Illustrator Tips: Project 3

Week 6


Drop Shadows
Select the object that you would like to add a drop shadow to. Then select Effect-->Stylize-->Drop Shadow. A box will open where you can tweak different options. then click ok.



More on Live Trace: The Image Trace Panel
Last week we went over simple, automatic Live Trace options, but today we'll go over how to customize the Live Trace by using the Image Trace Panel

First, place a raster image into an existing illustrator file by selecting File-->Place-->The name of the raster image

Scale the image to fit the artboard and then make sure it is selected.

Then select Window-->Image Trace to open the Image Trace Panel

Within the Image Trace Panel, make sure the preview box is checked. Now you can experiment with different options

• Viewing Options - Find the View drop-down menu. At any point you can open it and select any of the following viewing options: Tracing Result, Tracing Result With Outlines, Outlines, Outlines With Source Image, or Source Image. OR You can view the source image by clicking and holding the button next to the View drop-down menu that looks like a  human eye. As long as you hold it down, you'll be able to see the original source image, and as soon as you let go, you'll once again see your selected View option.

NEXT - find the drop down menu for Mode and make sure that it is set to Black and White

• Threshold - Threshold is only an option if you are in Black and White Mode. The threshold control changes the balance between the dark and light areas in the image. To customize the threshold, click on the Threshold box to bring up the adjustment slider.  Experiment by dragging the slider until you find a setting that has a nice balance that you like and that still lets you see some details in your image.

• To create a solid, black silhouette - Find the Presets drop-down menu in the Image Trace Panel and select Silhouettes

NEXT - find the drop down menu for Mode and make sure that it is set to Color 

Advanced Options:  Find where it says Advanced right beneath the Threshold slider, click on the arrow next to Advanced. This will open additional options.

• Tracing Methods - Within the Advanced options, find where it says Methods. You will find two buttons for the two different Tracing Methods: Click Abutting if you would like to create a series of cut-out shapes, none of them overlapping each other. Click Overlapping if you would like to have all of the resulting objects stacked on top of one another.

• Corners - The Corners slider is available for all three live trace modes: black and white, greyscale, and color. Experiment with this slider. The higher the value: the more sharp, corner points will be contained within the traced object. The lower the value: the more organic, rounded points will be contained within the traced object.

• Ignore White -  With some  Preset options (for instance, 6 colors) You will have the option of checking the box next to the words Ignore White. This should be towards the bottom of the Image Trace Panel. Checking the Ignore White box will customize your tracing so that white, negative space will be ignored, so it will not become part of your traced vector object.

Once you're happy with the Live Trace Options: Click Uncheck the Preview Box and then click on the Trace button to the right of it. Then find the Expand button within the Control Panel and click on it. (You can also expand by selecting Object-->Live Trace-->Expand)

Now you can manipulate your live traced object just like any vector object.

• Ungroup - If you would like to further break the Live Traced object into individual, separate objects: Select the object and then right-click and select Ungroup (Or select the object and then click Object-->Ungroup) Once ungrouped, you can manipulate and color each individual object.

You might notice that some of the detail in your image is looking a little jagged and rough. If so, you can fix that by applying a blur.   


Creating Pattern Swatches
One of the best things about a vector program like Illustrator is the capability to make and edit patterns quickly.

Patterns are made within Illustrator using a tiling system. You can create your own patterns very easily by following the following steps:

1. First, you'll open a new illustrator file, and click on Window-->Swatches to open your swatches palette. Draw a rectangle, or square on your artboard. Then fill that rectangle with various shapes. Feel free to play with opacity, etc.. You are creating a single tile of your pattern that will repeat.

2. Once you have finished creating the single tile out of shapes, use the Selection Tool to select the whole thing. Then drag it over to your swatches palette. This works in the same way as when you make a custom brush, once you hover over the swatches palette and see the green plus sign, you can drop it in. Your pattern swatch is not added to your swatches under pattern swatches. You can save a pattern swatches in your swatch library in the same way that you save single color swatches.

