Adobe Illustrator CS4 bible phần 10 pot

656 Getting Art Out of Illustrator Part IV Clicking the little camera icon in the upper left of the panel allows you to capture a data set. Data sets are stored in Illustrator as XML data, and you can both import and export variables and data sets from the Variables panel menu. Because XML is a standard format, Illustrator can very easily integrate into complex workflows and back-end systems. Understanding scripting A script is a list of commands that are contained in a single file. When you run a script, your com- puter follows the commands that are contained within the script. In reality, a script is much like computer-programming code, except that it’s what’s called a high-level language in that it controls existing programs rather than actually being a program itself. A script tells applications what to do. In fact, most scripting languages read almost like English — making them easier to learn and use. Illustrator supports three scripting languages:  AppleScript: Created by Apple, this language works only on the Macintosh platform.  Visual Basic: Created by Microsoft, this language only works on the Windows platform.  JavaScript: Originally developed by Netscape, this language is cross-platform. Scripting versus actions If you’ve been paying attention, you remember a discussion about something called actions back in Chapter 17. Because you’re a smart person, you’re probably wondering why you need scripting if you already have actions. There are several big differences between actions and scripts:  An action is simply a recorded sequence of events that you can play over and over, per- forming exactly the same way each time. A script can contain logic and therefore perform different steps depending on the situation.  An action is a task that can be completely performed only within Illustrator. A script can involve multiple applications, not just Illustrator.  An action is easy to create right in Illustrator. A script requires the knowledge of at least one of the scripting languages (AppleScript, VBScript, or JavaScript). So, although scripts are far more powerful, they’re also far more difficult to create. For example, you can write a script to automatically create a forecast graphic by going to a weather site on the Internet, retrieving temperature information for a particular city, and drawing a graphic. You can code the graphic so that temperatures below 32° are colored blue, temperatures over 90° 25_345191-ch19.indd 65625_345191-ch19.indd 656 10/24/08 2:17:50 PM10/24/08 2:17:50 PM 657 Creating Web Graphics 19 are colored red, and temperatures between 75° and 85° have a smiley face with sunglasses. The script brings that information into Illustrator from another application (your Web browser) and then makes decisions within Illustrator based on that data. Actions are cool but nowhere near as cool as scripts. It takes much more work to write a script than it does to record an action, but a script can do much more and is more powerful than an action is. NOTE NOTE Not everything in Illustrator is actionable, and not everything in Illustrator is script- able. There are even some things that you can do with AppleScript or VBScript that you can’t do with JavaScript. With each new version of Illustrator, you can record more and more features and commands of the application as actions or scripts. Don’t let all this talk about scripting scare you. Just because a script is a necessary step in the data- driven graphics process, it doesn’t mean that you (the designer) have to do it. Some companies have developers on staff who know how to script, and you can have them write the required scripts for you. You can also hire a developer or consultant on a freelance basis to write your scripts. Because of the potential time savings you gain when you utilize a script, this method can also prove very economical. Setting up a data-driven graphics template It’s beyond the scope of this book to learn how to write a script to automatically fill a template, but it’s easy to set up a template and create some sample data sets, which allow you to preview what your files will look like when they’re filled with data: 1. Using the Text tool, click an empty part of the Artboard to create some point text. The example uses the words Bezier Games. Be creative and choose a good font and even a drop shadow if you want. 2. Click the Selection tool and then choose the type you just created. For more on the Selection tool, see Chapter 6. 3. Choose Window ➪ Variables to open the Variables panel. 4. Click the Make Text Dynamic button at the bottom of the panel, as shown in Figure 19.38. Alternatively, you can choose the Make Text Dynamic option from the Variables panel’s popup menu. A variable called Variable1 is thus created. 5. Double-click the Variable1 item in the Variables panel to open the Variable Options dialog box. 25_345191-ch19.indd 65725_345191-ch19.indd 657 10/24/08 2:17:50 PM10/24/08 2:17:50 PM 658 Getting Art Out of Illustrator Part IV FIGURE 19.38 You define a Text variable by using the Variables panel. 