Quick Live Paint Tutorial-V2

8/20/2019 Quick Live Paint Tutorial-V2

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1www.DesignersNexus.com

My Practical Skills™: Quick Live Paint Tutorial

3. With the Live Paint tool still selected, place the cursor over the selected area.

The message “Click to make a Live Paint group” will appear over the selection.

4. Click to simultaneously create a live paint group and ll the sketch with your

chosen color.

1. Select all paths that make up your drawing.

2. Select the Live Paint tool from the tool panel. Choose a color or swatch that

you want to render your artwork with and set it as the Fill Color.

Live Paint Basics:1. Select all paths that you want to ll with color using the the Direct Selection tool

2. Select the Live Paint tool from the tool panel (In CS5, it is hidden beneath the Shape Builder tool). Then choose

a color or swatch that you want to render your artwork with and set it as the Fill Color. In order to set a Fill color, the

Fill box must be active. Click on the Fill box in the Tool panel and it will overlap the Stroke box indicating that the Fill

is active.

3. With the Live Paint tool still selected, place the cursor over the selected area. The message “Click to make a Live

Paint group” will appear over the selection.

4. Click to simultaneously create a Live Paint group and ll the sketch with your chosen color.

The rendered result looks the same as if you had joined all 4 corners to create a closed shape and then chosen a llcolor. The area of the live paint group will highlight with a thick red line each time you pass the Live Paint tool over

All versions of Adobe Illustrator since CS2, have the

Live Paint feature (located in the tool box). Live Paint al-

lows you to ll areas of a sketch similar to bitmap programs,

and eliminates the need to draw closed shapes or join

paths in order to ll them with color ! Instead of treating

each path as a separate object, Live Paint will recognize

and ll in the areas formed by paths with your chosen color.Separate paths not

lled with color.

Separated View

Quick Live Paint Tutorial

Before we jump into lling at sketches with Live Paint, let’s rst go over the basics of Live Paint. Understadning how

Live Paint works will help you make better use of this feature and allow you to troubleshoot any issues you might run

into.


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5. If you are happy with your results click the Expand button in the Control panel to permanently apply your

ll.

6. As a result of expanding a Live Paint group, Illustrator converts the lled area into a separate object based on your

selected paths and keeps your original paths unjoined.

Essentially, what Illustrator actually does is copy your path and join it at the intersection points. The newly created

object (ll) and the original strokes can each be edited individually.

Separate paths rendered with Live Paint (not expanded).


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Keep in Mind...

a. When selecting paths for Live Paint, make sure there are no gaps between them. (Gap options can be

changed by selecting OBJECT>LIVE PAINT>GAP OPTIONS from the top menu bar, see “Gap Options” section

below.)

b. You can choose not to expand a live paint group. In this case, Illustrator will continue to treat the live paint

group as a single object, and you can modify the shape as a single unit using the Direct Selection tool.

The advantage of expanding live paint groups is that the original separate paths (strokes) and new shape cre-

ated from the ll can both be edited individually using the Direct Selection tool.

c. When a live paint group is expanded, all elements of the sketch are grouped by default. The Selection toolwill move and transform the group together. If you want move and/or transform the original paths and ll

area separately, you’ll need to ungroup them by selecting OBJECT>UNGROUP from the top menu bar .

Keep in mind that you need to repeat the “ungroup” command until the option to ungroup is no longer available

(highlighted) in the menu. This will ensure that all the elements of the sketch are separated.


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Live Paint Gap Options As you use Live Paint to ll your sketches with color, you may run into a problem where paint “leaks” through paths

into areas that you did not want to ll. This usually means that you have a “gap” in your artwork. A gap is a small

space between paths.

You can close gaps in your sketch using one of the following options:

Option A: Drawing a new path to close the gap.

Option B: using the Direct Selection tool to move the existing paths to close the gap,


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Option C: adjust the “gap options” for the Live Paint group. The Gap Options window is accessed through the top

menu bar by selecting OBJECT>LIVE PAINT>GAP OPTIONS.

