Illustrator

As Mark Twain once said when the press mistook his cousin's grave illness for his own, "The report of my death was an exaggeration." Likewise, despite endless expectations that digital --…

As you work with graphics and edit photos and drawings using computer software, you may sometimes want to create different effects. A gritty effect can make a photo, graphic or drawing appear…

Filling letters with a picture is a great way to get the maximum amount of graphical "punch" from your document. Fill letters with a picture in Illustrator with help from a graphic designer in this…

Ruching is a very specific component of the Adobe Illustrator program. Learn how to do ruching on Illustrator with help from a graphic designer in this free video clip.

If you've decided that you've selected the incorrect piece of artwork in Illustrator, you can always deselect it. Deselect artwork in Illustrator with help from a graphic designer in this free video…

When cropping out extras in Illustrator you just have to use the right command. Crop out extras in Illustrator with help from a graphic designer in this free video clip.

Blending shapes together in Illustrator is a great way to take complete control over your document. Blend shapes together in Illustrator with help from a graphic designer in this free video clip.

Doing typography on Illustrator is a great way to practice with some of the deeper features of the program. Do typography on Illustrator with help from a graphic designer in this free video clip.

Joining two segments in Illustrator is as easy as clicking the right buttons. Join two segments in Illustrator with help from a graphic designer in this free video clip.

Giving a blend a gradient gives a unique visual look to your document. Give a blend a gradient in Illustrator with help from a graphic designer in this free video clip.

One of the many elements that you can edit in Adobe Illustrator are fonts. Learn how to edit a font in Illustrator with help from a graphic designer in this free video clip.

Illustrating poetry is an excellent way to learn about the specific literary devices – such as imagery – used in creative writing. Poetry illustrations allow you to create a personal…

Adobe Illustrator comes loaded with several Pantone swatch palettes to choose from. The Pantone Matching System, often shortened to PMS colors, have numbers that represent different shades. The system…

VisTablet Systems is a Los Angeles-based company that offers four drawing tablets under the brand name VisTablet. Each of these tablets are compatible with Adobe Illustrator and Windows 7, Vista and…

Adobe Illustrator CS5 includes an invisible pixel grid on every document. By default, every new document uses this grid to snap objects. In most cases this is a benefit, as it helps ensure that…

Adobe Illustrator CS5 is a program that allows you to create graphics using vectors, which are digital points connected by lines. Unlike using bits in raster programs, vector programs can be resized…

Swirls are a common element in graphic design, and Western swirls are specific type -- a familiar sight on items such as cowboy shirts, boots and belts. Vector programs such as Adobe Illustrator are…

Illustrator is an Adobe graphics application that you can use to create a collage of two images. Illustrator provides you with various tools to create and modify image projects efficiently. The layer…

Although Illustrator is not a Web editing program, you can design a website draft in Illustrator. Instead of rebuilding a WordPress template based on the design, you can code the template directly…

Foil stamping accents printed pieces with areas in which a hot metal die presses a thin pigmented layer onto the paper. These foils come in many colors, including metallics, and can add a touch of…

Make a vector splitter in Illustrator by using a tool in the Pathfinder panel to divide one vector with another vector lying under it. You can use Pathfinder tools to create shapes that are difficult…

Adobe Illustrator CS3 enables you to create shapes to build your own custom brushes of various types, including calligraphic, scatter, art and pattern brushes. The pattern brush provides various…

Although creating illusions in Illustrator can be complicated, with many gradients, grids and layers, moving the illusions is quick if you set up the file in layers from the beginning. When designing…

A fractal can be loosely defined as a shape that repeats itself to create larger and seemingly complex designs. For example, if you were to look at a snowflake with a magnifying glass. you would see…

Decorative borders are just a few of the styles available from Illustrator's lavish brush collection. These decorative borders can be re-sized, colored or fitted with exquisite patterns. The borders…

When you're working on graphic designs in Adobe Illustrator, the designs you create exist on the artboard — or workboard — in the view. Elements added to this space may hang beyond the…

Adobe Illustrator allows you to blend two pictures together using different methods. One method involves placing one picture partially or completely on top of another and using transparency mode to…

The latest version of Adobe Illustrator is even more powerful than the previous versions, but like its predecessors it occasionally gives users problems if they are using a computer that skirts the…

Because Illustrator is a vector-based program that defines shapes with lines connected by points, creating shapes with sharp corners is obvious and simple; however, creating curved shapes is not as…

The Layers function in Adobe Illustrator lets you organize and segment the different objects in your graphic. In a complex Illustrator project, if you place each object in a separate layer you can…

When you're creating an Adobe Illustrator document for use in print, it's important to make sure that the illustration will look the way you intend when it’s printed. If you're printing in…

When working in Adobe Illustrator, you'll often create much of the content for a document using only the vector drawing tools in the program. However, there are times when you need to bring in a…

When you create Adobe Illustrator (.AI) files, you have the option of embedding images and content directly into the document, or you can link the pieces to the document, creating a much smaller…

A crest is usually a shield-shaped design, often used to display a coat of arms. It can have a flat top or be more ornate with two curves and a center point on the top. You can make a crest in Adobe…

Compared to shapes and objects, which have few constraints, the Graph tool in Adobe Illustrator may seem quite restrictive. Because all the elements in a graph are grouped together, it’s…

The different applications in the Adobe Creative Suite are all useful for different aspects of graphic design but are also highly compatible with each other. This means you can modify a photo in…

Making an object in Adobe Illustrator and rotating it using the Rotate tool adds plenty of design possibilities without much effort. You can draw straight lines and rectangles, for example, then…

Although it’s not the most obvious tool for creating wavelengths, the "Zig Zag" effect in Adobe Illustrator contains an option that allows you to simulate smooth curves creating a wave…

To create watercolor clouds on Adobe Illustrator, you will have to use several layers of clouds as well as the Gradient tool in order to achieve the appearance of watercolors blending together. This…

The Adobe Illustrator CS5 Pathfinder menu contains options that will allow you to merge two objects together. Combining objects with a Pathfinder option is a useful alternative to grouping items. You…

Adobe Illustrator’s Rounded Corner Effect is a common tool to use when you need to adjust rounded rectangles or convert sharp corner into curves because the rounded corner effects remain live…

A vector graphic is a common file format that groups lines and nodes together mathematically so the image can be re-sized without losing any quality. Vector is a supported format in most graphics…

Vector objects in Adobe Illustrator CS5 can be modified in several ways and reshaping effects can be applied to line paths within the object. The “Round Corners” effect curves corners,…

Drawing a lot of square boxes using Adobe Illustrator’s shape tool can be time-consuming, especially if you want to create identical squares. Fortunately, you don’t have to fiddle around…

The appearance of typeset material depends on everything from type size, color and style to how loosely or tightly letters fit together to build words on the page. Evaluating type means considering it…

A swish is a curved shape that appears to be in three dimensions, like the trail that might be left behind by a basketball as it swishes through a net. You can make a swish in Adobe Illustrator by…

