Adobe Illustrator Tutorial 1

8/3/2019 Adobe Illustrator Tutorial 1

1/53

Whenever I get a question from a user asking me how did you draw this?, I often have to

answer that Ive used the Pen tool. The Pen tool is probably the hardest tool to learn inIllustrator. It just takes time to master it fluently, but once you do, you have this freedom to

create. Sometimes we can get a long way using only shape tools like the ellipse, polygon,rectangle or rounded rectangle. With a bit of creative thinking and some simple aligning in

combination with Pathfinders powerful tools you might just achieve the perfect drawing in no

time. Here is another Illustrator tutorial where I show you to draw a simple icon without the use

of the Pen tool

Draw the basic shapes

Before you start you might activate Smart Guides (View > Smart Guides). Select theRounded

Rectangle Tool from the Toolbox and draw a shape as shown in the image above. You can

modify the corners of the rectangle using the up or down arrow keys while dragging the shape.

Make sure the radius of the rounded corners of the rectangle is big enough. Next, select theRectangle Tool and draw a small vertical rectangle shape below as shown in the right-hand side

image. Now select the Polygon Tool and draw a small hexagon below the small rectangle (seeimage above).

Select the Selection Tool (black arrow) and select the 3 shapes. Click theHorizontal AlignCenterfrom the toolbar at the top. Select theDirect Selection Tool (white arrow) and drag a

selection over the bottom 2 points of the hexagon.


2/53

Resize and align the shapes

Click in one of the points, hold down the Shift key and drag the 2 points downwards as shown inthe left-hand side image above. Now select the Selection Tool (black arrow) again and select the

small rectangle above the hexagon. Hover your cursor somewhere on the middle of the bottom

border until you get the resize cursor icon. Drag the border of the rectangle downwards so it

overlaps the hexagon shape.

Finalize the grip, merge and align shapes

Select both the rectangle and the hexagon using the Selection Tool (black arrow). Go to the

Pathfinderpalette. If you can't find the palette on your screen, go to Window > Pathfinder. Click

theAdd to shape area option, then click theExpandbutton. Now select theRounded Rectangle

Tool from the Toolbox again and draw a vertical shape to finalize the grip of the screwdriver.

Don't forget to use the up or down arrows to modify the radius. Also, you can use the spacebar to

move its position while you draw the shape. Select the Selection Tool (black arrow) to select theshape you've just drawn. Now we're going to duplicate this shape. Hold down the Shift andOption/Alt key while dragging the shape to the right. Select the grip lines and group them: go to

Object > Group or hit command/control + g. Now select all 3 rounded rectangles and select the

Horizontal Align Centerfrom the toolbar at the top.


3/53

Subtract shapes

With the 3 rounded rectangles still selected, go to the Pathfinderpalette again and choose

Subtract from shape area and click theExpandbutton in the palette. Hold down the Shift key and

select the other shape of the screwdriver. Group both shapes into 1 object: Object > Group or

command/control + g.That's it for now for the screwdriver. Now we're going to draw the wrench.

Select theEllipse Tool and draw a circle (hold down the shift key). Select theRounded Rectangle

Tool and draw a rounded rectangle shape on top of the circle as shown in the right-hand side

image. Use the up and down arrow keys to modify the corner radius meanwhile you drag the

shape. Use spacebar to move the rectangle while dragging.

Select both the rounded rectangle shape and the circle using the Selection Tool (black arrow) and

click theHorizontal Align Centerfrom the toolbar at the top. Go to the Pathfinderpalette again

and choose Subtract from shape area. Click theExpandbutton in the palette to expand the

object. Select theRounded Rectangle Tool from the Toolbox again and draw a vertical shape forthe grip of the wrench. Then select theEllipse Tool again and draw a small circle (holding down

the shift key) at the bottom and on top of the wrench's grip. Now select all shapes of the wrenchusing the Selection Tool (black arrow) and click theHorizontal Align Centerfrom the toolbar atthe top.


