Adobe Illustrator CS5 bible PHẦN 2 potx

Part I: Illustrator Basics 36 Understanding Pixel Preview mode Because most Web page graphics are pixel-based, Pixel Preview mode is specifically intended for graphics that designers want to place on Web pages. This mode lets you view images before con- verting them to a Web graphics format. Choose View ➪ Pixel Preview, and Illustrator places a check mark next to the Pixel Preview option and then shows a raster form of your image. Figure 2.10 shows what you would see in Pixel Preview mode. In the figure, the artwork is zoomed to 400% to more clearly show the effect of Pixel Preview mode. Cross-Reference For more on color and overprinting, see Chapters 7 and 18. For more on creating Web graphics, see Chapter 19. FIGURE 2.10 With Illustrator’s Pixel Preview option, you can view how the illustrator lines up to the pixel grid. 06_584750-ch02.indd 3606_584750-ch02.indd 36 6/3/10 7:42 PM6/3/10 7:42 PM Chapter 2: Understanding Illustrator’s Desktop 37 Using and creating custom views Illustrator has a special feature called custom views that allows you to save special views of an illus- tration. Custom views contain view information, including magnification, location, and whether the illustration is in Outline mode or Preview mode. If you have various layers or layer sets in Preview mode and others in Outline mode (layers in Preview mode are indicated by regular eye- balls to the left of their names in the Layers panel, while layers in Outline mode show an outlined eyeball), custom views can also save that information. Custom views, however, don’t record whether templates, rulers, page tiling, edges, or guides are shown or hidden. If you find yourself continually going to a certain part of a document, zooming in or out, and changing back and forth between the Preview and Outline modes, that document is a prime candi- date for creating custom views. Custom views are helpful for showing clients artwork that you cre- ated in Illustrator. Instead of fumbling around in the client’s presence, you can, for example, show the detail in a logo instantly if you’ve preset the zoom factor and position and have saved the image in a custom view. To create a new view, set up the document in the way that you want to save the view. Then choose View ➪ New View, and name the view in the New View dialog box. Each new view name appears at the bottom of the View menu. No default keyboard shortcuts exist for these views, but you can create your own shortcuts by using the Keyboard Shortcuts dialog box, available under the Edit menu. You can create up to 25 custom views. Custom views are saved with a document as long as you save it using the Illustrator format. Using screen modes So, you’ve been working on an illustration for an important client (actually, they all are important), and the client scheduled an appointment to see your progress, but the best part of the work is hid- den behind the panels and the Tools panel. You can turn off the panels and the Tools panel or you can switch between the different screen modes. Illustrator uses three screen modes represented by the three buttons at the bottom of the Tools panel. They are Standard Screen Mode, Full Screen Mode with Menu Bar, and Full Screen Mode. In addition to clicking the screen mode buttons in the Tools panel, you can also press F to switch between the three modes. Using the Edit Commands In most programs, including Illustrator, many basic functions of the Edit menu work the same way. If you’ve used the Edit menu in Photoshop or Microsoft Word, for example, you should have no trouble using the same functions in Illustrator because the menu options are located in the same place in each program, as shown in Figure 2.11. 06_584750-ch02.indd 3706_584750-ch02.indd 37 6/3/10 7:42 PM6/3/10 7:42 PM Part I: Illustrator Basics 38 FIGURE 2.11 The various commands under the Edit menu help you to quickly cut, copy, and paste objects from place to place as well as help you undo and redo previously applied commands. Using the Clear command The most simplistic Edit command is Clear. In Illustrator, it works almost exactly like Backspace (Delete). When something is selected, choosing Clear eliminates what is selected. You’re probably asking yourself, “If Backspace (Delete) does the same thing, why do we need Clear?” or “Why didn’t they just call the Clear command Backspace (Delete)?” Ah, the makers of Illustrator are a step ahead of you in this respect. Note that I said “almost” the same way; there’s a subtle yet important difference in what the Clear command does and what Backspace (Delete) does, due to Illustrator’s abundant use of panels. If you’re working on a panel and have just typed a value in an editable text field, Backspace (Delete) deletes the last character typed. If you tabbed down or up to an editable text field and highlighted text or if you dragged across text in an editable text field and highlighted text, then Backspace (Delete) deletes the highlighted characters. In all three situations, the Clear command deletes anything that’s selected in the document. 