with Graphic Styles You can also create new graphic styles by merging two or more graphic styles on the Graphic Styles panel.

51. Working with Graphic Styles Default graphic styles Break Link to Graphic Style button New Graphic Style button Delete Selected Item button Graphic Styles panel

52. Using Opacity Masks You use an opacity mask and a masking object to alter the transparency of artwork in specific areas that you choose. The opacity mask is applied in the Transparency panel.

53. Using Opacity Masks The masking object is an object you create that defines which areas are transparent and the degree to which they are transparent.

54. Using Opacity Masks Where the opacity mask is white, the artwork is fully visible. Where the opacity mask is black, the artwork is fully transparent, or invisible.

55. Using Opacity Masks Shades of gray in the mask result in varying degrees of transparency in the artwork, with lighter grays resulting in more visible artwork and darker grays resulting in less visible artwork.

56. Using Opacity Masks You can use any colored object or even a placed bitmap image as the masking object. *Note, however, that masks only function in terms of grayscale, or black and white.

57. Using Opacity Masks You create and manipulate an opacity mask in the Transparency panel. The Clip option on the Transparency panel automatically fills unused areas of the opacity mask with black.

58. Using Opacity Masks Thus, when you first create an opacity mask, the entire mask is filled with black. It’s a good idea to uncheck the Clip option and start working with a white mask.

59. Using Opacity Masks Clip option unchecked A white mask causing artwork to be completely visible

60. Using Opacity Masks You work with opacity masks by adding objects to the mask that affect the transparency of the related artwork. When you click the mask, a black frame appears around the mask, indicating that the mask is targeted. With the mask targeted, any objects you create are created in the mask.

61. Using Opacity Masks When working with opacity masks, you can create very complex visual effects with transparency. However, you might find the practical uses of opacity masks to be just as appealing.

62. Using Opacity Masks Once you’ve added an opacity mask to an object and added a masking object to the opacity mask, you can edit a masking object at any time to change the transparency of the mask.

63. Using Opacity Masks When you click the opacity mask (right thumbnail) on the Transparency panel, you can then select the masking object and modify its attributes, such as shape and color.

64. Using Opacity Masks When you add an opacity mask to selected artwork, the artwork and the masking object are linked by default. This means that if you move the artwork, the artwork and the masking object move together and the relationship is maintained.

65. Using Opacity Masks This relationship is represented by the link icon in the Transparency panel between the artwork and opacity mask thumbnails.

66. Using Opacity Masks To remove an opacity mask, select the masked artwork, then click Release Opacity Mask in the Transparency panel menu. Removing the opacity mask does not delete the masking object. The masking object reappears on top of the objects that were masked.