4/53

Select the small circle and the rounded rectangle, go to the Pathfinderpalette again and choose

Subtract from shape area and click theExpandbutton in the palette. Now select all shapes of the

wrench and click theAdd to shape area option, then click theExpandbutton.

Rotate and finalize

Select the screwdriver using the Selection Tool (black arrow). Hover with the mouse on one of

the corners of the selection until you see your cursor changing into a rotation cursor icon. Hold

down the mouse to rotate the object and hold down the Shift key while rotating. Release themouse and the shift key at 90, so the screwdriver is horizontally. Click theHorizontal Align

Centerand then the Vertical Align Centerfrom the toolbar at the top (see right-hand side image

above).


5/53

Select theRectangle Tool and draw a rectangle shape on top in the center of both tools as shown

in the left-hand side image. Select both the rectangle and the screwdriver (use shift key inbetween selections, to select both objects). Go to the Pathfinderpalette again, choose Subtract

from shape area and click theExpandbutton.

Select all objects using the Selection Tool (black arrow). Hover with the mouse on one of the

corners of the selection until you see your cursor changing into a rotation symbol. Hold down the

mouse to rotate the object and hold down the Shift key while rotating. Release the mouse and the

shift key at 45 as shown in the image above. That's it! Congratulations, you have created your

'tools' icon :)

Step 1

Open up Illustrator and create a new document. Grab the ellipse tool. Draw out a new circlewhile holding down shift to maintain the proportions. Fill the circle with a light blue, I used

#A1BEE4. Set the stroke to none.


6/53

Step 2

With the circle you just drew selected, hit ctrl + c to copy it and ctrl + f to paste it in place in

front. Now resize it down while holding shift + alt to scale it proportional in place. Change the

fill color to a nice brown, I used #766352. Keep the stroke at none.


7/53

Step 3

Next up, I went in search for some free vector palm trees for our logo. I found some nice ones atvector4free, you can download them here. Place them in your Illustrator document. Size the treesand birds and place them in the logo using the image below as a reference. Change the fill colorto the same light blue you used before. I also ungrouped them by selecting Object->Ungroup.

Then I moved one of the birds up and to the right. I just thought it looked better there :)


8/53

Step 4

Now we are going to start work on the text of the logo. Well need a path to work with, so selectthe inner brown circle and click ctrl + c then ctrl + f to paste a new copy in place, in front ofthe old one. In the tool bar on the left, click and hold the text tool to reveal all the options withinthat block. Select the Type on a Path Tool. Now change your font settings to the same brown

color, Trajan Pro for the font, and 45 for the Font Size, set the text alignment to center. Lastly,

open up your Character palette. If its not already open, then clickWindow->Type->Character.

Change the Tracking to 50, the Vertical Scale to 90% and the Baseline Shift to 10pt. All these

settings are suggestions for those who are following along, they may vary for you, if youve

sized things differently. So use trial and error until things look just right.


9/53

Step 5

You should still have the Type on a Path Tool selected, now click on the top of the circle youcopied and pasted in the previous step. This will send your cursor to the bottom of the circle,because youre working on type on a closed path (a circle) and this is the center point. Noproblem, will fix this in the next step. Type in your words, in this case, Blue Palms.


10/53

Step 6

Now we need to rotate that text along the path and into the correct spot. To do so, grab the directselection tool, and hover over the text at the bottom where the blue vertical line is (its circled inthe image below). When your cursor is over that line, youll notice that your cursor changes to anarrow with a small upside down T next to it. When you get that cursor, click and drag your text

to rotate it along the confines of the path. Place it evenly at the top. If you used different settings,

you may have to adjust some of the character attributes to get it to sit properly.


11/53

Step 7

We add the text Beach Resort in much the same manner. This time copy and paste the biggerblue circle in front of itself, we will use this as our path. Change the character settings to 200 forthe Tracking, 12 for the Baseline Shift, and 43pt for the Font Size. With the Type Along a Pathtool selected, click at the top of your newly pasted circle. Type in your text. Now clickType-

>Type on a Path->Type on a Path Options. Check preview and flip, you will see the text flip

over its path right away. There are some other interesting options in this window that are worth

learning about, but this will suffice for our logo.

