Because I’ve been the product manager of Adobe Illustrator, people frequently approach me who, prior to attending a demo or workshop on Illustrator, either thought they had no need for the program or were under the impression it is used only for designing logos.
The truth is, Illustrator is essential to a broad range of professionals and hobbyists, and it has an incredible number of uses—so many that it’s hard to define exactly what Illustrator does. Features such as transparency, 3D, Live Trace, Live Paint, gradient mesh, live effects, professional typography, Flash animation, and now multiple artboards and the Blob Brush tool have all redefined how people use Illustrator every day. It’s certainly not the same program it was 10 years ago.
My goal with this book is threefold: to teach new users how to take advantage of the technology, to help experienced users learn about features that have changed, and to give power users the understanding they need to push themselves and produce reliable files. I love showing people all the cool and productive things you can do with the product, and nothing makes me happier than seeing a designer crank out a totally awesome design using Illustrator. Throughout this book, I share my thoughts, experiences, and knowledge about Illustrator so that you can have fun with it, sharpen your skills, and make it work for you.
Look all around you.
Billboards along the side of the highway, packages of cereal and other groceries at the supermarket, navigation icons on a website, posters announcing an exhibit at a museum, advertisements throughout magazines and newspapers, logos and artwork on T-shirts and sportswear, animated cartoons and feature films, user interfaces on your computer and cell phones...all of these and more are created with the help of Illustrator.
Illustrator is used by creative individuals who want to express their creativity in print, on the web, in video, and on wireless devices. The program is distributed in many different languages, and you can find millions of Illustrator users across the globe. Of course, with such a diverse user base, Illustrator is used and applied in many ways. To get an idea of what I mean, take a look at how some creative professionals use Illustrator and how this book can help them.
It’s difficult to define the job of a graphic designer because the title encompasses so many different types of design. For the most part, graphic designers specialize in a particular field of design such as corporate, advertising, direct mail, or even typography. Graphic designers work on a variety of projects and usually have experience with several programs including Adobe Photoshop and Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress.
For these kinds of users, Illustrator serves as a creative springboard for designs such as logos and type treatments, ad storyboards and campaigns, spot illustrations, maps, and general design elements.
If you’re a graphic designer, you’ll find the following chapters most helpful as you read this book:
Chapter 1, “Creating and Managing Documents” (page 1)
Chapter 4, “Creative Drawing” (page 93)
Chapter 6, “Coloring Artwork” (page 165)
Chapter 7, “Working with Live Effects” (page 219)
Chapter 8, “Working with Typography” (page 249)
Chapter 12, “Working with Images” (page 375)
To an illustrator or animator, Illustrator is an empty canvas waiting to come alive. In a world of animated feature films and TV shows, it’s easy to understand the benefits of drawing characters and animations directly on a computer. Its ability to repurpose art for almost any need makes Illustrator the perfect environment for creating animations and illustrations.
Adobe didn’t name its product Illustrator without reason. Artists create illustrations for children’s books, magazine covers and articles, packages, and a variety of other products, and they use Illustrator to take advantage of the high quality and precision available in the program. A variety of tools, such as gradient meshes, blends, and even 3D, allow illustrators to translate the images they see in their minds into reality.
If you’re an animator or an illustrator, you’ll find the following chapters most helpful as you read this book:
Chapter 2, “Selecting and Editing Artwork” (page 27)
Chapter 3, “Technical Drawing” (page 67)
Chapter 4, “Creative Drawing” (page 93)
Chapter 6, “Coloring Artwork” (page 165)
Chapter 11, “Exploring the World of 3D” (page 333)
Chapter 12, “Working with Images” (page 375)
Chapter 13, “Web and Mobile Design” (page 413)
Web designers have a language all their own, which includes acronyms such as HTML, XML, FXG, SWF, GIF, JPEG, PNG, and CSS. Illustrator supports these and other web-specific technologies, giving web designers access to the formats in which they need to deliver their designs. Taking advantage of Illustrator’s object-based design environment, web designers can lay out precise navigation elements, buttons, and entire pages.
In today’s fast-paced world, everyone needs a presence on the web. However, businesses find that they also need to provide content in print format. By creating art in Illustrator, web designers can easily use that art for both web and print layouts, thus reducing the need to re-create art for each medium.
