How to Ink in Illustrator

You can easily sketch art in Illustrator

Inking your artwork in Illustrator can make hand drawings clear and eye popping. Inking can be a fundamental step in presenting a drawing or cartoon art. Using a tablet or an electronic pen is optional. You can, however, easily use a mouse in Illustrator instead.

Things You'll Need

• Adobe Illustrator
• Artwork
• Printer (optional)

Instructions

Prepare Your Art

1. Open Illustrator. Create a new document.

2. Place your sketch or drawing in the document. Go to "File" then "Place." Browse to your sketch. Check the "template" box then click "Okay." Illustrator will place your art at the center of your new document as a layer.

3. Save your file with a new name so you keep your original art file separate from your inking project. This will protect the original in case you are not satisfied with your new results.

4. Select the rectangle tool from the tool bar. Cover your document by drawing a rectangle. Make sure that you have no fill on your box by locating the red line through the rectangle box on the toolbar. If you cannot see your art under the box you have drawn, you have fill on your box.

Inking Your Drawing

1. Choose either the pencil tool or the brush tool from the tool palette. The brush tool will give you thick lines like a paint brush or a calligraphic line. The pencil tool will give you pencil thin lines.

2. Create a new layer underneath your artwork. In the layers panel, click the name of your layer, then click the "Create New Layer" button.

3. Lock the layer with your artwork. Click on the layer to highlight, go to "Object" in the main menu, scroll to select "Lock" and then "Selection."

4. Draw on your new layer by using your mouse to move the pencil or brush across your work. To change the thickness of either the pencil or brush tool, double click on the icon on the Tool Palette. You will get a pop up menu that allows you to alter the thickness of the tool.

5. Print out your new file to see if you are pleased with your drawing.

Tips & Warnings

• When using the pencil tool, use it with no stroke and a black fill.

• When using the brush tool, use a black stroke with no fill

• Vary the size of the brush to get a variety of lines in your art. If you don't want to change settings while drawing, Illustrator allows you to create different kinds of brushes and save them.

• The pencil tool is easier to use to block or "color in" sections as the brush tool can be too clunky to do so.

References

• Dani Draws; Inking in Illustrator
• Adobe Live Docs; Create a layer in Illustrator
• Adobe Live Docs; Lock or unlock objects or layers

Resources

• Drawing with Naturalistic Ink