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Book Description

Get to know your digital drawing board

Adobe Illustrator CC offers a vibrant tool for creating drawings and illustrations in a digital environment. It takes some practice to get a feel for the digital pens, pencils, paintbrushes, and erasers, though. Adobe Illustrator CC For Dummies offers the guidance you need to turn your ideas into real drawings.

Written by an Illustrator trainer and expert, this book walks those new to the tool through the basics of drawing, editing, and applying the unique tools found in this popular program. 

  • Create illustrations using simple shapes
  • Touch up images using pen, pencil, and brush tools
  • Import your illustrations into other graphic apps
  • Apply special effects and add type

This book is essential reading for new and beginning illustrators who are either adopting a digital tool for the first time, switching from an existing tool to Illustrator, or adding Illustrator know-how to existing Adobe knowledge.

Table of Contents

  1. Cover
  2. Introduction
    1. About This Book
    2. Foolish Assumptions
    3. Icons Used in This Book
    4. Beyond the Book
    5. Where to Go from Here
  3. Part 1: Creating, Navigating, and Saving Projects
    1. Chapter 1: Navigating Illustrator’s Interface
      1. Surveying the Illustrator Universe
      2. Launching Illustrator
      3. Using and Customizing Toolbars
      4. Accessing and Arranging Panels
      5. Using the Control Panel or the Properties Panel
    2. Chapter 2: Creating, Saving, Exporting, and Printing Files
      1. Creating Documents
      2. Deploying Artboards
      3. Exporting, Saving, and Printing
    3. Chapter 3: Placing and Tracing Artwork
      1. Placing Artwork
      2. Importing Sketches from Adobe Illustrator Draw
      3. Tracing Raster Images
    4. Chapter 4: Drawing Lines and Shapes
      1. Building Graphics with Basic Shapes
      2. Applying Shape Properties from the Control Panel
      3. Reshaping Shapes
      4. Building Complex Shapes
      5. Drawing Shapes with Perspective
      6. Applying Isometric Effects to Shapes
    5. Chapter 5: Selecting and Arranging Objects
      1. Selecting in Illustrator
      2. Grouping and Isolating Objects
      3. Aligning and Spacing Objects
      4. Arranging Objects Front-to-Back
    6. Chapter 6: Organizing Documents with Layers
      1. Using a Template Layer
      2. Organizing and Arranging Objects in Layers
      3. Organizing Content within and between Layers
      4. Styling with Layers
      5. Applying Layers in Real-World Challenges
  4. Part 2: Drawing and Editing Paths
    1. Chapter 7: Wielding the Pen and Anchor Point Tools
      1. Editing Anchors
      2. Editing Curves with the Anchor Point Tool
      3. Drawing with the Pen Tool
    2. Chapter 8: Creating Artwork with the Pencil, Curvature, and Blob Tools
      1. Drawing with the Pencil Tool
      2. Ironing Out Wrinkles with the Smooth Tool
      3. Drawing and Editing Curves with the Curvature Tool
      4. Drawing Filled Paths with the Blob Brush Tool
      5. Erasing with the Eraser Tool
      6. Creating Shapes with the Shaper and Shape Builder Tools
      7. Animating with Puppet Warp
      8. Fine-Tuning beyond Drawing Tools
    3. Chapter 9: Painting with Brushes
      1. Unleashing Your Creativity with Brushes
      2. Painting with the Paintbrush
      3. Applying Brushes to Paths
      4. Creating DIY Brushes
      5. Using Brushes with a Drawing Tablet
    4. Chapter 10: Improving Workflow with Symbols
      1. Rationalizing Workflow with Symbols
      2. Getting Creative with Dynamic Symbols
      3. Spraying Symbols
  5. Part 3: Applying Color, Patterns, and Effects
    1. Chapter 11: Designing in Living Color
      1. Understanding Print versus Screen Color
      2. Managing the Color of Strokes and Fills
      3. Using Color Guides and Color Themes
      4. Managing Color Swatches
      5. Creating and Merging Live Paint Groups
    2. Chapter 12: Bringing Graphics to Life with Gradients, Blends, and Transparency
      1. Merging Colors with Gradients
      2. Blending for Beauty and Productivity
      3. Applying Transparency
    3. Chapter 13: Designing with Patterns
      1. Applying Patterns
      2. Creating Your Own Patterns
      3. Transforming Patterns
      4. Defining Pattern Options
    4. Chapter 14: Styling with Effects
      1. Navigating the Universe of Effects
      2. Choosing and Applying Effects
      3. Managing Effects
      4. Generating 3D Effects and Mapping Artwork
  6. Part 4: Designing with Type
    1. Chapter 15: Formatting Area Type
      1. Editing Area Type in Illustrator
      2. Styling Area Type
      3. Formatting Paragraphs
      4. Laying Out Area Type in Columns
      5. Shaping Area Type
      6. Flowing Type from Box to Box
      7. Converting Area Type to Point Type and Vice Versa
    2. Chapter 16: Getting Artistic with Point Type
      1. Understanding How Point Type Works
      2. Creating and Editing Point Type
      3. Contorting Point Type
      4. Interactive Styling with the Touch Type Tool
      5. Placing Type on Paths
      6. Sharing Fonts and Outlining Type
  7. Part 5: Handing off Graphics for Print and Screen Design
    1. Chapter 17: Exporting Raster Files
      1. Exporting in a Hurry
      2. Maximizing Illustrator’s Export Options
      3. Navigating Illustrator’s Raster Output Options
      4. Exporting to Specific Raster Formats
      5. Relying on Your Team
    2. Chapter 18: Unleashing the Power of SVGs
      1. Understanding the Role of Scalable Vector Graphics
      2. Preparing Artwork for SVG Output
      3. Applying Transparency and Effects to SVGs
      4. Creating SVGs with Scalable, Searchable Type
      5. Exporting or Saving SVGs
  8. Part 6: The Part of Tens
    1. Chapter 19: Top Ten Illustrator Resources
      1. This Book’s Unofficial Website
      2. Adobe Illustrator Official Documentation
      3. Using Illustrator to Create SVG for the Web
      4. A Unique Resource for Artistic Fashion Designers
      5. Going Crazy with Illustrator
      6. Style Tile Templates
      7. Follow Jean-Claude Tremblay @jctremblay
      8. Technical Drawing in Illustrator
      9. Online Tutorials from Adobe
      10. Illustrator CC Digital Classroom
    2. Chapter 20: Top Ten Productivity Tips
      1. Generate Layers
      2. Use Shapes for Guides
      3. Generate Guides from Rulers
      4. Place Multiple Files
      5. Import Photoshop Files
      6. Edit Placed Objects
      7. Import Word Files
      8. Crop a Placed Image
      9. Play Actions
      10. Use Shortcut Keys
  9. Index
  10. About the Author
  11. Connect with Dummies
  12. End User License Agreement
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