06_584750-ch02.indd 3806_584750-ch02.indd 38 6/3/10 7:42 PM6/3/10 7:42 PM Chapter 2: Understanding Illustrator’s Desktop 39 Cutting, copying, and pasting The Cut, Copy, and Paste commands in Illustrator are very handy. Copying and cutting selected objects places them on the Clipboard, which is a temporary holding place for objects that have been cut or copied. After you place an object on the Clipboard, you can paste it in the center of the same document, the same location as the cut or copied object, or another document, such as Illustrator, InDesign, or Photoshop. Choosing Cut from the Edit menu deletes the selected objects and copies them to the Clipboard, where they’re stored until you cut or copy another object or until you shut down or restart your computer. Quitting Illustrator doesn’t remove objects from the Clipboard. Choosing Copy from the Edit menu works like Cut, but it doesn’t delete the selected objects. Instead, it just copies them to the Clipboard, at which time you can choose Paste and slap another copy into your document. Choosing Paste from the Edit menu places any objects on the Clipboard into the center of the doc- ument window. Paste is not available if nothing is on the Clipboard. Tip Alternatively, you can use the Paste in Front and Paste in Back options to position the object you’re pasting rel- ative to other objects. Now, here’s the really cool part: Just because you’ve pasted the object somewhere doesn’t mean it isn’t on the Clipboard any more. It is! You can paste again and again — and keep on pasting until you get bored or until your page is an indecipherable mess, whichever comes first. The most important rule to remember about Cut, Copy, and Paste is that whatever is currently on the Clipboard is replaced by anything that subsequently gets cut or copied to the Clipboard. Cut, Copy, and Paste also work with text that you type in a document. Using the Type tools, you can select type, cut or copy it, and then paste it. When you’re pasting type, it goes wherever your blinking text cursor is located. If you have type selected (highlighted) and you choose Paste, the type that was selected is replaced by whatever you had on the Clipboard. You can cut or copy as much or as little of an illustration as you choose; you’re limited only by your hard drive space (which is used only if you run out of RAM). Tip If you ever get a message saying you can’t cut or copy because you’re out of hard drive space, it’s time to start deleting stuff from your hard drive — or simply get a bigger hard drive. Thanks to the Adobe PostScript capability on the Clipboard, Illustrator can copy paths to other Adobe software, including InDesign and Photoshop. Paths created in those packages (with the exception of InDesign) can be pasted into Illustrator. With Photoshop, you have the option of past- ing your Clipboard contents as rasterized pixels instead of as paths. 06_584750-ch02.indd 3906_584750-ch02.indd 39 6/3/10 7:42 PM6/3/10 7:42 PM Part I: Illustrator Basics 40 You have the ability to drag Illustrator artwork from an Illustrator document right into a Photoshop document. In addition, because Adobe lets you move things in both directions, you can drag a Photoshop selection from any Photoshop document right into an Illustrator document. Undoing and redoing You can keep undoing in Illustrator until you run out of either computer memory or patience. After you undo a bunch of times, you can redo by choosing Redo a bunch of times, which is found right below Undo in the Edit menu. And guess what? You can redo everything you’ve undone. So, if you undo 20 times, you can then immediately redo 20 times, and your art looks just like it did before you started undoing. Choosing Undo from the Edit menu undoes the last activity that was performed in the document. Successive undos undo more and more activities, until the document is at the point where it was opened or created or you’ve run out of memory. Choosing Redo from the Edit menu redoes the last undo. You can continue