6. Type a name for the variable. Change the name of the variable so that you (or a script) can readily identify it. In the example, the name is changed to Company_Name, as shown in Figure 19.39. FIGURE 19.39 Changing the name of the variable to something more descriptive makes it easier to remember. 25_345191-ch19.indd 65825_345191-ch19.indd 658 10/24/08 2:17:50 PM10/24/08 2:17:50 PM 659 Creating Web Graphics 19 7. Click OK. 8. Click the little camera button (this is the Capture Data Set button in the upper left of the Variables panel) to create Data Set 1. 9. Using the Text tool, edit the text on your Artboard to have it read something else. 10. Click the Capture Data Set button. This creates Data Set 2. 11. Edit the text on your Artboard to change it again. The example was changed to Alspach Inc. 12. Click the Capture Data Set button again, as shown in Figure 19.40. You now have three data sets in your Illustrator file. FIGURE 19.40 Capturing a third data set 13. Using the left and right arrows in the Variables panel, click to step through all three of the data sets. As you switch among data sets, the text on your screen changes. This is extremely helpful when you create templates because it allows you, as a designer, to cre- ate a design that works well with different data. For example, a long word or name takes up more space than a short word does. Setting up several different data sets in your file allows you to preview how your design looks with different sets of data. 25_345191-ch19.indd 65925_345191-ch19.indd 659 10/24/08 2:17:51 PM10/24/08 2:17:51 PM 660 Getting Art Out of Illustrator Part IV Taking advantage of data-driven graphics with Adobe GoLive Adobe GoLive has support for working with dynamically generated content, while Dreamweaver doesn’t (yet). You can also use the variable feature in Illustrator to create those graphics in GoLive yourself — and it’s really easy! Follow these steps: 1. Start by creating a template in Illustrator. Design your art and then assign some variables. 2. Choose File ➪ Save As. This opens the Save As dialog box. 3. Choose SVG for the format, as shown in Figure 19.41. The SVG Options dialog box opens. The reason for choosing this format is that SVG can contain variable content. FIGURE 19.41 Save the file as SVG for use in GoLive. 25_345191-ch19.indd 66025_345191-ch19.indd 660 10/24/08 2:17:51 PM10/24/08 2:17:51 PM 661 Creating Web Graphics 19 4. Click Save As to display the SVG Options dialog box. 5. Click the Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities check box. This allows you to reopen the SVG file in Illustrator later. 6. Click More Options to display the advanced options section of the dialog box. 7. Ensure to click the Include Adobe Graphics Server data check box, as shown in Figure 19.42. FIGURE 19.42 Clicking the Include Adobe Graphics Server data check box in the SVG Options dialog box includes the variables and data sets. 25_345191-ch19.indd 66125_345191-ch19.indd 661 10/24/08 2:17:52 PM10/24/08 2:17:52 PM 662 Getting Art Out of Illustrator Part IV 8. Click OK. 9. In GoLive, open or create an HTML file. 10. From the Object panel in GoLive, drag an Illustrator Smart Object (from the GoLive Tools panel) onto your page. Using the point-and-shoot icon (drag from the Illustrator Smart Object to the SVG graphic directly), load the SVG graphic that you created in Illustrator. Because GoLive sees the variable content in the Illustrator SVG file, GoLive prompts you with a dialog box listing all the variables. Here, you can choose to replace text or change attri- butes of your variables. You can change these variables at any time in GoLive by clicking the Variables button in the GoLive Inspector panel. It’s a powerful way to quickly update your graphics without even launch- ing Illustrator! Summary In this chapter, you learned the following:  Pixel Preview mode displays graphics as they would appear in a Web browser.  The Save for Web & Devices dialog box lets you optimize graphics in one easy step.  You can both open and save SVG files in Illustrator.  Illustrator can export animated SWF files.  Data-driven graphics can streamline repetitive tasks and help save time.  Illustrator can define four kinds of variables in the Variables panel.  Many variables are stored in XML.  Illustrator supports AppleScript (Mac), VBScript (Windows), and JavaScript.  Scripting is far more powerful than actions. 25_345191-ch19.indd 66225_345191-ch19.indd 662 10/24/08 2:17:52 PM10/24/08 2:17:52 PM 663 T hroughout this book, you’ve learned pretty much everything there is to know about Illustrator. So, what’s left? Putting it all together, of course! In this chapter, I walk you through a project that uses all sorts of Illustrator functions and explain how and why I used Illustrator’s capabilities throughout the process. Everyone uses Illustrator a little differently, and even as I wrote this, I real- ized that I could have done a few things differently in order to be more effi- cient. Each project that you work on in Illustrator results in a different set of tools and processes, and even if you do very similar things again and again, you find your workflows evolving over time. Project