If you’re a web or interface designer, you’ll find the following chapters most helpful as you read this book:
Chapter 2, “Selecting and Editing Artwork” (page 27)
Chapter 5, “Organizing Your Drawing” (page 133)
Chapter 7, “Working with Live Effects” (page 219)
Chapter 9, “Drawing with Efficiency” (page 283)
Chapter 12, “Working with Images” (page 375)
Chapter 13, “Web and Mobile Design” (page 413)
If you’re thinking about bathing suits while it’s snowing outside, either you’re dreaming about going on vacation or you’re a fashion designer. What type of clothes you design may directly correlate to the seasons of the year, but designing apparel is also a highly creative field that demands the most of a designer. The object-based approach to design in Illustrator makes it easier to work with body shapes, apparel guidelines, and product labels.
Fashion designers can create symbol libraries of repeating objects such as motifs, buttons, buckles, and zippers. Illustrator can also create pattern fills and simulate shading and realism using transparency effects.
If you’re a fashion designer, you’ll find the following chapters most helpful as you read this book:
Chapter 2, “Selecting and Editing Artwork” (page 27)
Chapter 3, “Technical Drawing” (page 67)
Chapter 4, “Creative Drawing” (page 93)
Chapter 6, “Coloring Artwork” (page 165)
Chapter 9, “Drawing with Efficiency” (page 283)
Chapter 12, “Working with Images” (page 375)
If you’re good at reading upside-down text, you just might be a package designer. That’s because most package designs are created flat on one sheet, with different panels facing different directions. Once printed, the entire package is folded up so it appears visually correct. Package designers use Illustrator to define spot colors, place images from Photoshop, and apply trapping settings—all in an effort to grab a potential buyer’s attention.
Because of production requirements, package designers often need to be able to make minute adjustments to colors and artwork. By building files in Illustrator, these designers can control nearly every aspect of the file and meet their deadlines.
If you’re a package designer, you’ll find the following chapters most helpful as you read this book:
Chapter 1, “Creating and Managing Documents” (page 1)
Chapter 2, “Selecting and Editing Artwork” (page 27)
Chapter 6, “Coloring Artwork” (page 165)
Chapter 8, “Working with Typography” (page 249)
Chapter 9, “Drawing with Efficiency” (page 283)
Chapter 11, “Exploring the World of 3D” (page 333)
Chapter 12, “Working with Images” (page 375)
Chapter 15, “Prepress and Printing” (page 499)
Production artists are a separate breed (I would know—I’m one of the them); to them, everything in a file matters. Illustrator allows production artists to dig deep into graphics files and make the edits and changes that are necessary to print a file correctly. Whether for producing or using spot colors, using overprint commands, using transparency flattening, or generally cleaning up paths and shapes, production artists have come to rely on Illustrator. Because they can use it to open and edit EPS and PDF files (and many other file formats), Illustrator has become a utility that is a required tool for art production.
If you cringe at the thought of an RGB file with overprints, transparencies, and spot colors, then you’re certainly a production artist. You might not care much about how to create nice brush strokes, but you care about simplifying paths so that they print faster.
If you’re a production artist, you’ll find the following chapters most helpful as you read this book:
Chapter 1, “Creating and Managing Documents” (page 1)
Chapter 5, “Organizing Your Drawing” (page 133)
Chapter 6, “Coloring Artwork” (page 165)
Chapter 9, “Drawing with Efficiency” (page 283)
Chapter 12, “Working with Images” (page 375)
Chapter 14, “Saving and Exporting Files” (page 453)
Chapter 15, “Prepress and Printing” (page 499)
In an industry where the term indie doesn’t refer to InDesign, the art of producing movies and motion graphics lives by its own set of rules. And although that is certainly true, Illustrator still plays a huge part in generating graphics that can help jazz up a corporate promotional video or create an intricate opening or credits sequence for a big-budget film.
Illustrator’s artwork may be vector, but that allows for more options when used in a pixel-based video workflow. Used in tandem with applications such as Adobe After Effects, Adobe Premiere Pro, Apple Final Cut Pro, or even Apple iMovie, Illustrator adds an entire dimension to the motion graphics workflow.
If you’re into motion graphics or video production, you’ll find the following chapters most helpful as you read this book:
Chapter 1, “Creating and Managing Documents” (page 1)
Chapter 5, “Organizing Your Drawing” (page 133)
Chapter 8, “Working with Typography” (page 249)
Chapter 9, “Drawing with Efficiency” (page 283)
Chapter 12, “Working with Images” (page 375)
Chapter 13, “Web and Mobile Design” (page 413)
If you didn’t identify with any of the titles I’ve listed so far, that’s okay. In fact, it’s nearly impossible to list all the kinds of people who use Illustrator every day. Because Illustrator has so many uses, the people who use it are very diverse. They may include doctors, lawyers, architects, signage and environmental designers, video and film specialists, or even a restaurant owner who is designing a menu cover.
