Strokes act and work differently than fills. Remember these basic rules when using strokes:

The stroke charts in Figures 10.1 through 10.3 show how some of the basic stroke-dash patterns look with various options chosen, at different weights, and in different combinations. The great advantage of these charts is that you can find a style similar to the one you want and then modify it to suit your situation. The charts should help you determine when to use certain types of stroke patterns because some patterns work better than others with curves and corners. All the paths in the charts were taken from an original shape that included a straight segment, a corner, and a curve.

The first chart, shown in Figure 10.1, consists of thirty-two 3-point stroke paths that have a variety of dash patterns and end and join attributes. The second chart, shown in Figure 10.2, shows eighteen 10-point stroke paths with similar attributes. These charts show stroke effects with only one path. The area in the middle of each path in the charts describes the path.

The third chart, shown in Figure 10.3, contains paths that have been copied on top of the original by using the Appearance panel. To copy the path this way, select the path and then choose Add New Stroke from the Appearance panel's popup menu. The paths are listed in the order that they were created. The first path is described at the bottom of the list. The first path is duplicated in the Appearance panel by choosing Add New Stroke from the popup menu and then given the paint style attributes of the item in the list. In the case of blended paths (the fourth one down in the first row of Figure 10.3), you need to copy the original line and then choose Edit

Tip

To create some really great effects, such as a pearl necklace, you need to blend the cVsaUä paths. You can blend paths from one to another. Simply select the paths and then choose Object

When you create a stroke pattern, the original path is frequently selected in the Appearance panel and then copied on top of the original by using the Appearance panel's popup menu (select the path and then choose Add New Stroke) several times.

Figure 10.1. Thirty-two 3-point stroke paths

Figure 10.2. Eighteen 10-point stroke paths

Figure 10.3. Paths that have been copied on top of the original paths

Do you need to create a railroad track or a racetrack quickly? Creating the curvy parallel lines to make your illustration realistic is easier than you think. The following steps describe how to create a specialty stroke that looks like parallel strokes:

This example is just the tip of the iceberg in creating custom strokes. Not only can you have paths that overlap, but you also can give the stroke on each path different dash patterns, joins, and caps. You can even add fills to certain paths to make the stroke different on both sides of the path. And if all that isn't enough, you can use Outline Path to outline strokes.

Knowing the secrets doesn't let you in on the really good stuff though. Read on to learn how to apply these techniques to achieve truly amazing effects with strokes.

Figure 10.4. The original 42-point stroke at the top and the final parallel stroke that results from overlaying new, smaller, contrasting strokes over existing ones

Creating a Filmstrip Stroke

The stroke examples shown earlier in this chapter can help you find a specific style, which you can then modify for your situation. As an example, the second stroke from the top in the right column in Figure 10.3 is a stroke that looks like filmstrip. The following steps describe how to create this filmstrip stroke, which is a basic stroke that produces a stunning effect.

1. Draw a wavy path with the Pen tool. For more on using the Pen tool, see Chapter 4.

2. Change the stroke of the path to 18-point Black and the fill to None.

3. Choose Add New Stroke from the Appearance panel's popup menu. Change the new stroke to 16-point White and then use a dash pattern of Dash 1, Gap 2.

4. Choose Add New Stroke from the Appearance panel's popup menu again. Change the new stroke to 14-point Black.

5. Choose Add New Stroke from the Appearance panel's popup menu once more. Change the new stroke to 50% Black, 12 points, with a dash pattern of Dash 20, Gap 10.

The figure that follows shows the final filmstrip, and the Appearance panel displays the list of strokes. You can use this procedure to create any of the strokes in Figure 10.3 or substitute the values that are listed in the chart to create custom strokes.

Creating cinematic celluloid

Several effects that you can create with paths have a traveling theme, mainly because a path starts somewhere and finishes somewhere else. Railroad tracks, roads, highways, trails, and rivers all have a tendency to neatly conform to stroke effects with paths.

Creating a railroad track with a gradient

One of the trickiest traveling paths to create is a railroad track. The practical point of creating this railroad track is to illustrate how to change a stroke into a gradient. As mentioned at the beginning of this chapter, you can do this only if you convert your stroke into an outline. Then, you can fill it with the gradient of your choosing. To get the real railroad track look, some innovative thinking is necessary, as described in the following steps:

1. Draw a line with the Pen tool to represent the railroad track. Set the fill to None.

2. Give the path a desired stroke weight. This example uses a stroke weight of 60 points, as shown in Figure 10.5.

   

   Figure 10.5. Begin by drawing a 60-point line with no fill.

3. Copy the path by choosing Edit

   

4. Choose Edit

   

5. Give the inside path a desired stroke weight. The example uses a stroke weight of 40 points, which is the inner section of the train track.

