The following videos and notes are to assist with the completion of Assignment 2 in ARC 171. Video screen captures are not edited, so you get to see my mistakes and corrections. 

Open a new Illustrator File

  • Under the File menu select New... 
    • Enter a file Name
    • Set Units: to inches
    • Enter the Width and Height to your project size or desired printed area.  
    • Select "OK"

Place a Sketch Reference Image - You can place sketches, photographs and other images in Illustrator as an underlay for tracing or reference when making shapes and forms in Illustrator. 

  • Scan or photograph an image of a sketch copy the image file on your computer.  
  • Under the File Menu select Place...
  • Find your saved photograph of the sketch on your computer and choose Place. 
  • In the upper right corner if you Illustrator layout space click and hold the mouse button down. While you hold the mouse button down drag the mouse to stretch the image. 
  • In the horizontal tool bar select the Mask button.
  • Mask the image by moving the corners of the photograph to clip unwanted information. (To get back to the mask editing go to the Select Menu and choose Object --> Clipping Masks, reposition corners to edit the image mask.) 
  • Using the Select tool move the position the image. 
  • Stretch the image to the correct size by clicking on the corner and make the image larger or smaller.
  • Finalize the size and location of your reference image. 

Setting Opacity - Make an object or layer translucent. This is an effective technique to lighten and desaturate or reduce the contrast of an underlay image. 

  • Select the Image placed in the step above. (Or other object to make translucent.) You will know the object is selected by the colored edge and grips or white boxes at the corners and edges. 
  • In the top horizontal edit bar set the Opacity by moving the slider by clicking the triangle or entering the numeric percentage. 

Setting Up and Using Layers - Using layers is an essential aspect of most graphic software. Layers organizes information in groups similar to stacks of trace paper. By mastering the layers tool you will control your information by locking and turning of objects and groups of objects. It is often better to create information on a variety of layers and then turn them off and on as needed rather than creating and deleting information. 

  • Check to see if the Layers window is visible. (If the Layers window is not visible choose the Window menu and select Layers. 
  • Make three layers by clicking on the Create new Layer button in the bottom of the Layers window.(The icon that looks like a piece of paper with the bottom left edge folded.) 
    • Underlay (for your sketch information as created in step 2)
    • Construction Lines (for guide lines and underlying geometry) 
    • Objects (Design shapes that follow underlays and construction lines)
  • Study the Layers window and become familiar with the following features.
    • View Layer "Eyeball" - turns the layer on and off. You may no longer want or need to see the underlay layer or construction lines in the future, just toggle the layer view on and off to view the information. Better to keep information hidden on layers than to permanently delete. 
    • Lock - Locks the layer information so it can not be selected or changed.(It is a good idea to lock your underlay so not to accidentally move or change it when working on other layers)
    • Layer Name can be set to with words to organize your project 
    • Color of the layer corresponds to the color of the outline on the object when selected.
    • Note that you can move objects between layers. Click on the object with the selection tool (you will see that it has an outline with the incorrect layer color, then in the layers window drag the colored dot on the right side of the layer name to the desired layer. You should see the object outline change to the correct layer color.  

Making Basic Shapes - Objects can be made of basic closed forms such as circles, squares and rectangles, and lines. Lines can be opened or closed and be straight or curved, simple or complex.

  • In the tool bar found on the left side of Illustrator become familiar with the Line and Rectangle Tools. (We will use the pen tool later to make complex curves.) By holding the mouse button down over the line and rectangle tool you will reveal more tools. Experiment with making a variety of shapes with the line and rectangle tools. 
    • Make a circle by selecting the ellipse tool and holding the shift key down. 
    • Make a square by selecting the rectangle tool and holding the shift key down. 
    • Use the line tool to make open and closed shapes. 
    • Note that you can edit the size of a selected shape in the object settings bar at the top of Illustrator. 
  • Master the Stroke and Fill Tools located at the bottom of the tool bar on the left. Or by selecting an object and using the fill and stroke tools at in the object setting bar at the top of illustrator. 
    • Stroke is the outline of a shape. It can be given an independent thickness (called stroke in Illustrator, and color) You can turn the stroke off an on. You can control the stroke by settings by selection the object then changing the line thickness in measured in points and color in the object settings bar at the top of Illustrator.
    • Fill is the color (or texture) filling an object or shape. Fill is most useful on closed shapes. You can turn fill on and off. 
    • If you have an object with fill, such as a black square best form is just to use a black fill with no stroke. Objects without fill are transparent, and you can create objects without fill and stroke, these will disappear when not selected. 