Just realize that Illustrator is for everyone who wants to express their creativity, and that makes for one big happy family!
Good designers have many tools at their disposal. Especially in an environment where most designers have other powerful graphics applications, it can be difficult to choose which one to use for a particular task. For example, a designer can apply soft drop shadows in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign—is one application any better than the others for this?
How do you know when to use Illustrator? To answer the question directly, “Use Illustrator when it’s the right tool for the job.”
In reality, using the right tool for the job is what this book is all about. When you understand the strengths (and weaknesses) of each program, you also understand when it’s best to use (or not to use) a particular application. As would be expected, every design or production task you are called upon to do will require a different technique, method, or feature. When you are comfortable with Illustrator, you’ll easily be able to look at any project and know how to go about implementing it.
Every time Adobe ships a new version of Illustrator, users get that mixed emotion of yearning for new cool and timesaving features while simultaneously worrying about what Adobe has changed about their favorite graphics program. Illustrator CS4 certainly doesn’t disappoint in either department, especially considering how Adobe has given Illustrator (and all the Adobe Creative Suite components, for that matter) a much-needed face-lift in the form of a new user interface.
Overall, you’ll find that Adobe has made many changes throughout, and therefore, I cover all the new CS4 features in the context of this book. That way, you can read the book, learn the techniques, and use the knowledge that you’ve learned to quickly master Illustrator CS4. However, if you’re looking for a head start on learning about the new big features in CS4, here’s a list that will serve that purpose well and that will point you to where you will find more detailed information in the book:
Multiple artboards. The number-one feature request, multiple artboards, has finally arrived in lllustrator. Notice the phrase is multiple artboards, not multiple pages—there’s a difference. Read about the new multiple artboards feature in Chapter 1, “Creating and Managing Documents.”
Blob Brush tool. Illustrator CS4 sports a new brush tool, named Blob Blush. Based on the Calligraphic brush tool, the Blob Brush tool is pressure-sensitive, allowing you to draw expressive artwork with variable thick and thins. Read about the new Blob Brush tool in Chapter 4, “Creative Drawing.”
Transparent gradients. Illustrator CS4 features the ability to specify opacity values within gradients. In addition, new widgets make it possible to apply and modify gradients in context, without the need for panels. Learn more in Chapter 6, “Coloring Artwork.”
Better clipping masks. Illustrator CS4 makes it easier to work with clipping masks by making it impossible to select art outside the masked area. Learn how to work with masks in Chapter 9, “Drawing with Efficiency.”
Improved Appearance panel. The most important panel in Illustrator just got a whole lot better. The Appearance panel now lets you apply appearances as well as edit them. Learn more about the Appearance panel in Chapter 5, “Organizing Your Drawing.”
Improved graphic styles. Illustrator CS4 adds significant functionality to graphic styles and makes it possible to apply multiple styles to a single object. Learn to take advantage of graphic styles in Chapter 9, “Drawing with Efficiency.”
Improved smart guides. Illustrator CS4 features improved smart guides, which help you quickly align objects to each other. Smart guides can do even more, which you can find out when you read Chapter 1, “Creating and Managing Documents.”
Improved isolation mode. Since it was introduced in lllustrator CS2, the isolation mode feature has gotten better in each subsequent edition. Illustrator CS4 continues this trend with the ability to isolate individual paths. Learn more in Chapter 5, “Organizing Your Artwork.”
Easier-to-use alignment tools. Illustrator CS4 makes it easier to specify how objects should be aligned. You can find more details in Chapter 2, “Selecting and Editing Artwork.”
Unlike most other books on Illustrator, this text isn’t formatted to systematically cover each menu, tool, panel, and feature. Rather, it is organized based on my years of personal experience teaching Illustrator. In this way, you’ll understand the important aspects behind the features before you actually use them. The way I see it, it’s like taking a class on skydiving—you spend a few hours on the ground learning all about the physics of the jump, and then you get on the plane. Once you’ve already jumped, it’s a bit too late to start learning.
Sprinkled throughout the book are recurring elements that help you with your learning experience:
Sidebars. Most chapters in this book contain sidebars that discuss conceptual or physical differences between Illustrator’s features and technologies. These are meant to give you a deeper understanding of the tools you have at hand, and they will assist you in choosing the right tools or functions for the right tasks.
Keyboard shortcuts. When keyboard shortcuts are included for Illustrator commands, the Macintosh shortcut appears first, followed by the Windows shortcut in parentheses.