6. Select both paths by dragging a marquee around them with the Selection tool and then choose Object

   

7. Fill the paths with a metallic gradient, as shown in Figure 10.6. For more on applying gradients, see Chapter 7.

8. Select both paths and then click the Exclude overlapping shape areas button in the Pathfinder panel. This command subtracts the inner section of the track from the two outer sections. Now you have two metal rails, as shown in Figure 10.7.

9. Choose Edit

   

10. Give the new path a stroke weight that you want. This example uses a stroke weight of 80 points. This part becomes the wooden railroad ties that support the rails.

11. Choose Object

    

12. Choose Edit

    

13. Give the stroke the same color as the background, give it a weight of 50, and give it a dash pattern of Dash 20, Gap 10. The gaps are the see-through areas, showing the wood-filled path below them. Figure 10.9 shows the final result.

Outline Stroke is often used on this type of stroke design because strokes can't have gradient fills. The reason that the railroad ties were not given a dash pattern before Outline Path was applied is that Outline Path doesn't work with dash patterns.

Figure 10.6. Use the Pathfinder panel to create the rails.

Figure 10.7. Fill both paths with a metallic gradient.

Figure 10.8. Add the stroke for the ties.

Figure 10.9. The final railroad track looks pretty realistic.

Creating a highway

Figure 10.10 shows a stroke design that I discovered a few years back while I was playing with Illustrator. It has the makings of a cute parlor magic trick that you can use to impress your friends. Back when you had to work in Artwork mode — that is, before Illustrator 5.0 — creating designs with strokes was much more difficult. Artists couldn't see what they were drawing on-screen, so they had to envision it in their minds. Editing dashes and weights is almost a pleasure now that you can use the Stroke panel and undo multiple changes.

Follow these steps to create a four-lane highway by drawing just one path:

1. Use the Pen tool to draw a slightly wavy path from the left side of the Artboard to the right.

2. Change the Path to a fill of None and then create a 400-point stroke in green. This path is the grass next to the highway.

3. Choose Add New Stroke from the Appearance panel's popup menu. Change the paint style of the stroke to 25% Cyan, 25% Yellow, and 85% Black, with a weight of 240 points. This path creates the shoulders on the highway. Remember to double-click the stroke color picker to display the Color Picker dialog box and to use the Stroke panel to set the stroke width.

4. Choose Add New Stroke from the Appearance panel's popup menu. Change the paint style to 5% Cyan and 10% Black, with a weight of 165 points. This path creates the white lines at the edges of the shoulders.

5. Choose Add New Stroke from the Appearance panel's popup menu. Change the paint style to 15% Cyan, 10% Yellow, and 50% Black, with a weight of 160 points. This path is the highway's road surface.

6. To create the dashed white lines for the lanes, choose Add New Stroke from the Appearance panel's popup menu. Change the paint style to 5% Cyan and 10% Black, with a weight of 85 points, a dash of 20, and a gap of 20.

7. Choose Add New Stroke from the Appearance panel's popup menu. Change the paint style to 15% Cyan, 10% Yellow, and 50% Black, with a weight of 80 points. Deselect the Dashed line check box. This path is the inner part of the highway's road surface.

8. To create the two yellow lines, choose Add New Stroke from the Appearance panel's popup menu. Change the paint style to 15% Cyan, 20% Magenta, and 100% Yellow, with a weight of 8 points.

9. Choose Add New Stroke from the Appearance panel's popup menu. Change the paint style to 15% Cyan, 10% Yellow, and 50% Black, with a weight of 3 points. This path is the piece of highway that divides the yellow lines.

Figure 10.10. The final highway design that results from this exercise

A few patterns are available at all times in Illustrator. You can open other libraries from the Swatch Libraries submenu of the Window menu. Under the Swatch Libraries submenu, you have a variety of libraries from which to choose. The last option is Other Library. Through Other Library, you can bring in saved libraries as well as the sample libraries that ship with Illustrator. Figure 10.12 shows one of the sample pattern libraries.

To fill a path with a pattern, select that path, ensure the Fill icon is active, and click the corresponding pattern swatch in the Swatches panel. Illustrator fills the path with the pattern you select.

Although there are a few different default fill patterns, each one can take on a whole new perspective if you use the various transformation functions — move, rotate, scale, reflect, and skew — on them. The default patterns are stored in the Adobe Illustrator Startup file.

Figure 10.12. The Decorative_Classic pattern library is one of several sample libraries you can use in your Illustrator documents.

In addition to using the patterns provided with Illustrator, you can create custom patterns by following these steps:

Figure 10.13 also shows the artwork applied as the fill of another shape. Patterns can contain paths, symbols, and text but can't contain masks, gradients, placed images, or other patterns.

Figure 10.13. The final basic pattern tile (left) is used here as a fill pattern for a shape (right).

Any pattern tile you create can have the color background you specify simply by making a rectangle the size of the tile and placing it behind the objects in the pattern. When you create the pattern on top of the background rectangle, just select the entire background along with the pattern objects to create the pattern.