You can usually determine the font type, style and size in Adobe Illustrator using an outline of the document. If the document font is the same font used in the outline, opening the outline in Adobe…

If you've ever tried to draw an ink blot, you've realized it's easier to find a bottle of ink and drip a few drops than to create a believable freehand splotch using either traditional or digital…

Stare at psychedelic circles long enough and you'll begin to see patterns that may not actually exist in the artwork itself. These arrangements of elliptical graphics flow and repeat among shapes of…

Just as the word "splotch" combines "spot" and "blotch," you can combine Adobe Illustrator's tools and filters to create virtual splotches that don't require detergent to…

You can make Manga images by applying Illustrator's Pen and Direct selection tools to progressively refine rectangle objects to the parts of an underlying reference image. This approach teaches you…

After you've applied an Add Pathfinder effect to trace and merge Adobe Illustrator art, use the Crop Pathfinder effect to crop this object. Applying the Crop effect allows you to remove areas of the…

Illustrator is a vector graphics editor developed by Adobe Systems. The good news is when you work in Illustrator, you work in a color preview mode by default. However, say you want to make your own…

JPEGs are raster graphics, which means you'll be able to see their pixels if you enlarge them too much. To prevent Illustrator from leaving JPEG images in their native raster format, convert the…

You can draw freehand cloud shapes with Adobe Illustrator's Pen tool if you want to invest the time and care to craft an abundance of bezier curves. You'll soon discover that clouds combine repeated…

Make letters sparkle in Illustrator by inserting a star shape on text you create with the "Text" tool. You can make the sparkling text potentially more interesting by applying the…

Make a lion in Illustrator by using the "Pen" and "Direct selection" tools to shape ellipses into the parts of a lion displayed in a reference image. Most experienced artists use…

Finding a typeface that suits your needs for a design project you're creating in Adobe Illustrator can take hours of searching through reference guides, typeface samples and font-merchant websites.…

Check the "scale proportionately" box as you make a new Illustrator brush if you don't want a brush's art to stretch and look distorted. Activating this setting will increase the brush's…

Make an eyeball in Illustrator by drawing a series of concentric ellipses with the "Ellipse" tool, arranging these shapes with the "Move" tool, and coloring the eye with the…

Coloring a line drawing, such as an artist's sketch or a comic strip, can be a painstaking process that's prone to errors. Instead of adding color by hand, you can scan your image into a computer and…

Although Adobe's Illustrator graphics program includes several pre-set polka-dot patterns, making your own pattern of polka dots allows you to exert the most control over the finished product. Once…

Make foliage in Illustrator CS5 by filling an ellipse with a gradient from the "Foliage" color gallery, then arranging duplicates of the ellipse in a circular pattern. The key to making…

Make bullet points in Adobe Illustrator with your keyboard and a combination of keys. Type an ALT code to insert bullets at the beginning of each listed item. Adding Alt code bullets to your lists…

Adding or changing colors in Adobe Illustrator requires a slightly different approach compared to other graphic programs like Photoshop. Illustrations in Adobe Illustrator are based on paths, which…

An Adobe Illustrator ellipse can be a suitable starting point for an original logo or stylish rounded hang tag. In illustrations, ellipses can be colorized and become bubbles, balloons and cartoon…

Several types of triangles can be drawn in Adobe Illustrator CS5. These types include acute, right or obtuse triangles that you incorporate into a logo or illustration project. Since all triangles…

Every time you click on a swatch in an Adobe Illustrator color library, or add a color directly to your Swatches panel, that color persists in your document's resources whether or not you apply it to…

Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based graphics application used to create content for ads, signs and other printed materials, as well as web page layout elements and countless other items. While the…

Earning a living solely from selling your fashion drawings can be difficult. If you can establish a reputation within the industry and build a good base of regular clients however, you have potential…

Gradients are smooth blends of color. Illustrator allows you to choose from preset gradients, create custom gradients and save your gradients. You can apply these gradients to both text and shapes.…

There are two easy ways to fade out a photo in Adobe Illustrator. The first method uses the Transparency panel to apply a level of transparency to the entire photo. The second way is to use the…

Adobe Illustrator's Type on a Path tool allows you to attach text to any path, such as those created by the Line or Shape tools. Once attached, the text remains editable without having to detach it…

Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based application that you can use to generate original artwork for use in Sure Cuts a Lot, which is software that enables you to cut shapes on electric cutting machines.…

Adobe Illustrator settings or preferences control how the application behaves. Resetting the preferences will rewrite, and thus delete, troublesome settings. This should let you resume reliable use of…

Adobe Illustrator CS5 illustrations often feature multiple objects filled with color. Changing one or more of these fill colors to a gradient tends to increase an illustration's volume and energy.…

Using Adobe Illustrator you can make a picture semi-transparent simply by clicking the "Opacity" setting in the Layers menu. To make a picture opaque on one end and fade to transparency on…

Make transparent letters in Adobe Illustrator, then display them in the program or export them to other Adobe Creative Suite applications. Illustrator's transparency effects allow you to blend…

Adobe Illustrator has a color-editing feature that enables you to alter an object's color saturation, vividness or brightness. Color adjustments to an object's saturation impacts the object's color…

Adobe Illustrator CS5 offers five types of brushes, from calligraphic and bristle options that mimic real-world tools to scatter, art and pattern brushes that apply shapes along or to a path. An art…

The vector-based graphics program Adobe Illustrator offers a myriad of design possibilities with its impressive collection of graphics tools. However, if you only need to create regular shapes, it can…

Illustrator is part of the Adobe Creative Suite. Artists use the program to create digital graphics and illustrations. As in all Creative Suite programs, Illustrator has a wide range of tools to help…

Adobe Illustrator CS5 offers unparalleled vector graphics editing. The program allows upsizing without the unclear pixelation commonly noticed in raster bitmap images. Among the numerous vector…

Identified by the classic shape of a piece of paper slightly rolled or curled at both ends, scrolls, as a design feature, can be used on a wide variety of objects, from report cards and diplomas to…

Radial graphics form visually appealing patterns by rotating duplicates of simple elements around a central or offset point of origin. You can use a short sequence of type or the output of any of…

A cut contour is artwork that is cut out of a drawing or photograph using a special printer. Cut contours are used to create logo decals, point of purchase displays and stickers. Whether you are…

Adobe Illustrator provides many drafting tools to create shapes and designs. When creating a worksheet or a mathematical design, shapes with specific measurements such as isosceles triangles can be…

Adobe Illustrator offers a myriad of design possibilities, including filling in shapes with pre-designed textures. Filling in textures allows you to produce the look you want, while avoiding bland,…

Flaming letters are used as accents in a number of designs, such as sales brochures and album covers for rock bands. While flaming letters are easy to do in Photoshop, doing them in Illustrator, where…

