Using default Illustrator symbol libraries

You’ll start by adding to your project a symbol from one of the many symbol libraries that come with Illustrator.

1. Select the Selection tool () in the toolbar and click in the larger artboard to make it the active artboard.

2. Choose View > Fit Artboard In Window to fit the active artboard in the Document window.

3. Click the Hide Smart Guides button in the Properties panel to turn the Smart Guides off temporarily.

   

   Tip

   You can also choose View > Smart Guides to turn them off.

4. Open the Symbols panel (Window > Symbols) if it isn’t already.

5. Click the Symbol Libraries Menu button () at the bottom of the panel, and choose Tiki from the menu.

   

   The Tiki library opens as a free-floating panel. The symbols in this library that comes with Illustrator are not part of the file that you are working on, but you can import any of the symbols into the document and use them in the artwork.

   Tip

   If you want to see the symbol names along with the symbol pictures, click the Symbols panel menu () and then choose Small List View or Large List View.

6. Move the pointer over the symbols in the Tiki panel to see their names as tool tips. Click the symbol named “Fish” to add it to the Symbols panel.

   

   When you add symbols to the Symbols panel, they are saved with the active document only.

7. Close the Tiki panel.

8. With the Selection tool () selected, drag the Fish symbol from the Symbols panel onto the artboard into the approximate center of the artboard. Do this a total of two times to create two instances of the fish next to each other.

   Tip

   You can also copy a symbol instance on the artboard and paste as many as you need. This is the same as dragging a symbol instance out of the Symbols panel onto the artboard.

   

   Each time you drag a symbol like the fish onto the artboard, an instance of the original symbol is created. Next you’ll resize one of the symbol instances.

   Note

   Although you can transform symbol instances in many ways, specific properties of instances from static symbols like the fish cannot be edited. For example, the fill color is locked because it is controlled by the original symbol in the Symbols panel.

9. With one of the Fish symbol instances selected, Shift-drag the upper-right bounding point toward the center to make it a little smaller while also constraining its proportions. Release the mouse button and then the key.

   A symbol instance is treated like a group of objects and can have only certain transformation and appearance properties changed (scale, rotate, move, transparency, and more). You cannot edit the individual artwork that makes up an instance without breaking the link to the original symbol. With the symbol instance still selected on the artboard, notice that, in the Properties panel, you see “Symbol (Static)” and symbol-related options.

   

10. With the same fish instance still selected, make a copy of it by pressing Option (macOS) or Alt (Windows) and dragging a copy. Release the mouse button and then the key.

    Creating a copy of an instance is the same thing as dragging an instance of a symbol from the Symbols panel.

    

11. To resize the new fish instance, Shift-drag a corner to make it smaller. Release the mouse button and then the key.

    You may want to zoom in to the fish to make it easier to scale and position them.

    

12. Drag all three fish instances into position, as in the following figure.

    

13. Choose Select > Deselect, and then choose File > Save.

Editing a symbol

In this next section, you’ll edit the original Fish symbol, and all instances in the document will be updated. There are several ways to edit a symbol, and in this section you will focus on one method.

1. With the Selection tool () selected, double-click any of the Fish symbol instances on the artboard. A warning dialog box appears, stating that you are about to edit the original symbol and that all instances will update. Click OK.

   Tip

   There are a lot of ways to edit a symbol. You can select the symbol instance on the artboard and then click the Edit Symbol button in the Properties panel, or double-click a symbol thumbnail in the Symbols panel.

   

   This takes you into symbol editing mode, so you can’t edit any other objects on the page. The Fish symbol instance you double-clicked will show as the size of the original symbol artwork. That’s because in symbol editing mode, you are looking at the original symbol artwork rather than the transformed instance (if you double-clicked one that was resized). You can now edit the artwork that makes up the symbol.

2. Select the Zoom tool (), and drag across the fish to zoom in closely.

3. Select the Direct Selection tool (), and click to select the light green head of the fish. See the first part of the following figure.

4. Click the Fill color box in the Swatches panel, and select the Color Mixer (). Press the Shift key and drag the Cyan (C) slider to the right a little to change all of the CMYK colors proportionally.

   

5. Double-click away from the symbol content, or click the Exit Symbol Editing Mode button () in the upper-left corner of the Document window, until you exit symbol editing mode so that you can edit the rest of the content.

   Notice that all of the Fish symbol instances on the artboard have been changed.

   

Working with dynamic symbols

As you just saw, editing a symbol updates all of the instances in your document. Symbols can also be dynamic, which means you can change specific appearance properties of individual instances using the Direct Selection tool () without editing the original symbol. In this section, you’ll make the Fish symbol dynamic, and then you’ll edit each instance separately.

1. In the Symbols panel, select the Fish symbol thumbnail, if it’s not already selected. Click the Symbol Options button () at the bottom of the Symbols panel.