If you don't create a background rectangle, Illustrator uses the Bounding Box, as shown in Figure 10.14, of the selected objects to determine the size of the pattern tile. The Bounding Box is the smallest rectangle that completely encloses all selected objects and paths.

Figure 10.14. The Bounding Box is the smallest rectangle that completely encloses your selected objects and paths.

But what happens if you want the edge of the pattern tile to be somewhere inside the Bounding Box? Illustrator provides a way for you to create a Bounding Box to define pattern tiles that consist of objects that extend beyond the pattern edges. You create a Bounding Box by creating a rectangle with the Rectangle tool, fill it with None, and make it the backmost object in the pattern tile.

To make patterns seamless, you need to remember that objects that lie across the edge of the pattern border are cut into two sections, the outside section of which is invisible. You also need to ensure that lines that stretch from one edge of a pattern border to the other side connect to another line on the opposite edge of the boundary. The second problem is more difficult to deal with than the first one. To make a line match well from one side to the other, you usually have to move one or both of the ends up or down slightly.

For patterns to appear seamless, you can't make the edges of the pattern noticeable. Avoiding this sounds rather easy.

All you have to do is avoid placing any objects that touch the edges of a background rectangle. Well, that technique will do it, but when you use such a pattern, the lack of any objects along the borders of the tile can make the pattern look strange.

You can easily create symmetrical patterns in Illustrator. The key to creating them is to draw the Bounding Box after you create the rest of the objects, drawing outward from the center point of one of the objects.

When you create symmetrical patterns, the main difficulty is judging the space between the objects in the pattern. Objects can seem too close together or too far apart, especially in patterns that have different amounts of horizontal and vertical space between the objects. The solution is to use a square as the pattern tile boundary. This ensures that you have an equal amount of space from the center of one object to the center of the next object, both vertically and horizontally.

Using lines and grids for patterns is ideal because they're so easy to create. The key in both types of patterns is the size of the bounding rectangle. You use a grid to draw accurate floor plans or even for drawing perspective scenes. Line patterns are great for creating fences or any repeating linear paths.

Creating grid patterns

You can use a grid pattern to create graphing paper for a logo. Another good use of grid patterns is for grates or windows because you can use the transformation tools to add perspective. Creating grids is even easier than creating evenly spaced lines:

1. Create a rectangle that's the size of the grid holes. For example, for a ¼-inch grid, you make the rectangle ¼ inch × ¼ inch. For more on creating rectangles, see Chapter 5.

2. Apply a stroke to the object. Make the stroke the weight that you want the gridlines to be.

   Note

   For more on stroke weights and applying strokes, see Chapter 5.

3. Make that rectangle into a pattern. You make a pattern by adding your object to the Swatches panel. That's it. You now have a pattern grid that's as precise as possible.

Tip

If you want the space between gridlines to be an exact measurement, make the rectangle bigger by increasing the stroke weight. A ¼-inch grid (18 points) with 1-point gridlines requires a rectangle that's 17 points x 17 points.

Figure 10.15. You can easily make a pattern from straight lines and then apply it to any object.

Shading effects, such as hatched lines, are easily created with a diagonal-line and grid pattern. Figure 10.16 shows text shaded using a diagonal-line pattern rotated and scaled to show a shaded effect. You may find creating diagonal-line and grid patterns difficult if you try to make a rectangle; instead, draw a path at an angle and then use the rectangle with the path in it as a pattern. Joining diagonal lines at the edges of the pattern is nearly impossible.

Using this technique is also a great way to avoid making several patterns when you need line patterns that are set at different angles. Just make one horizontal line pattern and rotate the patterns within the paths.

Follow these steps for a better method of creating a shaded effect:

Figure 10.16. A line pattern applied to an object to create a shaded effect

Transparent patterns are great to use over the top of color, or gradients, or even other patterns. Instead of creating a bunch of specific patterns that use other patterns, use the transparent pattern option to layer over the top of other patterns. A great use of this option is to use a gradient and then use a line pattern to add a hatched shading look. To make the background of a pattern transparent, don't use a background rectangle. Only the objects in the pattern will be opaque.

You can use the simple line pattern with a transparent background alone or over another pattern. Figure 10.17 shows the same text from Figure 10.16 but with the transparent pattern over a gradient.

Figure 10.17. A transparent pattern applied over a gradient

One way to achieve interesting effects is by making a copy of the object behind the original. Follow these steps:

After you create patterns and place them within paths, you may find that they're too big or at the wrong angle for the path. Likewise, they may start in an awkward location. You can use the transformation tools and the Move command to resolve these problems.

To transform a pattern inside a path, follow these steps:

Any changes that you make in a transformation dialog box when only the Patterns check box is clicked affect only the pattern, not the outside shape.

Figure 10.18. The Rotate dialog box (along with the other transformation dialog boxes) lets you transform patterns independently of objects.

To move a pattern within a path, choose Object