Selecting Objects - Illustrator has two selection tools, the group (black arrow) and direct (white arrow) selection tools. 

  • Group Selection Tool - Stretch, Scale, and Reposition (move) Objects. 
  • Direct Selection Tool - Reshape the objects. By clicking once on the object then once on the grip you can move grips independently and reshape the object. The Direct Selection tool is essential to master in conduction with the pen tool below. 

Grids, Rulers, Snaps, Guides and Smart Guides - Grids, rulers, guides, and smart guides are tools found under the view menu and are essential to master to control the layout of your design. By using these tools well you will develop precision and accuracy in your work. 

  • Grids and Snaps are a tool that makes a reference "graph paper" grid that you can use to make accurate shapes. (Go to the View menu and select show grid.) To become super accurate go to the View menu and turn on Snap to Grid. Now you an only click on the intersection of the gridlines to make shapes. (This can be very helpful if you need to create accurate shapes that have sizes that correspond to your grid, and be a nuisance if you need to make shapes that do not correspond to your grid. Turn you grid on and off as necessary to make and position shapes with accuracy and precision. (To change the grid size go to Illustrator, Preferences, and select Guides and Grid and change the Gridlines and Subdivisions to your desired "graph paper" size.)
  • Rulers is a tool that places and X and Y axis ruler in Illustrator. Go to the View menu and select Rulers -. Show Rulers. 
  • Guides are non printable lines to assist in making alignment and for building accuracy. Create guides by clicking and holding the mouse button down in the ruler and dragging the guide down into the workspace. Drag guides back to the ruler to make them disappear. 
  • Smart Guides - One of the most powerful features to build accuracy in your work is the Smart Guide tool. Go to the View menu and select Smart Guides (If a check mark is beside the Smart Guide selection they are already on.) This is a powerful tool that will show you how to reposition object in relation to other objects created in your work. As you move an object you will see that lines and information will appear (edges, intersections, centers, etc.. ) to show when objects are in alignment. Use as necessary to build precision in your work. 

Pan and Zoom 

  • Zoom - Use the Command and + (plus) keys to zoom in and the Command and - (minus) keys to zoom out. 
  • Pan - Use the slider bars at the bottom and right side of Illustrator to pan through your project. 

Move, Rotate, Scale, and Delete

  • Move - Use the selection tools to move your objects. (See selection tools above.) 
  • Rotate - Click on the object (or group of objects to rotate) then click on the rotate tool to free form rotate. If you want to enter a specific value to rotate. Select the object and then double click the rotation tool to access the rotation window and enter the degree of rotation.
  •  Scale tool can be used to enter specific scale units to increase or decrease the size of your object. Select the object then double click the scale tool to access the scale window to enter the scale value.  
  • Delete objects and information by selecting the information and then electing the delete key on your keyboard. 

Pen Tool - To make shapes with complex curves use the Pen tool. The Pen tool require practice to master. These instructions assume that you have a sketch curve underlay to work from. This is a process of roughing out then refining your curves by editing the curve grips. The goal is to make the curve with the minimum number of clicks or control points. 

  • Create an underlay with a curved, or set of curved lines drawn by hand. 
  • In your construction line layer create a set of orthogonal lines that touch all of the apexes of your curved lines in your sketch. (Almost always you want to hold the shift key to keep the curve handlebars orthogonal.) 
  • You can make two two types of points with the Pent tool. Curves and corners. 
    • Corners are made by clicking once with your mouse button. (Makes sharps corners.) 
    • Curves are made when you hold the mouse button down and dragging. (Makes curves)
  • At the start point of your curved line make a corner by clicking the mouse button.
  • At each apex click and drag the mouse button while holding the shift key. (Remember that the shift key keeps the grips orthogonal. VERY IMPORTANT FOR GOOD ILLUSTRATOR FORM)
  • At the end point make a corner by clicking the mouse button.
  • EDIT Pent Tool Curves and Corners - Use the DIRECT SELECTION TOOL to select you curve click on the curve points to access the grips to edit your curves. Continue to keep your grip lines orthogonal.