The Gap Options window allows you to control how Live Paint will react to gaps in your artwork. When the Gap

Detection option is selected, Illustrator will recognize the gaps in your artwork and stop the ll color from “leaking”

through. Use the “Paint Stops at” menu to choose the gap size that will be recognized. If Large Gaps is selected,

Illustrator will recognize large gaps in your art and stop paint from leaking through them. If Small Gaps is selected,

Illustrator will recognize small gaps in your art and stop paint from leaking through, however large gaps will not be

recognized and paint will leak through large gaps in your work.

Use the “Custom” eld to set the gap size according to specic pixels. You can also change the Gap Preview Color,which highlights gaps in your artwork. Make sure the Preview box is checked to see gap previews.

Once you’ve adjusted your gap preferences, click “OK” to apply them to the selected live paint group.


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Fill Flat Sketches with Color Using Live Paint

Now that we got the basics out of the way, we’re ready to ll a at sketch with color.

As mentioned earlier, lling sketches with Live Paint eliminates the need to draw sketches with closed shapes,

allowing you to sketch more naturally, and saving tons of time joining paths and layering parts of your sketch just

right.

1.

If outline paths are the same stroke weight, SELECT>SAME>STROKE WEIGHT from the top menu bar to quickly select outline paths.

Then use the Direct Selection tool to manually select any paths of different stroke weight that you wish to include in your Live Paint Group.

1. Use the Direct Selection tool to select the outlines and main paths of the sketch (such as important seam lines

that you may wish to ll with different colors, pattern directions etc.)

Helpful Hint: If your outline paths are all the same stroke weight, you can easily select outline paths by choosing

SELECT>SAME>STROKE WEIGHT from the top menu (Most outlines in our Fashion Sketch Templates are 1 pt.

stroke weight). Then use the Direct Selection tool to manually select any paths of different stroke weight that you wish

to include in your Live Paint Group.

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2. With the sketch outline selected, select the Live Paint tool from the Tool panel (Remember, in CS5 and newer, it

is hidden under the Shape Builder tool). With the Live Paint tool selected , choose the ll color you wish to ll the

sketch with either by clicking on a swatch in the Swatches panel, or by double clicking the Fill box in the Tool panel

and selecting a color from the Color Picker. Your chosen ll color will appear above the Live Paint bucket icon.

3. Now place the Live Paint bucket over the selected sketch and the message “Click to make a live paint group”

will appear next to the cursor.

2.

3.


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4a. Click on the selected sketch and it will be made into a Live Paint group. The section you clicked on will also

be lled with your chosen color. When you place the Live Paint cursor over other areas of the selected sketch, they

will highlight with a thick red border. Click in the remaining areas of the sketch to ll them with color.

Helpful Hint: Color Jumping Notice that your chosen ll color is displayed differently above the Live Paint bucket

icon depending on how you selected your ll color. If you chose an individual color using the Color Picker, a single

mini-swatch with your ll color will appear over the Live Paint bucket.

f you choose a color from the Swatches Panel, you will see a mini-swatch strip of 3 colors. The center color is your

chosen color that is “active” in the Live Paint bucket. The swatches to the left and right are the same colors that pre-

ceed and follow that color in the Swatches Panel.

If you’ve chosen your ll color from the Swatches Panel, you can use the LEFT and RIGHT Arrow keys on your key-

board to quickly “jump” from one color to the next (or previous) color in the Swatches Panel. Press the LEFT Arrowkey to jump back to the previous swatch color, and press the RIGHT Arrow key to jump forward to the next swatch

color.

4a.

Click on the selected sketch and it will be made into a Live Paint group.

The section you clicked on will also be lled with your chosen color.

Single mini-swatch above Paint Bucket icon when ll color is chosen from

Color Picker

Mini-swatch strip above Paint Bucket icon when ll color is chosen

from Swatches Panel.

Chosen Swatch Color

from Swatches Panel

LEFT Arrow Key

selects previous

Swatch color

RIGHT Arrow Key

selects next

Swatch color

When you place the Live Paint cursor over other areas of the selected sketch,

they will highlight with a thick red border. Click in the remaining areas to ll themwith color.


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5. Notice that after the sketch is lled with color, most of the sketch details like topstitching and skirt fold lines are

no longer visible. That’s because the sketch outlines are at the front of the stacking order. The stitches and seamlines

are behind the outlines in the stacking order, so they were covered by the ll color.