2. In the Symbol Options dialog box, select Dynamic Symbol, and click OK. The symbol and its instances are now dynamic.

   

   You can tell if a symbol is dynamic by looking at the thumbnail in the Symbols panel. If there is a small plus sign (+) in the lower-right corner of the thumbnail, it is a dynamic symbol.

3. With the Direct Selection tool () selected, click within the fish head of the smallest fish instance. See the following figure.

   With part of the symbol instance selected, notice the words “Symbol (Dynamic)” at the top of the Properties panel, telling you it’s a dynamic symbol.

4. Click the Fill box in the Properties panel. With the Swatches option () selected, change the fill color to another color in the Swatches panel.

   

   One fish now looks a little different from the others. Know that if you were to edit the original symbol, like you did previously, all symbol instances would still update, but that blue-green part of the smallest fish instance would remain different.

Creating a symbol

Illustrator also lets you create and save symbols. You can make symbols from objects, including paths, compound paths, text, embedded (not linked) raster images, mesh objects, and groups of objects. Symbols can even include active objects, such as brush strokes, blends, effects, or other symbol instances. Next, you’ll create a symbol from existing artwork.

1. Choose 2 Symbol Artwork from the Artboard Navigation menu in the Status bar below the Document window.

2. With the Selection tool () selected, click the flower on the artboard to select it.

3. Click the New Symbol button () at the bottom of the Symbols panel to make a symbol from the selected artwork.

   

4. In the Symbol Options dialog box that opens, change the name to Flower. Ensure that Dynamic Symbol is selected, just in case you want to edit the appearance of one of the instances later. Click OK to create the symbol.

   

   Tip

   You can drag the symbol thumbnails in the Symbols panel to change their ordering. Reordering symbols in the Symbols panel has no effect on the artwork. It is simply a way to organize your symbols.

   In the Symbol Options dialog box, you’ll see a note explaining no difference between a movie clip and a graphic type in Illustrator. If you don’t plan on exporting this content to Adobe Animate, you don’t need to worry about choosing an export type. After creating the symbol, the flower artwork on the artboard becomes an instance of the Flower symbol, and the symbol appears in the Symbols panel.

   Now you’ll create another symbol by dragging artwork into the Symbols panel.

5. Drag the surfboard artwork into a blank area of the Symbols panel. In the Symbol Options dialog box, change the name to Surfboard and click OK.

   

6. Choose 1 T-Shirt from the Artboard menu in the Status bar below the Document window.

7. Drag the Flower symbol from the Symbols panel onto the artboard four times, and position the instances around the fish, as you see in the following figure.

   

8. Resize and rotate each of the flower instances on the artboard using the Selection tool, making them different sizes. Make sure to press the Shift key to constrain the proportions as you scale.

   

9. Choose Select > Deselect and then choose File > Save.

Breaking a link to a symbol

At times you will need to edit a specific instance on the artboard in ways that require you to break the link between the original symbol artwork and an instance. As you’ve learned, you can make specific changes, such as scaling, opacity, and flipping, to a symbol instance, and saving the symbol as dynamic only lets you edit certain appearance attributes using the Direct Selection tool. When you break the link between a symbol and an instance, that instance will no longer update if the symbol is edited.

Next, you’ll see how to break the link to a symbol instance so you can make a change to just that one.

1. Turn on the Smart Guides by choosing View > Smart Guides.

   Tip

   You can also break the link to a symbol instance by selecting the symbol instance on the artboard and then clicking the Break Link To Symbol button () at the bottom of the Symbols panel.

2. With the Selection tool () selected, drag three copies of the Surfboard symbol on top of the other artwork already on the artboard. Arrange them as you see in the following figure.

3. Select each symbol instance and resize it, making the center artboard taller than the other two. I wound up making all three larger. Don’t forget to Shift-drag a corner in order to resize proportionally.

4. Select the center surfboard, and in the Properties panel, click the Break Link button.

   

   This surfboard is now a group of paths, and you’ll see “Group” at the top of the Properties panel. You should be able to edit the artwork directly now. This content will no longer update if the Surfboard symbol is edited.

5. Select the Zoom tool (), and drag across the top of the selected surfboard artwork on the artboard to zoom in.

6. Choose Select > Deselect.

7. Select the Direct Selection tool, and drag across the top of the middle surfboard. Move the pointer over the anchor points at the top of the surfboard and when you see the word “anchor,” drag one of them down a little to reshape the top.

   

8. Choose Select > Deselect.

   Now you’ll arrange the surfboards behind the flowers and fish.

9. Select the Selection tool () and Shift-click all three of the surfboards to select them all. Choose Object > Arrange > Send To Back.