to redo undos until you’re back to the point where you started undoing or you perform another activity, at which time you can no longer redo any previous undos. You have to undo the last thing you did and then actually do everything again. In other words, all the steps that you undid are gone. It’s fine to use the Undo feature to go back and check out what you did, but after you’ve used multiple undos, don’t do anything if you want to redo back to where you started undoing from. Got that? Summary In this chapter, you learned the following: l Illustrator may seem difficult to learn at first, but with this book and a bit of dedication, you can master it. l Illustrator has many keyboard shortcuts that increase productivity. l Adobe has kept the interface similar across its products. l The document window, Tools panel, panels, menus, and status bar look the same in many Adobe applications. l You can view Illustrator documents at virtually any magnification level without actually changing them. l Use the Hand tool to scroll around your document. l Illustrator’s Outline mode lets you see paths without their strokes and fills. l Cut, Copy, Paste, Undo, and Redo are under the Edit menu. l Illustrator provides virtually unlimited undos and redos. 06_584750-ch02.indd 4006_584750-ch02.indd 40 6/3/10 7:42 PM6/3/10 7:42 PM 41 CHAPTER Working with Illustrator Documents IN THIS CHAPTER Creating new documents Changing the document setup Opening and closing Illustrator files Saving files Using the Export command Placing art Understanding vector-based and pixel-based images Placing raster images Working with rasterized Illustrator artwork Using raster images Working with document and file information W hen you create an illustration in Illustrator, you’re actually creat- ing a document that you can place on the Web, send to a printer, or simply save on your computer. This chapter covers how to set up and change a document, how to open and save files, and how to export and place files. You also find out the difference between pixel-based docu- ments and vector-based documents. Setting Up a New Document When you first load Illustrator, you see the Illustrator Welcome Screen, as shown in Figure 3.1, which allows you to choose to create a new document from scratch or from an existing Illustrator template. Alternatively, you can choose to open an existing document so that you can do some additional work with that document. Note The Illustrator Welcome Screen lists recently opened files, allowing you to open them directly with a single click on the name of the file and also allowing new documents to be quickly created from the list of document profiles on the right. If you have Illustrator already up and running without the Welcome Screen showing, you can create a new document by choosing File ➪ New or by pressing Ctrl+N (Ô+N). This new document now becomes the active docu- ment. An active document means that the document is in front of any other documents. 07_584750-ch03.indd 4107_584750-ch03.indd 41 6/3/10 7:43 PM6/3/10 7:43 PM Part I: Illustrator Basics 42 FIGURE 3.1 Illustrator’s Welcome Screen allows you to create a new document or open an existing one. The New Document dialog box, as shown in Figure 3.2, offers several settings you can set before you start working on a new document: l Name. You can type a name for your new document. l New Document Profile. This is a named set of all the settings in this box. By choosing a different named set, all the values below will update. l Number of Artboards. The first field lets you set how many artboards will appear initially when you create your document. The buttons to the right of this field control how the art- boards are positioned relative to each other. l Size. This allows you to choose standard preset dimensions, such as Letter or Legal, for your document. l Width and Height. Instead of selecting a preset size, you can specify exact dimensions in the Width and Height text fields. l Units. You can select the units you prefer to work in. Most artists choose points, but some prefer working in picas, inches, millimeters, centimeters, or pixels. l Orientation. You can choose the orientation of the page. The orientation options are por- trait (meant to be viewed vertically) and landscape (meant to be viewed horizontally). l Bleed. This controls the bleed settings for the document (how far outside the edges of the defined document artwork will print). l Color Mode. You can choose from the CMYK and RGB color modes. 