Finding the perimeter of a polygon is fairly easy — just add the lengths of the various sides. But for an irregular shape drawn in Adobe Illustrator CS4 or CS5, the answer is not plainly seen.…

A sigmoidal, or sigmoid, curve is an S-shaped curve that shows a slow rate of increase, then a high rate of increase, followed by a decrease. It is often used to show a learning curve or show retail…

Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editing program that creates artwork based on geometric shapes and designs. As this design program works differently than other Adobe products like Photoshop,…

There was a time when illustrations were done entirely by hand, but computer software changed all that. Artists can use a program such as Adobe Illustrator to create almost anything they need for a…

Create high quality images with Adobe Illustrator software that you can insert into other documents or sent directly to a printer. When printing you must first prepare the image background by removing…

Scientific illustrators combine knowledge of technical and scientific subjects with the skills of visual artists. Their diverse tasks include designing illustration layouts, three-dimensional…

Sports Illustrated is a weekly sports magazine published by Time Inc., a subsidiary of Time Warner, and has been printed consecutively since August 1954. As with most magazines, Sports Illustrated…

Borders in graphics projects can be purely decorative, or they can be used to focus the eye on the content of an image. The type of border selected often relates to the nature of the document. If you…

With Adobe Illustrator, you can quickly turn your artwork into a comic book-style halftone. By using the software's "Place" function, you can even import images that you've worked on in…

Although drawing the elements of a road is not difficult in Adobe Illustrator, it can be challenging to get the elements to stay in the correct positions, especially if you want the road to bend.…

A vector pack is a collection of artwork created by designers that you can download and incorporate into your own artwork. They can save a lot of time for designers and are often free, but they many…

Adobe Illustrator is a vector editing program, designed to allow graphic designers to create and edit logos, text and other visual documents. Standard Windows versions of Illustrator must be installed…

You can use Illustrator to make a picture look like an old postcard by applying a texture to the picture with the "Craquelure" command, warping the picture with the "Warp" command,…

Make the most of your work in Adobe Illustrator by crafting files that are simple to update, revise and repurpose. It's easy to get caught up in the excitement of designing and drawing, only to look…

Reflecting an object is an essential skill for creating vector artwork. You can use reflections to create objects with mirrored features such as butterflies, or you may want to create the appearance…

Adobe Illustrator symbols may be utilized for specific effects in a drawing. One of the effects that may be applied to an Adobe Illustrator drawing is a set of scattered symbols on a path. The Symbol…

When you invert the colors in a drawing or photograph, you change the color to its opposite color, creating an effect much like a photographic negative. Light colors change and become darker and dark…

Adobe Illustrator CS5 enables you to add keyboard symbols to paths. These symbols will follow the lengths and shapes of the original paths. You'll need to create a scatter brush to replace paths with…

Parabolas are cone-shaped curves, used in solar collectors and telecommunication satellites because signals striking the curve all reflect to the same focal point. You can make a parabola in Adobe…

To align objects one at a time on a path in Adobe Illustrator, use Illustrator's Smart Guides to help you align the objects. If you want to align several identical objects along a path, use the Blend…

Stains and splashes form interesting shapes that can be challenging to draw. Fortunately, the mud splashes you create in Adobe Illustrator don't require laundry detergent to remove. You can experiment…

The drama of a spotlight illuminating a performer on a darkened stage adds to an audience's anticipation of a song or soliloquy. Analyzing how a spotlight interacts with the air, the stage floor and…

Adobe Illustrator's bezier curves lend themselves easily to the creation of elaborate swooping shapes. Although you can draw freehand swirled objects with the Pen tool and finesse your shapes by…

While you create or edit vector objects in Adobe Illustrator CS4, the program highlights your active path, its anchor points and their control handles, in the same color applied to the layer on which…

Illustrator offers an assortment of effects you can apply to objects including artistic distortions, stroke options, sharpening, blurring and 3D effects. When you apply an effect to an object, it…

When you are working with brushes in Adobe Illustrator, it is important to understand what the brush will do as you draw your strokes. Artistic brushes have a feature called "proportions" that define…

When you have graphics, such as business cards or Web headers, that require the same design with different text, graphics or data, you do not want to create a new file for each set of information.…

Creating your own fancy swirls in Adobe Illustrator is a technique every graphic designer should know. This can be useful when designing banners and customized logos. Essentially, the technique…

To curve images in Adobe Illustrator you can use any of the Warp tools located in the Effects menu. These allow you to curve the image as needed into a variety of shapes like arcs or flag shapes. You…

You can make a toothbrush in Illustrator by joining two slightly modified rectangles together to represent the handle, and adding a third rectangle to represent the bristles. To make your toothbrush…

Cropping an object in Adobe Illustrator CS5 requires a few extra steps compared to using the crop tool available in earlier versions of Illustrator. To crop in Illustrator CS5, you must create a…

Graphics packages now allow you to present objects in 3D so they can be viewed from a number of angles. This can be useful when trying to show a different perspective or liven up a design. You can…

Adobe Illustrator enables you to crop documents by using the "Clipping Masks" function. This tool hides an image area outside of designated clipping marks. You can also remove a clipping mask if for…

Illustrator is a vector-drawing program included in the Adobe Creative Suite of software. Charts, diagrams, logos, art and illustrations are easily drawn in a format that makes infinite scaling…

Instructions for Illustrator will show you how to perform these tasks with the program: painting, moving and performing other broad transformations on shapes, detailed editing to alter a shape, and…

Digital artists who know how to make great looking graphics with Illustrator know that a key aspect of their skill is creating idealized, simplified shapes that remove all the bumps, burrs and other…

Adobe Illustrator provides a wide range of fill types to apply to the artwork you draw in the program, including solid colors, gradients and intricate gradient meshes. Despite all these options, some…

Make a computerized illustrated timeline by using a painting or drawing program. Several free programs let you complete this project, including a program you probably already have, Windows Paint. This…

Making scenery in Illustrator is essentially a project involving what digital artists call "compositing." This term refers to combining graphic elements from different sources, such as photos or 3-D…

Use Illustrator to create a motif by drawing a simple pattern with one of the program's drawing tools, then duplicating that pattern in different ways. Motifs can take on an infinite variety of…

Transforming a photograph or a bitmapped logo into editable artwork requires software-assisted or manual tracing to create or recreate graphics you can use in new ways. To choose the right method for…

Curving vector objects is one of the more challenging concepts to master for most Adobe Illustrator beginners. Yet, it's also one of the most essential features for creating magnificent artwork.…

You can make vines in Illustrator with several tools, including the Paintbrush and Pen tools, which let you draw any arbitrary vine shape. For a faster vine illustration, use the Spiral tool. Once you…

The key to producing an effective notebook image efficiently in Illustrator is using the program's duplication tools to create the notebook's repetitive shapes. For example, apply the duplication…

Converting your corners to rounded corners can aesthetically enhance your artwork by making it appear smoother and softer. You could spend hours rounding each corner manually by meticulously adjusting…