Step 8

Grab the ellipse tool and with the same brown color you used previously, draw two small circlesbetween the words on each side. Use the align options to align the circles.


12/53

Step 9

In the last steps we are going to add our grunge. Select everything and choose Object->Group

to group our entire logo together. Now find a texture that you want to use as an transparency

mask. Below is the one that I used, which you are welcome to use as well. Its modified from atexture I found at Grunge Textures.


13/53

Step 10

Open up your transparency palette, if its not already open clickWindow->Transparency. Clickon the small arrow in the top right of the palette and choose Make Opacity Mask from the list

of options that appear. Then clickFile->Place and drop in your texture that you are using. Resize

it and adjust it until you have the texture you like. Make sure to click back on the image

thumbnail within the transparency palette when you are done to get out of the transparency maskmode that you are in.


14/53

Thats It!

I hope this tutorial sheds some light on the possibilities of text on a path and texturing a logo

within Illustrator. Have your say, drop me a comment below. Also as always, if you do this

tutorial and come up with a cool result, Id love to see it showcased in my Flickr Group. Lastly,if you have an idea for a tutorial, let me hear it, share your ideas in the Community Suggestion

Box.

eginner Illustrator Tutorial Create a Vector RSS Icon


15/53

The best way to learn the ropThis Adobe Illustrator tutorial

includes a range of handy tec

Adobe Illustrator is a vector g

created at. We can simply sel

likewise scale them down to t

s of a new application is to get stuck in withcovers the simple steps involved in creating

niques that can be put into practice in future

raphics application, so it doesnt matter what

ct all the objects and scale them up to the siz

he desired size. Unlike Photoshop, all our lin

a working project.a vector RSS icon and

creations.

size the icon is

e of King Kong, or

s and shapes will


16/53

keep their crisp lines and colours because theyre made of mathematical calculations rather than

good old pixels.

Open up Illustrator and create a new document. Click and hold the mouse over the Rectangletool to select the Rounded Rectangle option hiding underneath. Draw your shape on the artboardwhile holding Shift, use the arrow cursor keys to adjust the roundness of the corners while

dragging.


17/53

Another difference between Illustrator and Photoshop is the options sat at the bottom of the main

tool palette. In Photoshop, Im sure youre familiar with the foreground and background

swatches In Illustrator this is replaced with the fill colour and stroke colour. Click the stroke

option and clear off any defaults, then bring the fill into focus. Over in the Gradient Panel, addan orange fill that varies from dark to light vertically across the shape.


18/53

With the shape selected, go Object > Path > Offset Path. Enter -1mm in the options. Grab thecorner of the new shape and rotate to 180 degrees so the gradients flow in opposite directions.

Grab the circle tool and draw a shape elsewhere on the artboard. Clear out any fill, and add athick 16pt black stroke.


19/53

With the Direct Selection Tool (White Arrow), select only the left and bottom points of the

circle. Hit delete on the keyboard to trim the circle down to a quarter.


20/53

Copy (CMD+C) the quarter circle and paste in front (CMD+F). Scale it down while holding the

shift key to keep everything tight. Tip: Check the Scale Strokes and Effects option in thepreferences and alter to your personal liking.

Adjust the stroke weight to match the 16pt of the original.


21/53

Press CMD+R to show the rulers, then drag a couple of guides out in alignment with the quarter

circles. Using the intersection as a source, draw a small circle to finish off the traditional RSSshape.

Our two quarter circles are currently set as stroked paths, but we can quickly convert them to

complete shapes by heading to Object > Expand, then selecting just the Stroke option.

With the three objects selected, add a grey-white gradient fill running vertically, and a 1pt light

grey stroke.


22/53

Press CMD-G to Group the objects together, then scale and position them into place in the

overall orange container.


23/53

Select the inner rectangle from the orange box, Copy (CMD-C) and Paste in Front (CMD-F). Fillit with white. One tip to remember is unlike Photoshop, Illustrator can hold multiple items in just

one layer, each stackable on top of each other.


