Adobe Illustrator6 Essential Tips And Tools

Le Do Nguyet Minh | Graphic Designer | minh.le@iconnect360.com

AppearanceGraphic StyleTransform

WINDOWS

AlignPathfinderBlend

TOOLS

APPEARANCE

Window / Appearance or Shift + F6

| Appearance

| Appearance

| Appearance

• Add in multiple strokes and fill• Rearrange the placements of the effects• Apply effects into a particular stroke or fill• Change opacity of a particular stroke or fill• Illustrator effects are light, while Photoshop effects

are heavy and might takes time to load

Control panel of the appearances and effects of an object

GRAPHIC STYLES

Window / Graphic Styles or Shift + F5

| Graphic Styles

| Graphic Styles

| Graphic Styles

• Similar to Copy Layer Style in Photoshop• Save your appearance setting for future uses or for

consistent design• Graphic Style can be saved and shared

A collection of your pre-made appearance settings

TRANSFORM

Effect / Distort & Transform / Transform or Appearance Window / fx

| Transform

| Transform

| Transform

• Transform your object using an effect instead of an action

• Non destructive design – easy to refer back and makes changes

• Make floating copies that are all linked to the original object

One of the effect from the Appearance Setting

ALIGN

Top Bar (when you select 1 or more objects) or Window / Align

| Align

| Align

| Align

• Similar to the Arrange / Align in Powerpoint• Default alignment is to Artboard• Align to a Key Object by:Select all objects > click on the key object > align• Distribution Spacing

Control board for a perfect alignment

PATHFINDER

Window / Pathfinder or Shift + Ctrl + F9

| Pathfinder

| Pathfinder

| Pathfinder

• Create complex shapes from overlapping shapes• It’s defined using shape, not outline• Can also use Shape Builder Tool as an alternative• Press Alt to create Compound Shape• Release and expand compound shape

A cutting and gluing tool

BLEND

Object / Blend or Tools / Blend Tool or Alt + Ctrl + B

| Blend

| Blend

| Blend

• Blend between lines, shape and even the blends• The path that blend runs along can be modified• Replace Spine Option: change the path to a shape

you created• Can create some highlights for shapes with blends,

when Gradient Tool doesn’t work so well

Create a blend between 2 objects

AppearanceGraphic StyleTransform

WINDOWS

AlignPathfinderBlend

TOOLS

PATTERN

Object / Pattern / Make or Swatches Window

| Pattern

Drag and Drop Method

| Pattern

| Pattern

• Decide your tile type, width and height• Edit while previewing the pattern• Pattern finished as a swatch: can be used in fill or

stroke• Save LOTS OF SPACE compare to copy & paste or

transform effect methods

Create your pattern however you wants it