07_584750-ch03.indd 4207_584750-ch03.indd 42 6/3/10 7:43 PM6/3/10 7:43 PM Chapter 3: Working with Illustrator Documents 43 Cross-Referenceerence For more on CMYK and RGB, see Chapter 7. l Raster Effects. This is the resolution that raster-based effects (like drop shadows) will use. Print documents should have at least 150 (although 300 is preferred), while Web- based documents should use 72. l Preview Mode. You can choose to automatically preview your document in Pixel Preview mode (showing pixels at 100% or closer) or Overprint Preview mode (showing the results of objects set to Overprint). l Align New Objects to Pixel Grid. If you select this option, all objects will be automati- cally aligned to the pixel grid, reducing jaggies and blurries. FIGURE 3.2 Use the New Document dialog box to choose the basic settings for a new document. The document window initially appears at Fit in Window size. In the title bar at the top of the window, you see Untitled-1 (or another number, depending on how many new documents you have started during this particular session of Illustrator) and the percentage zoom the document is displayed at. As soon as you save the document, the title bar contains the name of the document. You can’t change the way that some of the panels or presets appear when you first start Illustrator. For example, the Selection tool is always selected in the Tools panel. Another unchangeable item is the initial paint style with which you begin drawing: a fill of White and a stroke of 1-point Black. The character attributes are always the same: 12-point Myriad Roman, auto leading, flush- left alignment. 07_584750-ch03.indd 4307_584750-ch03.indd 43 6/3/10 7:43 PM6/3/10 7:43 PM Part I: Illustrator Basics 44 Modifying the Setup of a Document After you create a document, choose File ➪ Document Setup to display the Document Setup dialog box (shown in Figure 3.3). Here you can change almost anything about the document structure and how you work with that document. At the top of this dialog box is a list box (a popup menu on the Mac) that includes sections of options for Bleed and View, Transparency, and Type. New Feature Document Setup no longer contains Artboard options. Instead, you need to either click Edit Artboards in the Document Setup dialog box or select the Artboard tool from the Tools panel. FIGURE 3.3 The Document Setup dialog box provides options for controlling your document’s settings. Adjusting the Bleed and View Options At the top of the Document Setup dialog box is a section called Bleed and View Options, although it could just as easily have been called miscellaneous options we didn’t know where else to put. This section contains the following settings: 07_584750-ch03.indd 4407_584750-ch03.indd 44 6/3/10 7:43 PM6/3/10 7:43 PM Chapter 3: Working with Illustrator Documents 45 l Units. This sets the unit of measurement for this document. All basic measurements that are displayed in Illustrator use this setting for the current document. l Edit Artboards. This button is a little unusual. It simulates choosing the Artboard tool. It’s most likely here for those of us who instinctively press Ctrl+Alt+N (Ô+Option+N) to change the Artboard size and then remember that the Artboard options aren’t here anymore. New Feature To quickly access the Artboard tool (and thus the Control panel options to let you quickly change the page), press Shift+O, which selects the Artboard tool and throws you instantly into Artboard mode so you can access the Control panel. l Bleed. This sets the amount of outside gutter around the edge of the printed page (or PDF) that appears. It’s useful for projects where backgrounds and artwork extend off the edges of the page. l Show Images In Outline Mode. Instead of seeing the glorious detail in your placed images, selecting this option puts a very neat late-1980s box frame in its place, as shown in Figure 3.4. l Highlight Substituted Fonts. When a font isn’t available, Illustrator substitutes another font for it. This highlights those substituted fonts. l Highlight Substituted Glyphs. When a glyph isn’t available, Illustrator substitutes another character or a space for it. Selecting this option highlights those temporarily changed characters. FIGURE 3.4 Selecting the Show images In Outline Mode option changes placed images from their original full-detailed glory (left) to a box frame (right). 07_584750-ch03.indd 4507_584750-ch03.indd 45 6/3/10 7:43 PM6/3/10 7:43 PM [...]