Module Title

Description

Introduction (This module)

Demonstrating the speed with which graphics an be produced using Illustrator. Comparing vector drawing and pixel based drawing, examining some typical Illustrator drawings, downloading sample files, advantages and disadvantages of Illustrator

Overview

We start Illustrator file, discuss the opening screen and open a file - one of the sample files delivered with Illustrator - the splash screen AI_SplashTryout. Frames and images. We print the file and examine the multiplicity of print options available. We place the Illustrator document in an InDesign file and print again. We develop a simple job - producing a complex watermark for a catalogue. An Illustrator document is created by importing a WMF image (of a map of Australia) into the Illustrator environment. Various Illustrator tools are then used to modify the map, adding some colour to it and changing its transparency. Finally some unique artwork is created - a company logo - by adding some text 'floating' above the map. We apply some effects to the text and reduce the transparency. As an extension exercise, maps from several other countries are built by importing data in DXF format into Illustrator rather than using the WMF format. 

Interface 1

Exploring the Illustrator drawing environment. Zones in the work area. The imageable area, non printing areas, the page edge and the scratch or pasteboard area. The drawing name, the design window (and magnification scale), colour environment (RGB and CYMK), zooming in and out, drop down menus. Opening, closing and combining palettes. The importance of the control toolbox. Using function keys to activate palettes. Macintosh vs. Windows environments. Floating and combining palettes. The importance of the status line and determining the function of a selected tool. The artboard and currently configured printer. The importance of configuring a PDFWriter. Tiling a design when the printer is not large enough to print the whole document.

Interface 2

A close look at the tools in the toolbox palette, selecting tools. Changing the default (currently selected) tool. The spiral and rectangular tools. Foreground and background colours - the colour of the stroke. Reversing foreground and background colours. A detailed look at the zoom tool. The value of Control and ALT keys in combination with the + and - keys. The importance of positioning the mouse correctly. The Auto Trace tool - creating vectors from a scanned image of fossil shells. Object selection methods, combining the lasso tool with the selection tool, the magic wand tool, the pen tool - drag and click to create Bezier curves, creating a logo (some sails) with the pen tool, simplifying a path to smooth a shape, copying an object, pasting the object, change the colour of an object, change the stack order of objects. The text tool, setting the font  and text size; text along a path. The line tool and associated tools nested within it - spiral and grid. Applying a brush type to a path. Simple shape symbols. Using the arrange option to change the stacking order. Using the flare tool. A sample project - frogs on the march - using the brush tool. The pencil tool - editing pencil lines - applying brushed to pencil lines. Mirror (reflect) and rotate tools. Using the scale tool. Distorting entities - shear, crystallize etc.

Creating Illustrations with Simple Shapes

Understanding colour spaces - the RGB and CYMK environments. Some revision - drawing basic shapes with the line segment tool. Using the ALT and SHIFT overrides with the line tool. Entity properties. Interrogating the drawing database to determine the length of lines. Creating shapes as standalone symbol entities - rectangles, ellipses, stars etc. Applying a gradient to a symbol and to a path entity (a tick mark). Applying a swatch to an entity. Linear gradients vs. radial gradients. Adjusting a gradient.

Using the line tool - a small project

Creating a graphic of an Australian native Eucalypt using the line tool. Manipulating layers in an illustration. Using the symbol palette to spray patterns into an image.

Preliminaries

Installing Illustrator. Setting some Illustrator preferences - display resolution, units used, grid spacing etc. Installing fonts in the Illustator environment - serif and sans serif fonts, True Yype, Open Type and Postscript fonts. Installing a graphic tablet. Installing a PDF writer and the benefits of using it.

File Formats

Using Illustrator to open files from foreign formats - PCX, JPG, AI, WMF, TIFF etc..  Opening an AutoCAD 2000 DWG file containing a logo.

Drawing paths

A detailed look at drawing paths, using the pen tool to trace around a scanned image of a tick mark to create a closed path. Copying a path, changing the foreground colour.

Gradients

Applying a gradient to a simple closed shape (a simple tick mark). Linear gradients radial gradients.

Applying and manipulating text

An in-depth look at using text tools, using the type palette, editing text. Creating a graphic for the Office of Liquor and gambling. Specifying and applying a text style.

Case Study -Tour Guide Maps

Creating maps of itinerary for travel groups ready for incorporation into InDesign. A job for a wholesale tour guide company. Using the layers palette. Controlling layer visibility and transparency. Creating a new layer, moving entities from one layer to another, changing the stacking order of layers. Changing the draw order of entities on a single layer.