Borders are often used to draw the audience's attention to the bordered part of the artwork. Dashed borders also contain a more functional purpose in many instances. For example, a dashed border…

When making a complex project with multiple images in Adobe Illustrator, it's often a good practice to work on each image separately and combine them to create the final project. Illustrator lets you…

To add editable soft- or hard-edged shadows to the graphics and type you create in Adobe Illustrator, use the program's pixel-based drop shadow live effect. Apply it to an individual object, group of…

Maintaining equal space between elements is an important design consideration to help maintain an organized appearance. Adobe Illustrator allows you to evenly distribute elements in your design…

Adobe Illustrator is a vector drawing application that enables the user to create layered drawings and images. Vector drawings are based on mathematical formulas and will retain the quality of the…

You can draw curved lines in Adobe Illustrator using the Pen Tool, or create new curves in existing lines using the Convert Anchor Point tool. Clicking and dragging the anchor points of a line with…

Adobe Illustrator CS5 lets you make modifications to images directly within the program including slanting and distorting. Slanting an image is also known as skewing. Distorting stretches the image…

Adobe Illustrator is a vector-drawing application, though it can also process and work with raster images. Though Adobe Illustrator is not optimized for resizing images, you can still expand an image…

Use the Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator to redraw an object you have already saved, or an object that is in any image file. If you are redrawing a three-dimensional object, treat each plane that you can…

Learn to draw superheroes in Illustrator CS5 so you can actively participate in and help create the ongoing adventures of your favorite hero. Drawing superheroes is based on the practice of figure…

If you want to curve whole shapes in Illustrator, there are a few ways. To create simple curves like arches, you can use the options found in the Warp section of the Effects menu. To create customized…

A knockout is a prepress technique that prohibits discoloration of overprinting objects on a printing press. For example, if your document has light-colored text over a dark-colored background,…

Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics program that allows you to export graphics in a variety of formats, some of which support transparency or semi-transparent colors. Transparent graphics allow a…

Learn to make translucent shapes for jellyfish in Illustrator so you can create underwater scenes containing this creature. Illustrator's layering tools makes translucency possible. Layers are virtual…

The implementation of graphic software into the workstation of artists has completely changed how basic operations are performed. For example, tracing artwork no longer requires you to use a pen and…

An illustration is a device used to provide further explanation or demonstration in written or oral language. These explanations are used to help the audience better understand what the speaker or…

Adobe's Illustrator vector graphics software allows you to create and edit images built from lines, points, curves and polygons rather than from the pixels that comprise a bitmap image like a BMP or…

The Layers function in Adobe Illustrator lets you separate parts or elements of your graphic into virtual layers and work with the elements on the individual layers. Each layer can be modified or…

Drawing a pinstripe in Adobe Illustrator may seem like a challenge at first. Drawing a single thin line is not difficult, but putting another beside it and completely parallel does take some work,…

Illustrator is a vector-based graphics program offered by Adobe. Illustrator has many tools and features you can use to create your design ideas. These tools can create anything from highly realistic…

Filling the artboard in Adobe Illustrator to change the background color is not the same as filling the background in a pixel-based program such as Photoshop or Paint. Illustrator does not have a…

Cropping vector artwork in Adobe Illustrator is different than cropping pixel artwork in Photoshop. This is because when you crop pixels, Photoshop simply deletes the pixels outside the crop area.…

After spending countless hours illustrating the perfect symbol for your design, you will most likely want to share what you have created with other illustrators. Adobe's Website contains a link to…

Combine a line and a closed shape in Adobe Illustrator to unite the two objects so that they become one. Simple paths such as lines must be expanded into closed shapes before you can merge them with…

To create a polka dot-patterned fill that covers the background behind text or graphics in an Adobe Illustrator document, you could draw your pattern dot by dot -- or simplify your task by creating an…

You can use Adobe Illustrator to combine different objects create new shapes and designs by using the Pathfinder panel. There are 10 ways of combining two or more objects, including merging them…

There are multiple types of blur in Adobe Illustrator and each one affects the blur differently, resulting in a distinct outcome. Contrary to Illustrator's vector-based graphics, blur effects are…

The three different ways to create 3D objects in Adobe Illustrator CS4 are found in the 3D section of the Effects menu. The Extrude & Bevel effect can be used on one or more objects you have drawn in…

Adobe Illustrator's handles enable you to manipulate the shape of bezier curves. These handles project from any anchor point that joins at least one curved line segment to another segment. Each handle…

Vector and raster graphics are the two main types of graphics. Raster, or bitmap, images create images with numerous, static pixels. Vector graphics contain mathematical formulas to create lines and…

Each time you use Adobe Illustrator's Rounded Rectangle tool, it produces a square or rectangular vector graphic object with four equally rounded corners. You can specify the object's dimensions and…

Adobe Illustrator CS5 creates graphics with a series of paths, which are lines created by Illustrator's many tools. Anchors reside at the ends of each path and function as connection nodes. Think of…

You can use the Feather effect in Adobe Illustrator to create softened edges on the outline of any photo. Using the Feather effect directly on a photo will feather all of the edges. The higher the…

Adobe Illustrator offers several stroke styles and brush sizes to ink a drawing. You can use the same techniques shown with the Pencil Tool as with the Paintbrush Tool. Adobe Illustrator CS5 includes…

Combine objects in Adobe Illustrator in a number of ways to create new and useful shapes. Using the Pathfinder panel, there are ten different ways to combine objects including uniting them or removing…

Adobe Illustrator is a vector drawing program that gives the artist great control and flexibility in drawing, shading and filling objects on the artboard. For a smoother, more fluid and organic look,…

Computer graphics programs allow artists to create drawings and images in realistic ways. The Alias StudioTools program, now called the Autodesk AliusStudio, is a library of design programs for…

Lens flares are easy to do in Photoshop, and until Adobe introduced the "Flare" tool in Illustrator with CS3, they required a lot of fiddling around with settings to do in Illustrator. The advantage…

Adobe Illustrator's traditional method of creating rectangles and squares with rounded corners consisted of drawing these objects with the Rounded Rectangle tool or applying a permanent effect to a…

Illustrator is a powerful professional graphics application made by Adobe. Those who are new to the program might wonder how you import raster-based graphics such as GIFs into the program and use…

Adobe Illustrator uses clipping masks to determine how much of a piece of artwork -- bitmap or vector -- remains visible and printable. You can create a clipping mask out of a simple rectangle or…

Adobe Illustrator's Color Ramp, also called a Tint Ramp, appears at the bottom edge of the program's Color panel. When you define your active color by using RGB, CMYK, HSB or Web-safe values, the…

A distressed paper effect makes a piece of artwork look antique or a little bit more "urban." While the usual graphics program to do this in is Photoshop, Illustrator can also perform this technique.…

Adobe Illustrator's Eraser tool offers an intuitive way to remove parts of your artwork as you design and refine it. It simplifies the tasks of editing Illustrator files by removing the need to select…