24/53

Draw a large, flat oval over the entire graphic. Pay close attention to how the bottom curve

overlaps the white rectangle. With the oval and rectangle selection, click the Intersect ShapeArea option in the Pathfinder palette.

Reduce the Opacity of this new shape down to around 15%, giving a sleek shine to the icon.


25/53

Finish off the graphic with a couple of specular hightlights in the form of circles. Use 15%

opacity again to maintain a subtle appearance.

There we go, a simple vector RSS icon using some simple steps, but covering some ofIllustrators powerful tools.


26/53

Drawing Straight Lines

Select the Pen Tool and click once to add the first anchor point. Move your mouse to the nextposition and click again to create the second point. The two anchor points will be connected

together. Continue doing this to create a W shape as shown.To draw a new line, click theSelection Tool(The Black Arrow Icon) and click back the Pen Tool again.

Closing a Path

To close a path, click back the starting point to close the shape.

Drawing a Curved Line

Click and drag to put out the handles to create a smooth anchor point.


27/53

Changing Path Directions

Click and drag to create a smooth anchor point. Without releasing your mouse, hold Alt/Optionand drag the handle up to change the path direction.

Drawing a Circular Path

Click and drag to create a smooth anchor point. Continue adding points and click back the

starting point to close the path.


28/53

Adding Anchor Points

With the Pen Tool selected, go near the path where you want to add a new anchor point. A plussign will appear next to the pen, click on the path to create a new anchor point.

Removing Anchor Points

To remove point, move your Pen Tool close to an anchor. A minus sign will appear next to the

pen. Click on the anchor point to delete it.


29/53

Converting Anchor Points

To convert a smooth anchor point to a sharp anchor point, move your Pen Tool near the anchor

and hold Alt/Option and your Pen Tool will change to an arrow shape. Click on the smoothanchor to convert it to an anchor point. Click and drag on the anchor point again to change it

back to a smooth anchor point.

Moving Anchor Points

Select the Direct Selection Tool and click and on anchor you want to move. Click and drag to

change positions.


30/53

Changing Anchor Directions

With the Pen Tool, you can quickly change the anchor directions. Hold Ctrl/Command to quicklychange the Pen Tool to Direction Selection Tool. Select the anchor point you want to edit. The

anchor handle will appear. Now release Ctrl/Command and hold Alt/Option to change it toConvert Anchor Tool. Click and drag the handles to change the direction.

Drawing an Old Key

After learning the concepts of how the Pen Tool works, we will apply what you have learnt to

create this ancient old key shape. For the right angles, hold Shift before adding anchor point to

constrain it to 90-degree.


31/53


32/53


33/53

Final Illustration

This is the final illustration.

Tips for Using Pen Tool

Use as little anchor points your need to create your shape Add anchor points where there is a change in direction of the line/curve Use shortcuts like Alt/Option or Ctrl/Command to quickly swap to other tools to edit your path Hold shift to lock your path while adding new anchor point for 45-degree increments.

More Training for Pen Tool

I have included more exercises for tracing using Pen Tool. Save it to your desktop and place it inillustrator by going to File>Place. Select the image and make sure Template is ticked. The image

will now be faded and placed as a template. Now you can start practicing and dont give up.


34/53


35/53


36/53

Follow this step by step Illustrator tutorial to create a cute vector mushroom character with aJapanese kawaii influence. Well create the basic structure using Illustrators basic shapes, addvariation in the linework to define the character then finish it all off with some vibrant colour

fills.

The character well be making is a little mushroom with that typical super cute Japanese style.

The simple shapes and soft round edges all add to the attraction and help make the character

loveable. Theres essentially three steps: The creation of the basic character structure; The

variation in strokes to define the characters outline; Then the addition of colour fills to bring thecharacter to life.


37/53

Draw a circle on the artboard while holding Shift. Use the Direction Selection tool to drag the

uppermost point vertically to deform the lower edge.


38/53

Draw a Rounded Rectangle to represent the stalk of the mushroom, then Shift-click the

mushroom head into the selection. Give the mushroom head a second click to make it the keyobject, then centre them both up along the Y-axis.