4. Now draw another shape. For the fill of the shape, simply select the pattern swatch that you just made. The entire object should instantly be filled with a repeated pattern of your single tile.


Editing Pattern Swatches
Once you've created a new pattern swatch, you can edit it anytime by finding that swatch and double  clicking on it. Double clicking on the pattern swatch will open the pattern options window that allows you to alter various options such as how the tiles of the pattern are staggered, and it will isolate a single copy of your tile. You can use any illustrator tools to edit the tile. Once you are done editing, you can click done if you would like to alter the original, or save a copy if you would like to keep both the original version of your pattern swatch, and the new edited version as two separate swatches. If you are not happy with the changes you've made, you can click cancel.


  
Weeks 7 and 8


Creating More Complex Patterns
Making more complicated patterns is very possible in Illustrator, but it takes a bit of planning and thought. You will need to consider how the sides of a pattern tiles will relate to each other. For instance, if you were going to create a pattern of diagonal stripes, you would need to think about how the bottom side of the tile would relate to the top of the tile beneath it . Otherwise, weird stuff can happen such as unintended white lines showing up in your pattern, or tiles that don't align in the way that you want them to. Here are some suggestions:

• Set up a grid by going up to the top menu and clicking View-->Show Grid and View-->Snap to Grid (Snap to Grid means that the points of lines and objects will be attracted to grid intersections. 

• Instead of only creating patterns from flat shapes, try working with blending modes, and incorporating textures using transparency masks. (see below) There's also the simple opacity control; don't underestimate the amount of complexity it can bring to to your vector artwork. 

• If you want to include patterns in a pattern, you'll need to first select the object with the pattern, and click Object--> Expand

Adding Texture With Transparency Masks
Using transparency masks is another method of avoiding the typical flat shapes with solid fills that tend to be associated with vector artwork. Transparency masks allow you to easily add textures to objects in Illustrator. To incorporate a transparency mask, follow these steps:

• First you'll need to create the shape, or shapes that you want to add texture to. If you have more than one shape, you'll need to group them together first.

• Next, you'll need the actual texture that you want to use. Find a raster, or other type of image file, and save it to your computer.

• Use the Selection Tool to select the object, or group of objects that you want to add texture to. Then open the Transparency Palette by going up to the top menu and clicking Window-->Transparency. Under the word Transparency (in the palette) you should see two drop-down menus; right above the opacity menu, there is actually another, very tiny, drop-down menu. Click on it, and select Show Thumbnails. If this option is already selected, you should only be able to find the option of Hide Thumbnails within the menu.

• Now you should be able to see two thumbnails in the Transparency Palette. The left thumbnail should show the object, or objects, you have already selected, while the right thumbnail should just be a grey square with a crossed-out circle in the center. Double-click on the grey square thumbnail to create your mask. This should instantly turn your artboard white, so you can no longer see your selected object.

• Immediately go up to the top menu and select File-->Place.  Find your texture image file and select it. Your grey thumbnail should now contain the texture image, and your object should contain an opaque version of the texture. 

• If you don't want the texture file to be treated like a clipping mask, in that the object would be trimmed to the dimensions of the texture file, then uncheck the box next to the clip option in the Transparency Palette. Then you can use the bounding box around the object to move, or stretch the texture in whatever way you prefer.

• When you're done tweaking the placement, you can also change the degree of opacity by changing the opacity value within the Transparency palette, plus you can change the blending mode in order to tweak the way the texture blends into the appearance of the object. You can also check the invert mask box if you'd like for the layering of the texture and object to reverse.

• Once you're happy with the mask, click once on the left-hand  thumbnail in the Transparency Palette (the one that shows the object.) This will make it so the bounding box of the object is visible, rather than the mask.

Outline Stroke
Sometimes you might want to convert an open-path line segment into a closed-path, outlined shape. You can do this very easily by following the following steps.

1. Select the line segment you want to change. Make sure the appearance of the line, specifically the weight of the stroke, fits the dimensions that you would like your closed path shape to be.
2. Go up to the top menu and select Object-->Path-->Outline Stroke.  This will instantly change your line into a closed path shape, outlined by a path with anchor points.