Adobe Illustrator CS5 incorporates editable live effects that create soft pixel-based highlights around or inside your vector artwork. In addition, Illustrator offers a range of Photoshop effects that…

3D silhouettes are a technique used in logo design and in making presentations. While Illustrator's 3D tools aren't as robust as a dedicated 3D rendering package such as Lightwave, they are more than…

Illustrator's rectangle tool is one of several shape modes offered in the vector program. The rectangle tool functions like many vector objects. It's created with lines, paths and handles that can be…

Panels contain many of the tools needed to create vector graphics in Adobe Illustrator. The panels are stacked along the left and right of the workspace, away from the "artboard" where vector objects…

Adobe Illustrator is a popular vector-based drawing, painting and graphics program that allows you to create complex art with text that can be manipulated, filled, stroked, distorted and completely…

Adobe Systems introduced the concept of multiple Adobe Illustrator artboards in Illustrator CS4, replacing previous versions' use of the Crop Area tool with crop-specific work areas that offer…

Damask patterns are stylized, repeatable patterns often used in textiles and clothing. If you are working on a project that requires a damask pattern as a background for a web page, ad or flier, you…

Adobe Illustrator is a program that lets you use a variety of design tools to create images, including pictures of trees. You may find you need a tree in the background of a picture you're creating,…

Vertically aligning a text box in Adobe Illustrator is a simple process using the "Align" or "Align and Distribute" function in the program's control panel. You can align your text box along a…

Adobe Illustrator is a powerful graphic design program that is used to create vector images. In a vector image, the final product is represented with paths instead of pixels, which allows the image to…

Projecting text (or other media) onto the surface of a sphere is a graphic design technique that's used a lot in advertising, in making billboard displays and in designing flyers. Some clients might…

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…

Adobe Illustrator's vector tools allow you to make nearly any shape imaginable using the Bezier curve tools and the line segments. However, you can also make some particularly challenging shapes with…

Adobe InDesign shares a number of drawing and path manipulation tools with Adobe Illustrator. The basic paradigm for drawing in both programs is shapes defined by lines, which are called paths. When…

Adobe Illustrator is a powerful graphic design application that is compatible with the Windows and Mac OS X operating systems. The program allows users to create computer graphics with clean lines and…

A pixel is a square, colored dot that when combined with many others is used to make up the basis for a digital image. A stuck pixel refers to a single rogue pixel that is often a significantly…

Illustrator is a graphic design tool produced by Adobe. In this program, you can draw almost anything that you can draw by hand, such as a frog. There are freehand drawing tools and coloring tools…

Adobe Illustrator provides tools to make precise, colorful graphics, but it is not the best way to outline an idea or form quickly. Instead, traditional hand sketching is the best means to capture…

Neon signs are composed of narrow, curvilinear tubes lit by excited inert gas electrons hitting a phosphorescent layer on the interior of the tube. These lit tubes create bright light with moderate…

Plaid patterns periodically become fashionable in design, and the visually active color fields in the pattern add dynamism to materials and layouts. Although plaid patterns have been used throughout…

The visual diagrams and flow charts created by Microsoft Visio are clear and easily readable, and they can stand out in any presentation or meeting. You can quickly replicate the sharp style of these…

Illustrator's 3D effects can make a two-dimensional object three-dimensional using two effects called extruding and beveling. The object can be modified to accommodate lighting, shading, rotation and…

As a graphics program, Adobe Fireworks CS5 is a bit different from other graphics programs. It can be used to edit both vector and raster-based images. This dual capability makes the process of…

JPEGs are a way of saving an image using a specific type of file compression. Because pixels form the basis of any digital image and JPEGs are used to save them, all such files incorporate pixels.…

A seamless vector pattern is like the "little black dress" of the design world; dress it up or down anyway you like. Convert the pattern into a Photoshop brush, use it as a background, design element,…

Adobe Illustrator is a graphic design software program. The program includes many preinstalled templates to make simple design projects easier and quicker to complete. Adobe Illustrator templates may…

Not just for illustration, Adobe llustrator contains several hidden features that you can use to spice up images, including built-in filters so you can lighten and manipulate images to give them a new…

The long-awaited multiple-page option, called "artboards," was added to Adobe Illustrator in CS4. With this option, you can work on a design that needs to be published across multiple pages while…

Adobe Illustrator allows you to work with vector graphics that are enlargeable to sizes as large as large posters or billboards. With this type of program, you also have the ability to convert colors…

Rounded corners can often give objects a smoother, more appealing look, but the wrong radius on a corner can also make the object look odd. You could manually draw round corners on your shapes;…

One fascinating graphics art technique that looks much harder than it is in Adobe Illustrator is making a 3-D ribbon effect. It uses the Symbols palette and the 3-D rendering tools to map artwork to…

Sometimes when typing an email, you may find yourself wishing for a broader range of decorative possibilities. One quick and easy solution involves using the pipe character on your keyboard to create…

Adobe added a basic 3-D rendering engine to Illustrator with CS2, and this engine has remained unchanged in its user interface as the versions have advanced. These tools allow you to extrude…

Pixels are the small, square, colored dots that make up a digital image. Creating pixel effects can give an image an interesting stylistic design or "computerized" feel. Thanks to filters in many of…

Vector graphics are endlessly useful, providing the ability to scale images up and down without any loss of quality. Creating seamless patterns in such a method extends such possibilities even…

Damask is a complex weaving style that originated in the early Middle Ages near Damascus, Syria. In graphic design, Damask is an ornate and decorative pattern that creates a vintage sophisticated feel…

Humans use their lips to form words as a primary method of communication. Use your vector imaging program to create a scalable image that humorously reflects this notion, displaying words not escaping…

Adobe InDesign is a page layout software that gives designers flexibility and functionality. Paths allow you adaptability in creating text in any shape. The scissors tool and pathfinder panel permit…

Adobe Illustrator is the leading vector-drawing program on the market due to its power, flexibility and gradual learning curve. The opportunity to draw and create vector-based graphics that have the…

Adobe Illustrator is a graphics applications that allow you to create and manipulate vector artwork. Illustrator comes with many features, tools, and filters for creating unique designs, including the…

Create a bottle and wrap a label around it in Illustrator to make a 3D image of a bottle. Labeled bottle images can be used for advertising, making menus and other commercial applications. Create your…

Adobe Illustrator is a vector editing program for the Mac and Windows operating systems. Using Adobe Illustrator, you can create vector graphics from scratch or edit preexisting graphics. One effect…

Adobe Illustrator allows amateur and professional designers make scalable vector images to be used and altered without any degradation of quality. The possible results from an Illustrator creation are…

Every release of Adobe Illustrator attempts to incorporate new tools based on the requests of its customer base. Users wanted the ability to easily make scalloped edges in Illustrator and Adobe…

One of the ways that drawing with a computer program is more convenient than drawing on paper is that, if you want to get rid of something, you don't have to erase every single separate line. Instead,…