10. Click the Group button in the Properties panel to group them together.

Replacing symbols

You can easily replace a symbol instance in the document with another symbol. You can also replace a symbol like a fish if you made changes to the dynamic symbol instance. That way, the symbol instance matches the original symbol artwork again. Next you’ll replace one of the Fish symbol instances.

1. With the Selection tool (), select the smallest Fish symbol instance, the one whose head you recolored. You might need to zoom out or pan to see it.

   When you select a symbol instance, you can tell which symbol it came from because the symbol for the selected instance is highlighted in the Symbols panel.

2. In the Properties panel, click the arrow to the right of the Replace Symbol field to open a panel showing the symbols in the Symbols panel. Click the Flower symbol in the panel.

   

   If the original symbol instance you are replacing had a transformation applied, such as a rotation, the symbol instance replacing it would have the same transformations applied.

3. With the Flower symbol instance still selected on the artboard, in the Properties panel click the arrow to the right of the Replace Symbol field and click the Fish symbol in the panel.

   Note

   After making edits to a dynamic symbol instance with the Direct Selection tool, you can reselect the entire instance with the Selection tool and click the Reset button in the Properties panel to reset the appearance to the same as the original symbol.

   

   The change you made to the Fish symbol instance earlier (changing the color of the head) is gone, and the original Fish symbol artwork replaces the flower.

4. Choose Select > Same > Symbol Instance.

   This is a great way to select all instances of a symbol in the document.

5. Click the Group button in the Properties panel to keep them together as a group.

6. Choose Select > Deselect, and close the Symbols panel group.

7. Choose File > Save.

Symbol layers

When you edit a symbol using any of the methods described, open the Layers panel, and you will see that the symbol has its own layering.

Similar to working with groups in Isolation mode, you see the layers associated with that symbol only, not the document’s layers. In the Layers panel, you can rename, add, delete, show/hide, and reorder content for a symbol.

Adding assets to a Creative Cloud library

The first thing you’ll learn about is how to work with the Libraries panel (Window > Libraries) in Illustrator and add assets to a Creative Cloud library. You’ll open an existing document in Illustrator and capture assets from it.

1. Choose File > Open. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the Lessons > Lesson14 folder, and select the Sample.ai file on your hard disk. Click Open.

   Note

   The Missing Fonts dialog box may appear. You need an internet connection to activate the fonts. The activation process may take a few minutes. Click Activate Fonts to activate all the missing fonts. After they are activated and you see the message stating that there are no more missing fonts, click Close. If a dialog box referring to auto-activation appears, click Skip. If you have an issue with activation, you can go to Help (Help > Illustrator Help) and search for “Find missing fonts.”

2. Choose View > Fit Artboard In Window.

   Using this document, you will capture artwork, text, and colors to be used in the TShirt.ai document.

   Note

   In earlier versions of Illustrator, the default library was named “My Library.” If you don’t see a library named “Your Library,” feel free to use another library or create a new library by clicking + Create New Library and naming it.

3. Choose Window > Libraries, or click the Libraries panel tab to open the Libraries panel.

   

4. In the Libraries panel, click Your Library (or My Library if you see it) to open the default library, if it isn’t already open.

   To start you have one library to work with, called “Your Library.” You can add your design assets to this default library and you can create more libraries—maybe to save assets for specific clients or projects.

5. Choose Select > Deselect, if anything is selected.

6. Select the Selection tool (), and click the text object that contains the text “PLAY ZONE.” Drag the text into the Libraries panel. When a plus sign (+)appears in the panel, release to save the text object in the default library. If you see a missing profile warning dialog box, click OK.

   

   The text object is now saved in the currently selected library and is still editable as text—retaining the text formatting as well. As you save assets and formatting in the Libraries panel, the content is organized by asset type.

7. To change the name of the saved text object, double-click the name “Text 1” in the Libraries panel and change it to SURF ZONE. Press Enter or Return to accept the name change. That name will make more sense when you update the text to “SURF ZONE” later in the lesson.

   Note

   Your library content may be organized in groups, like you see in the figures, or not.

   

   You can change the names of other assets like graphics, colors, character styles, and paragraph styles saved in the Libraries panel as well. In the case of character and paragraph styles you save, you can also move the pointer over the asset and see a tool tip that shows the saved formatting.

8. With the PLAY ZONE text still selected on the artboard, click the plus sign (+) at the bottom of the Libraries panel, and choose Text Fill Color from the menu to save the blue color.

   

9. Click the T-shirt artwork to select it. Drag the selected artwork into the Libraries panel. When a plus sign (+) and a name (such as “Artwork 1”) appear, release the mouse button to add the artwork as a graphic.

   

   The assets you store as graphics in a Creative Cloud library remain editable vectors wherever you use the graphic.

10. Click the shape on the artboard above the PLAY ZONE text. You’ll simply copy this artwork since you will use it to mask or hide parts of the surfboards. Choose Edit > Copy.