To send the ll color to the back of the stacking order, you rst need to expand the Live Paint group. With the Live

Paint group selected, click the Expand button in the Control panel. The Live Paint group is now expanded into sepa-

rate paths and ll shapes.

NOTICE the difference in the bounding box handles when the Live Pain Group is active, VS after is is Expanded.

5.

NOTICE the difference in the bounding box handles when the Live Paint Group is still active VS when it is expanded.

4b. To continue lling areas of the sketch in different colors while still in Live Paint mode, you can either: A. Choose

the desired ll colors using the Color Picker or Swatches Panel without deselecting the Live Paint tool. OR

B. Press the LEFT or RIGHT arrow keys on your keyboard to quickly scroll through colors in the Swatches panel.

4b.

You can continue lling areas of the sketch in different colors without leaving Live Paint mode

Don’t forget to ll small areas like the folds in this skirt sweep - You made them part of your Live Paint Selection, right?

If not, don’t worry. We’’ll cover that later ....


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6. When a Live Paint group is expanded, the outline paths and the lled areas of the sketch remain grouped to-

gether. To work with each element of the sketch individually, you must ungroup them. With the group selected, right

click and select UNGROUP. Notice that the paths are now separate from the ll.

6.

6a.

6b.

To work with paths and ll areas of the sketch separately, you must un -

group them. With the group selected, right click and select UNGROUP.

Notice that once expanded and ungrouped, the paths are now separate from the ll.

The ll areas can continue to be ungrouped into individual shapes.

(we don’t recommend this!!)


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7a. Now we can send the lled areas to the back of the stacking order to make sketch details like topstitching and

skirt folds visible. Use the Selection tool to select all ll areas at the same time (we recommend keeping lls grouped

together when possible). With all ll areas selected, click OBJECT>ARRANGE>SEND TO BACK from the top menu

bar.

7a.

With all ll areas selected, click OBJECT>ARRANGE>SEND TO BACK from the top menu bar. The selected ll areas will be sent

to the back of the stacking order.

Since the outlines, topstitching and seamlines are at the front of the stacking order, they are all clearly

visible.

7b. All the selected ll areas will be sent to the back of the stacking order. Since the outlines, topstitching and

seamlines are at the front of the stacking order, they are all clearly visible.


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9. It’s super easy to recolor a Live Paint group after it has been expanded. To apply a different color to a ll area,simply use the Direct Selection tool to select the desired ll area. Then choose the desired color from the Swatches

Panel and it will be applied to the selected ll area. (You can also select pattern swatches and gradients to ll your

sketch with). To learn how to ll sketches with patterns (and rotate and scale pattern placements), see our Adobe

Illustrator for the Fashion Inudstry eBook).

9.

8.

To apply a different color to a ll area, simply use the Direct

Selection tool to select the desired ll area

To apply a different color to a ll area, simply use the Direct

Selection tool to select the desired ll area

Then choose the desired color from the Swatches Panel and

it will be applied to the selected ll area.

Then choose the desired color from the Swatches Panel and

it will be applied to the selected ll area.

8. To make it easier to select and move your sketch around for presentations, line sheets, etc. group the lled areas

and outline paths together, (the ll areas will still remain their own group within the larger grouping).

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Now your at sketch is lled with color!

Helpful Hints:

Filled Paths: Before using Live Paint, make sure all of your paths have no Fill Color applied, or you’ll end up with

something like this when you try to use Live Paint:


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Forgotten Paths: If you already started lling your sketch with Live Paint and realize that you forgot to select a path,

use the Direct Selection tool to select the path(s) that you missed, then click the “Merge with Live Paint Group” but-

ton in the top menu to add those paths to your existing Live Paint group. Now you can continue using the Live Paint

bucket to ll the rest of your sketch.

Uh oh! What about the waistband?

Use the Direct Selection tool to select the path(s) that you missed, then

click the “Merge with Live Paint Group” button in the top menu to add

those paths to your existing Live Paint group.

Now you can use the Live Paint bucket to ll the rest of your sketch.


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Part of the beauty of Live Paint is that you no longer need to sketch each detail as individual closed shapes!