Appendixes. You’ll also find an appendix toward the end of this book covering application preferences, which serves as a great reference in case you ever need to know what a particular preference setting is. Illustrator CS4 also features an updated user interface, consistent with almost all the applications across Adobe Creative Suite 4. You’ll find a second, useful appendix available on the book’s registration page at www.peachpit.com/rwillcs4, which discusses the new user interface in detail, allowing you to customize Illustrator CS4 to your exacting needs. Also on the book’s registration page you’ll find a link to additional materials and updates.
Tips
Tips appear throughout the book as well and offer bite-sized nuggets of information and resources where appropriate.
Being this is a full-color edition, and even more so, being that the title of this book includes the words real world, it is a perfect opportunity to use actual, real-world art to help illustrate the features and functionality of Illustrator. Even though I dabble a bit here and there in the world of illustration, my background has always been firmly seated in art production, not creative illustration. So, I turned to the one creative source I’ve come to embrace as the ultimate design resource: iStockphoto. Yes, I know the word photo appears in the name, but iStockphoto (www.istockphoto.com) sells royalty-free stock art that includes photographs, illustrations, Flash animations, and even video content.
What’s great about iStockphoto is that it’s a collaborative resource—anyone around the world can create art and sell it on iStockphoto. And as such, I’ve come to discover some incredibly talented artists and illustrators from all over the world. I’ve had the pleasure of actually meeting some of these artists, and iStockphoto also maintains some pretty sweet discussion forums on its website where many like-minded creative pros exchange ideas not just on technical issues such as how to best take advantage of the Gradient Mesh feature in Illustrator but also on how to drive creative inspiration.
Most of the chapters throughout this book feature art from various iStockphoto users, and if you like any of the artwork or the illustration style you see in the book, you can head over to www.istockphoto.com and purchase it or even contact the artists directly. Here’s a listing of the chapters and the artists featured throughout the book (the artist’s iStockphoto member name appears in parentheses):
Chapter 1, “Creating and Managing Documents”: Julie Felton (jfelton)
Chapter 2, “Selecting and Editing Artwork”: Simon Oxley (simonox)
Chapter 3, “Technical Drawing”: John Woodcock (johnwoodcock)
Chapter 4, “Creative Drawing”: Cheryl Graham (freetransform)
Chapter 5, “Organizing Your Drawing”: Diane Labombarbe (diane555)
Chapter 6, “Coloring Artwork”: Kemie Guaida Ortega (kemie)
Chapter 7, “Working with Live Effects”: Che McPherson (chemc)
Chapter 9, “Drawing with Efficiency”: Jennifer Borton (bortonia)
Chapter 13, “Web and Mobile Design”: Fanelie Rosier (absolutely_frenchy)
Chapter 15, “Prepress and Printing”: Sam Posnick (sposnick)
This book is jam-packed with information about using Illustrator, but there’s always more to learn (I still learn new things all the time). With that in mind, here’s a collection of additional resources you will find helpful in your quest to master Illustrator:
The Real World Illustrator blog. An up-to-date companion to this book, the Real World Illustrator blog offers insights, tutorials, and interesting information about the use of Illustrator and other Adobe applications. Readers of the blog (and book) are welcome to submit questions and participate via commenting on the blog or by emailing [email protected]. You can find the Real World Illustrator blog at http://rwillustrator.blogspot.com.
Adobe Community Help. With the release of Adobe Creative Suite 4, Adobe has created a new type of help resource, dubbed Adobe Community Help. You can access this resource by entering a topic in the Search field in the Illustrator CS4 Application bar (at the top right of the screen) or directly on the Web at http://community.adobe.com/help/illustrator/. The Adobe Community Help search engine will return results on the requested topic from internal Adobe documentation as well as third-party information in the form of published articles, blogs, and tutorials. These resources are moderated (I happen to be a moderator for the Illustrator content) and are constantly updated to offer the most useful and accurate information.
Adobe Illustrator user-to-user forum. An extremely valuable resource, Adobe’s user-to-user forum is a great place to ask questions, get advice from other Illustrator users, and share your own knowledge. The forum has a search function that acts as a tremendous resource as well. You can find the forums for Illustrator (and all other Adobe applications) at www.adobeforums.com.
Lynda.com. Although reading the written word is a fantastic way to learn new material, seeing something in action can also serve as a wonderful way to learn new techniques. I currently have several video training titles on Adobe Illustrator at www.lynda.com that present yet another dimension in learning how to make the most of Illustrator.