Paths are the heartbeat of everything in Illustrator. Paths make up any drawing object or shape in the vector drawing program. Each path begins and ends with anchor points that make a path straight or…

Aligning text accurately is vital to creating a clean, appealing illustration. When area text is oriented vertically in Adobe Illustrator, aligning the text might not seem as intuitive as aligning…

Graphic designers and desktop publishers, as well as illustrators, use various software as their basic job tools. One of the commonly used software is Adobe Illustrator, a vector-based software that…

The option for finding your image size in Adobe Illustrator isn't as obvious as in its sister program, Adobe Photoshop. Illustrator offers no "Image" option in its menu bar and no convenient "Image…

Adobe Illustrator is a powerful and widely used graphics application. Since it is vector based rather than raster based, there are limitations to the kinds of changes you can make to the graphics…

Adobe Illustrator features drawing tools that can help you create content and freehand drawings. While freehand drawing is sometimes advantageous, it isn't when you are trying to create a perfect…

Adobe Illustrator is a graphics application used to create and edit vector artwork. You can hide portions of an image when editing vector graphics by using clipping masks. A clipping mask is a shape…

The Artboard tool is a feature of Adobe Illustrator. It allows designers to edit graphics for printing, Web and other media purposes. In an Adobe Illustrator document, users can have up to 100 active…

The human form has long served as an inspiration for art. From sculpture to painting, artists have depicted the human form with a variety of techniques. Depicting the outline or "silhouette" of a…

Illustrator is a graphics program sold by the Adobe corporation. It is vector based, which makes is useful for producing graphics that can be used for many different purposes, from billboards to…

Compound paths and compound shapes allow for a rainbow of creative ways to create and manipulate shapes in Illustrator. Compound paths uses a shape to make a hole in another shape. Several shapes can…

The Fill, Stroke and Live Paint tools provide methods of painting you can use to fill sections of shapes in Illustrator. Fills can be applied to open and closed shapes. The inside of a shape or object…

Mistakes are not simply mistakes in art -- at times they are integral parts of the creative process. For this reason, erasers are important tools in an artist's arsenal, and it's usually necessary to…

When using Adobe Illustrator, you may choose to add rounded borders to frames on a document. Regardless of whether the corners on an object in your Illustrator document are rounded or if they are at…

Adobe Illustrator CS5 allows you to create vector artwork that you can scale indefinitely, and the artwork does not rely on pixels. Illustrator has many options for creating vector artwork, such as…

The artboard in Adobe Illustrator is the printable area around an image. It's roughly analogous to the canvas from other graphics editors, but Illustrator has its own canvas that the artboard is…

Because Illustrator is not a print layout program similar to InDesign, Illustrator does not include standard margin guides. However, occasionally you will want to print directly from Illustrator. Your…

Adobe Illustrator is widely regarded as the top design program for those who create digital designs and illustrations. One of the reasons why it is a top program is because it features a number of…

Adobe Illustrator is a graphic design program developed and marketed by Adobe Systems. With Illustrator, you can create a wide range effects on an existing graphic. You can bend objects within the…

Adobe Illustrator, a vector drawing program, offers several features for manipulating text. In addition to providing text columns, Illustrator can transform text into objects or shapes. Vector drawing…

When you work on a project with Adobe Illustrator, a graphics application, you might need to have multiple pages in a document. For example, you could be working on a cereal box design and you want to…

Using the line tool and several other tools in programs such as Adobe Photoshop, you have the ability to create many variations of lines and curves with minimal training and little difficulty. Within…

Because Illustrator has so many tools for drawing, writing and editing illustrations, Adobe needed these tools to be conveniently accessible. To accomplish this, it placed the tools into groups called…

Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics program. Your main work area for creating vector drawings is called an "artboard." It's a white square or rectangle surrounded by a gray area. If you're creating…

Many illustrators choose to use a tablet when creating digital art because tablets allow them to apply pressure to the brush tool when drawing for more realistic looking artwork. In programs such as…

When you're ready to break up a Microsoft Word document, put text in a box or add some design elements, try getting in line. Use Microsoft Word's line-drawing function to add dashed lines to a…

If you've used Adobe Illustrator CS3, you are probably familiar with the grids found under the "View" menu. Grids are useful when you want to position elements in your artwork, but what if you want to…

Viewing the dimensions of a design piece you have created on your computer is an important step to confirm its size and to make sure everything will print or export properly. The Adobe Illustrator…

With the advent of Web 2.0, graphics have gained a new sheen. Coined in the late 90s, Web 2.0 glossy design may have been inspired by the bright new changes caused by advances in user interaction.…

Founded in 1963, Pantone manufactures a variety of color products including plastic chips and digital swatches. The Pantone Goe swatch system is compatible with Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign…

In the past, the best way to create a grid using programs like Adobe Illustrator and QuarkXPress involved creating a small square, naming it as a pattern and then using it as a fill for a larger…

A Windows Metafile is an image format typically used for clip art. It was the most popular form of vector graphic for Microsoft Office applications before the introduction of Enhanced Metafiles. Adobe…

Adobe Illustrator features the ability to generate multiple pages. These pages are referred to within Illustrator as "artboards," and these pages can be moved around and rearranged as the user sees…

Developed by Adobe Systems and included in its Creative Suite of design products, Illustrator allows you to create drawings, animations, charts, graphs and other scalable vector images. The program…

For years, one of the biggest complaints about Illustrator was its lack of multiple pages. Although there was a work-around that involved print-tiling, graphic designers still preferred a tool they…

You have most likely used grids for drawing since elementary school, whether to help you position elements of the drawing in art or to get an accurately scaled graph in algebra. Dividing an artwork…

Adobe Illustrator is a computer program used to create custom graphics. The CS4 version of the software introduced multiple-artboard capability within one project. While other Adobe programs have a…

After you've created your art in Illustrator, you may wish to add a border around the art board to bring focus to the image and emphasizes the art. Adding a border as an afterthought is a simple…

Adobe Illustrator 10.0 or later

Adding arrows to forms, illustrations, maps and other artwork in Adobe Illustrator CS5 requires only a few more steps than simply drawing a line. If you've been adding heads and tails to your arrows…

Adding a coupon to a flier or advertisement lets you provide a special discount offer or invite customers to sign up for a contest. Bordering your coupon with a dashed line signals the reader to cut…

Sports Illustrated provides both digital and print media to its fan base. Sports Illustrated offers both month-to-month and a full-year plans. The rates differ, but they both have the same…

Windows Vista is one of the latest operating systems from the Microsoft company. The OS runs along the same lines as previous Windows versions, so if you have ever used Windows XP or earlier versions,…

Adobe's Illustrator graphic design program is known for its ability to allow users to create ornate and highly customized digital artwork from scratch. The program enables you to design logos, posters…

Rice Krispies treats are traditional, delicious dessert snacks that people of all ages can enjoy. Knowing how to go the extra mile with your recipe and getting creative gives you the opportunity to…