(We really can’t stress this enough!) You can sketch more naturally as you would by hand, and Live Paint will rec -

ognize shapes where paths touch and ll them for you!

Here’s the same style, sketched more naturally, and lled using Live

Paint.

Fill Areas removed and detail paths separated - much cleaner sketch.

Filled areas separated from sketch outline.


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Troubleshooting:Let’s cover some common issues you might run into while lling sketches with Live Paint:

Problem: I selected the outline paths but I still need to join paths to get Live Paint to recognize the shapes!

Solution: No you don’t! You can either:

A. Adjust the Gap Options: If you set “Paint Stops at” to Medium or Large gaps, the paths won’t need to touch or be

joined (we recommend Medium for most sketches), OR

By setting Gap Options, paths don’t even need to touch to ll them with Live Paint!

B. Simply move the endpoint of one path so it touches the other path - now Live Paint will recognize the shape. No

need to actually “join” them (unless you want to).

Endpoints touching - not joined. Paths touching, endpoints crossed - not joined. Live Paint lls the shape with paths not joined.


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Problem: I get a message that says “Complex visual appearance attributes such as brushes may be lost

when converting to a Live Paint group”.

Solution: If the visual appearance is a brush for topstitching, gathers, or similar brush used for a garment detail,

these should NOT be included in your Live Paint group. Only the sketch outlines and important seam lines should

be selected for Live Painting.

DO NOT include garment details like topstitching, unimportant seamlines, gathers,

buttons, etc. in your Live Paint group (even if they are not a complex appearance)!

If the brush IS a main sketch outline (such as one of our skirt sweep brushes shown here), the brush will be removed

from the path when Live Paint is applied.

If a complex appearance (such as a brush) is selected in the Live Paint group, it will be removed from the sketch when Live Paint is applied.

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To prevent this, we recommend expanding the brush (OBJECT>EXPAND APPEARNACE). to create the Live Paint

ll. Now the expanded paths can be used in the Live Paint group just like any other path.

If the complex appearance would be complicated to work with when expanded, like this pleated ribbon brush, then

using the Direct Selection tool, COPY the path and PASTE IN FRONT. Remove the brush (or appearance) so the

path is a plain stroke (no ll).

To prevent complex appearances from being removed from the sketch when Live Paint is applied, choose OBJECT>EXPAND

APPEARANCE.

The expanded paths can now be included in the Live Paint group just like any other path.

Using the Direct Selection tool, COPY the path, and PASTE IN FRONT. Remove the brush (or appearance) so the path is a

plain stroke (no ll).

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Now, select the plain path and choose OBJET> SEND TO BACK. Select the plain path instead of the brush when

making selections for your Live Paint group.

Now, go forth and use Live Paint to quickly and easily ll any at sketch with color and patterns!

Select the plain path and choose OBJET> SEND TO BACK. Select the plain path instead of the brush when making selections for

your Live Paint group.

Send the Live Paint ll to the back, and the ribbon brush remains in tact! Finished sketch with brush stroke color changed to correct color and shoulder

& CF strap with correct ll color applied.


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To learn how to rotate, scale and modify patterns in your sketches, or if you need a refresher on using Adobe Illustra-

tor to draw at sketches. see our Adobe Illustrator for the Fashion Industry ebook!

inc.

© 2008 Designers Nexus Inc.

All rights reserved. You may not modify, transmit, publish, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce, create

derivative works from, distribute, perform, display, or in any way exploit, any of the content of our eBooks, in whole

or in part without written permission from Designers Nexus Inc.

Create custom details- FAST: Create custom rouched seams, fur trims, pleated edges, owing skirt hems,

smocking, knit ribbing, shadows, highlights, texture, and more using features in the Effect menu. (To learn how to

apply Effects to your fashion sketches, check out our Adobe Illustrator Advanced Techniques Interactive eBook)

Add fabric, hardware, and trims to your sketches in a few clicks: Use our pre-sketched Vector Garment Acces-

sories, Fabric Swatches & Fashion Embellishments, & Adobe Illustrator Fashion Brushes, and Sweater Brushes to

add zippers, buttons, buckles, stitching, rufes, lace, trims, cables, and more to your sketches!
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Quick Live Paint Tutorial-V2