Use the Direct Selection tool to select all the uppermost points of the rounded rectangle then go

to Object > Transform > Scale. Enter 80% in the options window.


39/53

Draw a bunch of randomly sized circles over the mushroom head to create a series of spots.

Make sure some of the circles overlap the edges so theyll appear to wrap around the shape.

Select all the circles and create a Compound Path by heading to Object > Compound Path >

Make, or pressing CMD+8.


40/53

Copy (CMD+C) and Paste in Front (CMD+F) a duplicate of the mushroom head. Press

CMD+Shift+] to make sure its at the top of the stack, then with both the compound path and thisduplicate selected, hit the Intersect option from the Pathfinder palette.

Draw a black filled circle as an eye, then hold Shift and Alt to drag a duplicate. Group the two

eyes then align them centrally to the main body. Make sure the body is activated as the keyobject so it doesnt move out of place.


41/53

Draw a circle with a black stroke then drag a guide to cut across the lower portion. Split the path

according to the guide using the Scissors tool then delete out the upper section.

Bump up the stroke to around 5pt and select the Round Cap option to create a cute little smile.

Align the smile to the main body using the Align palette, remember to give the body shape an

extra click to select it as the key object.


42/53

Duplicate the main body and head shapes (CMD+C / CMD+F) and merge them together with thePathfinder palette.

Increase the stroke of this main outline to around 11pt and select the Align to Outside option

from the Stroke palette.


43/53

Adjust the stroke of the original head shape to around 6pt, aligning it to the outside.

Add some simple colour fills to the original character shapes, such as red for the head and light

flesh colour for the stalk/body. Dont forget a couple of pink circles as rosy cheeks.


44/53

Use these basic colour fills as foundations for a more complex gradient. Create two more

gradient handles, one lighter and one darker then alter the gradient to flow over the mushroomhead.


45/53

Create another gradient for the mushroom stalk/body and alter the gradient to flow vertically

with the darkest colour towards the top to act as a shadow.

A very soft grey to white gradient can be added to the spots to give them a touch of depth as

opposed to the otherwise flat white fills.


46/53

Finish off the character with a nice background. Create a radial fill from white to a subtle pastelgreen inside a rectangle.

Add a grey to transparent radial gradient fill to a circle, squash it down then position it

underneath the character to create a shadow.


47/53

Use the CMD+Shift+[ shortcut to send the shadow to the back, then press CMD+] to bring it upone level above the background rectangle.


48/53

That leaves our cute little Japanese inspired vector mushroom character complete. The overall

structure of the character is made from basic round shapes to give it that friendly appearance.The varied linework helps define the outlines and the colour fills bring it to life with gradients to

add depth and definition.

What is Compound Path?

Compound path is made out of at least two objects. You can add, subtract and intersect shapes to

form a compound path.

Compound Path Cheat Sheet

I have compiled a cheat sheet to show how it looks like using different functions of compound

path. You can see the final effect after we applied the compound path to three colored circles.


49/53

Creating an Ancient Key Using Compound Path

In this tutorial, I will show you how to create an ancient key using compound paths rather thanusing Pen Tool in our previous tutorial.


50/53

Turning on the Grids

Go to View>Show Grid to turn on the grids, then go and turn on Snap to Grid. With the grid andsnapping turned on, you can easily snap objects to the grid.

First draw a Circle using your Shape Tools, hold Alt/Option as you click and drag a new copybeside it.

Duplicate a new circle and place it on top.


51/53

Next, select the Rectangle Tool and continue building up your key shape.


52/53

Swap the Fill and Stroke for the object, this will show you all the objects we have.


53/53

Using the Selection Tool, select the whole shape and go to Window>Pathfinder to bring up the

Pathfinder. Select Add to shape to combine the objects.

You can still make changes to the compound path at this stage. Try moving the top circle below

to see how it works. To do this, double click with the Selection Tool to go into isolation mode to

Adobe Illustrator Tutorial 1

Documents

Transcript of Adobe Illustrator Tutorial 1