At first glance, using the Windows operating system can be pretty daunting. The instruction manuals aren't always much of a help because they include far more text than visual images. While some…

Adobe was founded in 1982 and is currently headquartered in San Jose, California. It is a software development company best known for its Creative Suite package which is in its fifth release as of…

Adobe Illustrator CS2 is an older version of the program (with the current version being CS5) but it is still widely used by many individuals and businesses for a wide array of purposes, from…

Dashed lines help denote printed coupons and cut-outs. A dashed line usually demands attention from the viewer. Within graphic design, a solid border may denote security and stability, while a dashed…

Auto CAD is the leading Computer Aided Design program on the market. It allows users to create complex and detailed three-dimensional objects for the architecture, 3D animation and image manipulation…

Moving your computing platform from one operating system to another can be expensive. On top of the cost of a new computer, you need to replace your application software. Adobe Systems helps simplify…

Illustrator is a vector art software program produced by Adobe. It can be used to create vector art (infinitely scalable) rather than the raster art of which Photoshop is capable. Knowing the tool is…

With the development of computer graphics, illustrators now have many different software programs that can aid in the creation of images that can be used online, as well as in traditional print media.…

Adobe Illustrator, a vector graphics editing program, allows you to create templates for corporate correspondence materials. A program that professional graphic designers use, Adobe Illustrator has…

Illustrator CS2 is a computer program designed by Adobe that allows you to create images from scratch on your PC. Illustrator CS2 also allows you to make changes to existing digital images or…

Graphics programs such as Illustrator and CorelDRAW operate fairly similarly, especially when it comes to saving files. Unlike Adobe InDesign, there's no need to package the contents of an Illustrator…

Adobe Illustrator offers users the ability to create professional quality designs that you can use for any type of application, from Web pages to printed media. Illustrator has tools that allow for…

Adobe Illustrator is a vector-based graphics program that uses mathematical formulas to create points, lines, curves and shapes. Illustrator comes with a range of color books, each one a collection of…

Illustrator is a versatile and widely used vector graphics program offered by the Adobe Corporation. It is often used by graphic artists who want to produce images that are infinitely enlargeable.…

Adobe Illustrator is one of the most popular and widely used vector graphics programs on the market. Apart from its own considerable tools, Illustrator also interacts readily with the other products…

Adobe Illustrator allows users to create great looking graphic art with a few mouse clicks. Part of what makes Illustrator so useful is the ability to embellish your artwork after creating it,…

Illustrator is a graphic design program designed by Adobe. The program creates vector graphics. These images are unique because the artist can expand or shrink them to any size without losing any of…

Adobe Illustrator is a powerful graphics editing program that allows designers and artists to create logos, brands, sketches, Web comics and more. The program uses paths to create simple shapes and…

Adobe Illustrator is a graphics editing program that designers and others use to make countless kinds of images, including logos, brands, fashion designs, web comics, and more. If you need to…

Adobe Systems created Illustrator as a graphics editor program. Illustrator is used to create logos, T-shirt designs, billboards, web buttons, comics and much more. The powerful "pathing" intelligence…

Adobe Systems produces Adobe Illustrator as a graphics editor for the computer. The editor uses vectors, rather than pixels, to edit. Vectors allow graphics to be resized without any loss of quality,…

Adobe Illustrator is a graphics-editing application that comes with the Adobe Creative Suite software package. When you create a large image in Illustrator you can print the images so it fits your…

Adobe Illustrator is the leading vector, or "drawing," graphics program. Depending on your drawing skills and knowledge of the program, you can use it to create nearly any kind of drawing. For…

Graphic beams are a very popular technique used in graphic design. Many famous companies have incorporated this technique into their logos and advertisements. Graphic beams are so popular because of…

A great way to add some pop or pizazz to your textual presentation is by employing unique text effects in Adobe Illustrator. Given the ever-growing volume of visual information via the Internet,…

It is time consuming to draw a car realistically with the right perspective and proportion. However, the tools and layers available in Adobe Illustrator make it possible to convert photographs to…

Adobe Illustrator is among the most popular and powerful programs for creating flat artwork. It allows users to create and combine shapes and colors with a few clicks of the mouse. Illustrator also…

Adding a drop shadow in Adobe Illustrator can give text or an image the depth it needs to really pop out. Even a subtle drop shadow can give an image a more realistic, professional appearance. The…

Adobe Illustrator is a professional-grade graphic design application. It lets users create and edit vector-based artwork, a format that allows images to be increased or decreased in size with no…

If you have been working with CorelDRAW and would like to switch over to Adobe Illustrator, you will need to know how to open the CorelDRAW files in Illustrator. If you're using CorelDRAW 10,…

Adobe Illustrator is a unique program in its vector-based designing and the institution of grids. Using certain design techniques and the tools offered by the Illustrator program, many creations are…

Adobe Illustrator is one of the leading programs for creating graphic artwork from scratch. Part of the benefit of the program is that users do not need to be professional artists to create even…

Adobe Illustrator is the preferred software program for many graphic artists. The program is responsible for many of the logos and graphics you see on a daily basis. Illustrator is a powerful tool for…

Nothing says spring like flowers. You can create your own using Adobe Illustrator. Like any artwork, flower creation can vary from person to person. Still, learning some simple steps will help you to…

Before the days of computer printing, typefaces were very expensive. Type foundries, companies that created fonts and sold them to printers, were established around the world. Recently, however,…

There is no quick and easy way to create chrome effects, including chrome vehicle wheels, in Adobe Illustrator. The Chrome filter leaves much to be desired, and simple gradients don't have the detail…

There are perhaps thousands of page curls floating around on the Internet. However, there is a simple method of creating your own hand-drawn page curls suitable for any type of print or web project.

WMF, or Windows metafile, is a file format used to support graphics, clip-art and line-art. WMF files are compatible with Adobe Illustrator, a graphic design program. There are three easy ways to open…

Illustrating flowers and swirls on a computer is not difficult with the right software to help you, such as Adobe Illustrator. If you do not already own a copy of Illustrator, a free trial is…

Adobe Illustrator is the dominant vector graphics editing program available today. It can be used to create logos, posters and many other kinds of artwork and can create these in massive sizes. When a…

Creating a chain-link fence in Adobe Illustrator is complicated, but not difficult. A chain-link fence is actually a series of interlocking vertical zigzags; when hooked together, the appearance is…

If you are familiar with the basic functions of the Pen tool in Adobe Illustrator, you can create a graphic design for a coat of arms that can be scaled for printing at any size, without losing…

Creating a disco ball is a cool yet simple way to introduce yourself to different functions in Adobe Illustrator. You'll learn to make a texture, apply it to a shape and add some impressive bling to…

Adobe Illustrator is a great tool for creating all kinds of shapes. Because it is a vector-based program, it creates vector objects. Objects that can be made larger or smaller without any effect on…