    

11. Choose File > Close to close the Sample.ai file and return to the TShirt.ai file. Don’t save the file if asked.

    Notice that even with a different document open, the Libraries panel still shows those assets in the library. The libraries and their assets are available no matter which document is open in Illustrator.

    

12. Choose Edit > Paste to paste the shape. Drag it to the right of the surfboards.

    

Using library assets

Now that you have some assets in the Libraries panel, once those assets are synced with your Creative Cloud account, they will be available to other applications and apps that support libraries, as long as you are signed in with the same Creative Cloud account. Next you’ll use some of those assets in the TShirt.ai file.

1. While still on the 1 T-Shirt artboard, choose View > Fit Artboard In Window.

2. Drag the SURF ZONE asset from the Libraries panel onto the artboard.

   Tip

   To apply a color or style saved in the Libraries panel, select artwork or text and click the library item to apply it. When it comes to text styles in the Libraries panel, if you apply them to text in a document, a style of the same name and formatting will appear in the Paragraph Styles panel or Character Styles panel (depending on which you selected in the Libraries panel).

   Tip

   Text saved in a Creative Cloud library can be dragged onto existing text and the text from the library will be added to the text object.

   Tip

   If you right-click text saved in a library, you can choose to place the text with formatting (styles) or without.

   

3. Click to place the text.

   

4. With the Type tool selected, click in the “PLAY ZONE” text, select the word “PLAY,” and type SURF.

5. Select the Selection tool (), and drag the T-shirt graphic asset from the Libraries panel onto the artboard. You will need to click the artboard after dragging to place it. Don’t worry about position for now.

   

6. Choose Select > Deselect.

Updating a library asset

When you drag a graphic from your Creative Cloud library to an Illustrator project, it is automatically placed as a linked asset. You can tell that an asset you dragged from a library is linked by the X that appears on the object bounding box when it’s selected in the document. If you make a change to a library asset, the linked instances will update in your projects. Next you’ll see how to update the asset.

1. In the Libraries panel, double-click the T-shirt asset thumbnail. The artwork will appear in a new, temporary document.

   Tip

   You can also edit a linked library asset like the T-shirt by clicking Edit Original () at the bottom of the Links panel.

   

2. With the Selection tool () selected, click to select the T-shirt shape. In the Properties panel, change the stroke color to a lighter gray with the tool tip “C=0 M=0 Y=0 K=40.”

   

3. Choose File > Save, and then choose File > Close.

   In the Libraries panel, the graphic thumbnail should update to reflect the appearance change you made. Back in the TShirt.ai document, the T-shirt graphic on the artboard should have updated. If it hasn’t, with the T-shirt artwork still selected on the artboard, click the text “Linked File” at the top of the Properties panel. In the Links panel that shows, with the T-shirt asset row selected, click the Update Link button () at the bottom of the panel.`

4. Click the T-shirt artwork. To embed the graphic, click the Properties panel tab to see the panel again. Click the Embed button in the Quick Actions section of the panel.

   The asset is no longer linked to the library item and will not update if the library item is updated.

   

   That also means the artwork is now editable in the TShirt.ai document. Libraries panel artwork that is embedded after it has been placed will typically have a clipping mask applied. Next you’ll move and scale the artwork.

5. With the Selection tool () selected and the T-shirt artwork still selected, click the Arrange button in the Properties panel and choose Send To Back. The artwork is now behind all other content. Drag it into the approximate center of the artboard.

6. To lock the T-shirt artwork, press Command+2 (macOS) or Ctrl+2 (Windows).

7. Click the shape you pasted into the document and drag it on top of the surfboards. Shift-drag a corner to make it bigger; then release the mouse button and key when finished. See the figure for approximate position and size.

   

   The shape will be used as a mask to hide parts of the surfboards. You’ll learn more about creating and editing masks in Lesson 15.

8. With the shape selected, Shift-click the artwork in the surfboard group.

9. Choose Object > Clipping Mask > Make.

   

   The surfboard artwork that’s outside of the shape is now hidden.

10. To arrange the surfboard group behind the fish and flowers, click the Arrange button in the Properties panel and choose Send To Back. This will put the artwork behind the T-shirt. Then click the Arrange button and choose Bring Forward so it’s on top of the T-shirt.

11. Drag across the flowers, fish, and surfboards to select it all. You might need to arrange them like you see in the following figure. Click the Group button in the Properties panel to group it.

    

    Tip

    You may also want to adjust text formatting like leading, font size, and more in the Properties panel.

12. Drag that new group into position, along with the text. You may want to enlarge the text in the Properties panel. If you do make it larger, you will need to resize the text area so all of the text shows.

13. Choose Select > Deselect.

14. Choose File > Save, and then choose File > Close.