... saving files in each version: l Illustrator CS4 Saves the file with all Illustrator CS4-compatible features intact l Illustrator CS3 Saves the file with all Illustrator CS3-compatible features intact l Illustrator CS2 Saves the file with all Illustrator CS2-compatible features intact l Illustrator CS Saves the file with all Illustrator CS-compatible features intact l Illustrator 10 Saves the file with... Untitled -2, and so on Such names are nondescriptive, and you can too easily replace the file at a later date with a file of the same name For the same reasons, don’t use Document 1, Document 2, and so on Here are your formatting choices for saving an Illustrator file: l Adobe Illustrator Document For use when passing between users who have Adobe Illustrator 51 Part I: Illustrator Basics l Illustrator. .. the size of all the artwork you currently have selected l Letter 8.5 × 11 inches l Legal 8.5 × 14 inches l Tabloid 11 × 17 inches l A4 8 .26 8 × 11.693 inches (21 × 29 .7 centimeters) l A3 11.693 × 16.535 inches (29 .7 × 42 centimeters) l B5 7.165 × 10 inches (18 .2 × 25 .4 centimeters) l B4 10.118 × 14.331 inches (55.7 × 36.4 centimeters) Note A4, A3, B5, and B4 are paper sizes commonly used outside the... l Illustrator 9 Saves the file with transparency and color profiles l Illustrator 8 Saves the file in a cross-platform (Mac and Windows) Illustrator 8 format Illustrator 8 added support for EMF file format and drag-and-drop to Microsoft Office products (Windows), Japanese format FreeHand files, and DXF file formats l Illustrator 3 Saves the file in the Illustrator 3 format In fact, you can use the Illustrator. .. Japanese Illustrator 3 Saves the file in the Japanese Illustrator 3 format, which preserves the Japanese type options Saving as Illustrator EPS If you do have to place your Illustrator document in a non -Adobe program, such as QuarkXPress, you may want to save the file as Illustrator EPS (Encapsulated PostScript) First, choose File ➪ Save As to display the Save As dialog box Then select the Illustrator. .. other program To place Illustrator art into Photoshop, save the art in Illustrator format and then open the art in Photoshop To place Photoshop art into Illustrator, save it in Photoshop as a format that Illustrator can read, such as TIFF, and then in Illustrator, choose File ➪ Place and select the file 65 Part I: Illustrator Basics Using the Clipboard The next way is through Adobe s wonderful PostScript... major version, but Illustrator is novel in that you can open an Illustrator 1.1 file in the current version of the software, even though many years have passed between those product versions If necessary, you can also export an Illustrator document to certain older Illustrator formats using the Illustrator Options dialog box To open this dialog box, select File ➪ Save As and then choose Illustrator from... not look like you intended) or let the text look like it should (but make it so you can’t edit it) Artboards In Illustrator, the artboard defines the maximum drawing area that you can print The artboard is useful as a guide to where objects on a page belong The maximum printable size is 22 7 × 22 7 inches or 358 square feet (provided that you can find a printer to print that big) You can define any number... of cheating — doing things that Illustrator normally doesn’t allow you to do (like opening up a file in Illustrator 3, 4, 5, 5.5, 6, or 7) For example, technically, you can’t place gradients or masks into patterns But if you save a gradient as an Illustrator 3 file and reopen it in Illustrator 7, the gradient becomes a blend, which you can use in a pattern (although Illustrator s Expand feature is... can choose the version of Illustrator to save as The only real reason to save illustrations in older versions of Illustrator is to exchange files with Illustrator users who haven’t upgraded from an old version This is pretty much always a bad idea, as saving as a legacy version may remove useful information from your Illustrator file Within a few months after the release of Illustrator, most users will . FIGURE 2. 10 With Illustrator s Pixel Preview option, you can view how the illustrator lines up to the pixel grid. 06_584750-ch 02. indd 3606_584750-ch 02. indd 36 6/3/10 7: 42 PM6/3/10 7: 42 PM Chapter 2: . document. 06_584750-ch 02. indd 3806_584750-ch 02. indd 38 6/3/10 7: 42 PM6/3/10 7: 42 PM Chapter 2: Understanding Illustrator s Desktop 39 Cutting, copying, and pasting The Cut, Copy, and Paste commands in Illustrator. Tabloid. 11 × 17 inches l A4. 8 .26 8 × 11.693 inches (21 × 29 .7 centimeters) l A3. 11.693 × 16.535 inches (29 .7 × 42 centimeters) l B5. 7.165 × 10 inches (18 .2 × 25 .4 centimeters) l B4. 10.118