Illustrator is a must-have program in the graphic designer's arsenal. It produces vector-based graphics that can be resized easily without distorting the image. Advanced Illustrator users can create…

Illustrator is a wonderful tool for creating electronic art. Use Illustrator to create graphs for business presentations. Create a graph in Illustrator with some of the new Web 2.0 graphical effects…

Adobe Illustrator is a powerful tool for creating custom graphics and shapes. In just a few steps, you can transform your drawing into a brush that you can easily access and use over and over again.…

You can use the step-and-repeat technique to create a series of objects, with different properties, with just a few keystrokes. You can make copies of a diamond and rotate them in place to make a any…

Adobe Illustrator's paintbrush tool allows you to paint with a variety of custom shapes and patterns. You can paint with a calligraphy pen shape, an ink splatter, even elephants and butterflies. With…

Adobe Illustrator's style libraries provide quick shortcuts to stylizing graphic objects. With one mouse click you can make an element look like a web button, a neon light or a tissue paper collage.…

Illustrator's symbols can save you hours when you must repeat the same element at different scales and positions. One symbol provides a reference to all copies; reducing the hit on your CPU and file…

Snowflakes can dress up any winter scene or illustration. You can make them in Adobe Illustrator and save them as symbols to use with future illustrations or use them with Photoshop and Flash to…

You might know that Adobe Illustrator CS3 is a powerful drawing program, but did you know that it can create animations too? There's only one small catch. You can't preview your animations inside…

Have you ever made a series of the same object in Illustrator, only to discover you need to change something in every one of them? Cheer up. You can create any object as a symbol. Any changes you make…

Color blends are a time-honored tool for creating variety and a sense of dimension in illustrations. Adobe Illustrator offers a number of approaches to creating color blends, but the original gradient…

Adobe Illustrator's pattern brush allows you to paint patterns along a path or create custom tiled frames for two-dimensional objects. Illustrator provides a number of preset pattern brushes for you,…

Adobe Illustrator's scatter brush allows you to paint one or more elements in groups or at random. This makes it much easier to fill in a landscape with grass or a field of flowers with butterflies.…

If you're just learning Illustrator you might think a lot of things that would be easy with a bitmap editor like Photoshop, wouldn't work as an Illustration. How could you make water for instance? Try…

If you want to create complex animations, such as making a character walk, animation software like Flash is always the best option. But if you only need to create a simple walking motion, and can't…

Graphic symbols make life easy for digital illustrators and animators. One original can be used any number of times, and you only need to change the symbol to change every copy. You can edit symbols…

A great way to add a touch of realism to your Illustrator drawings is to shine a light across the contents. You may think you need an image editing program like Photoshop to add lighting, but it's…

One of the drawbacks to vector illustrations is that the lines are so regular. With a pencil or chalk you can vary the width and color of a single line. You could buy an expensive pressure sensitive…

Adobe Illustrator's art brush simulates stylized brush strokes. Art brushes won't make your illustration look like a real painting, but you can certainly add a painting effect. If you can draw a shape…

Consider the following scenario: You spent the entire night creating a dynamic coffee cup illustration for your client, only now he wants you to make it steam. You know you could do it with…

If you want to layout a repeating series of objects in a graphics program (bullets, stars or starbursts) the step and repeat command will simplify your task. Unfortunately for Illustrator users,…

Artists who understand the difference between vector and bitmap images might think it's impossible to create smoke effects in illustrator. Vector programs like Illustrator create shapes with hard…

Even the most novice illustrator realistic water bubbles to an Illustrator image. You don't have to paint the individual bubbles and add shading and highlights; that could take forever. Create a…

Beginning Illustrator artists can test their digital skills by creating a snow globe. You will play with transparency, masks, layers and even create custom brushes. You don't have to create a…

Beginning digital artists often create shadows with drop shadows or by filling a selection with black. Once you study shadows, however, you realize they share color with the object they cast across.…

Creating reflections should be a standard technique in the digital artist's repertoire of. Artists have been creating reflected images in Photoshop since its early releases, but with a little…

Photographers have a tough time with ice water. A good photograph needs good lighting, which, in turn, melts the ice too quickly. A simple solution would be to photograph the water and illustrate the…

One of the first problems digital illustrators take on is how to create the appearance of glass. A great way to practice the technique is to illustrate a ship in a bottle. You can experiment with…

The limitation of processor structure can present problems when adding large numbers together. If the sum of two numbers is larger than the size of the storage location or the register, then you will…

Whether you are a professional designer or a novice, having the right illustration program is essential. If you are in the market for one of these programs remember that not all software is created…

To draw three-dimensional objects in Illustrator, use the Perspective Grid to first determine where the vanishing points of your drawing will be. Drawing a three-dimensional object the first time, use…

If you are sending your artwork to a printer, you will need to produce color separations. Printers divide colored artwork into four plates: cyan, magenta, yellow and black (often referred to…

You can make background artwork show through overlying shapes in Illustrator. This is called using "masks." These instructions apply to Adobe Illustrator 8. Procedures for other versions may vary.

Illustrator's layers allow you to simplify your work. With layers, you can modify, edit, hide or delete one layer of content while the other layers remain intact. These instructions apply to Adobe…

Crop and trim marks in Adobe Illustrator indicate where artwork is to be cut and trimmed after printing. For example, if you are printing a page that you're going to cut into sections, such as labels…

A printer's page size does not necessarily match the artwork in Illustrator. When this happens, you can divide (or tile) the artwork to match a printer's page size. These instructions apply to Adobe…

You can copy text attributes between objects in Adobe Illustrator. These instructions apply to Adobe Illustrator 8. Procedures for other versions may vary.

You can make wavy or zigzag lines in Illustrator. These instructions apply to Adobe Illustrator 8. Procedures for other versions may vary.

You can fill selections with patterns in Illustrator to create jazzy images. These instructions apply to Illustrator 8. Procedures for other versions may vary.

You can create your own patterns to use as fills or swatches for Adobe Illustrator. These instructions apply to Adobe Illustrator 8. Procedures for other versions may vary.

You can cut Illustrator objects into various pieces to create interesting effects. These instructions apply to Adobe Illustrator 8. Procedures for other versions may vary.

Illustrator allows you to align objects relative to other objects. For example, you might want to align a square exactly underneath a second square. These instructions apply to Adobe Illustrator 8.…

Illustrator's Blend tool allows you to blend one shape into another shape. These instructions apply to Adobe Illustrator 8. Procedures for other versions may vary.

You can make text flow along a curved line in Adobe Illustrator. These instructions apply to Adobe Illustrator 8. Procedures for other versions might vary.

You can bring artwork created in other programs into Adobe Illustrator's work area. These instructions apply to Adobe Illustrator 8. Procedures for other versions may vary.

You can use Adobe Illustrator to create vector drawings and text. Vector images consist of lines and curves that are defined by mathematical objects called vectors. These instructions apply to Adobe…