Background The goal of this project was to create the box for a brand-new edition of a game I published more than a year ago: Ultimate Werewolf. This would be the second box I created at this size with this particular printer, so I already had some experience in terms of the production parameters. Figure 20.1 shows the final box. However, I made some mistakes the first time around, such as not including enough bleed (printed area that extends beyond the expected cuts) and fold space for the corners. While the bleed issue was an oversight on my part, the fold space was something totally new to me. Boxes with printed covers are created by gluing a printed sheet onto flat cardboard, then folding the cardboard sides down to form the shape of the box. The printed paper is what holds the box together at the corners. IN THIS CHAPTER Workflow basics Packaging — from start to finish Tips and techniques for real- world production Illustrator Workflow 26_345191-ch20.indd 66326_345191-ch20.indd 663 10/24/08 2:22:00 PM10/24/08 2:22:00 PM 664 Getting Art Out of Illustrator Part IV Because the cardboard is fairly thick, when the sides are folded down, the printed paper on top slides up a bit to make its way around the corner. This has to be compensated for in the original design or the sides of the box will appear too close to the top of the box compared to the original location they were designed for. Once you understand this concept, adding a few millimeters in between the center (top) of the box and the sides is easy. TIP TIP This project was printed overseas, where the standard forms of measurement are millimeters, not inches, so I did all my work in the metric system. Working in the measurement system of the printer is always a good idea, especially if there are changes to the files during the process. You don’t want to be doing the conversions either inside Illustrator or out, as that introduces some significant risk into the project. FIGURE 20.1 This is a photograph of the finished box; this chapter walks you through the process of creating it. 26_345191-ch20.indd 66426_345191-ch20.indd 664 10/24/08 2:22:05 PM10/24/08 2:22:05 PM 665 Illustrator Workflow 20 The box was to be printed using the four-color process (see Chapter 18 for more on printing and four-color separations). 95% of the work I do is now four-color process, as the savings from using just two or three spot colors tend to be miniscule. The other 5% tends to be black ink only, and that’s for items like score sheets or rules inserts — and the cost to produce those is still only mar- ginally cheaper than using four colors! Building the Documents Despite using Illustrator for the last 20 years, I don’t consider myself an artist. In fact, if you take away Illustrator and stick me with a pad and pencil, the doodles that I would generate would embarrass a first-grade art teacher. So, I don’t sketch out anything first. Ever. Instead, I tend to bring all the elements of a project together and start working on it right away in Illustrator. The advantage to doing this is that I have a single file to work on that will eventually be the one that’s used for printing. The box consists of two pieces, and therefore, I need two files for it: the box cover and the box bot- tom. I created a new document (CMYK, of course, because this would be printed) for the box cover first. In order to help me organize the files, I created layers for each of the components I anticipated needing: Guides, Background, Sides, Frames and Edges, UW logo, Front characters, tagline, flags, game info, Bézier logo, and peeps (how I refer to the people illustrations on the sides of the box). I worked with a very talented illustrator — a person, not another program — who created a whole series of characters for the cards in the game as well as the cover illustration. The resulting images were Photoshop files with transparent backgrounds, allowing me a lot of flexibility in how I used them. Setting up the document The first step after the basic document was created was to get the guides in place. Because I had done a box previously, I could copy the guides directly from the existing file to the new one. In order to do this, I locked all the layers except my guide layer in my previous file, then did a select all and copy there. In my new document, I checked the Layers panel’s popup menu to be sure that Paste Remembers Layers was selected (to ensure that all pasted items go onto layers with the same names as where they were copied from) and then chose Edit ➪ Paste In Front. Paste In Front keeps the location of the guides consistent between documents. Creating the front cover The first item I placed was the background image, as shown in Figure 20.2. 26_345191-ch20.indd 66526_345191-ch20.indd 665 10/24/08 2:22:18 PM10/24/08 2:22:18 PM [...]... Gradient Ctrl (Ô)+F9 (toggle) continued 681 Appendix: Shortcuts in Illustrator CS4 TABLE A-8 (continued) Command Shortcut Styles Shift+F5 (toggle) Info F8 (toggle) Layers F7 (toggle) Pathfinder Ctrl (Ô)+Shift+F9 (toggle) Stroke Ctrl (Ô)+F10 (toggle) Symbols Ctrl (Ô)+Shift+F11 (toggle) Transform Shift+F8 (toggle) Transparency Ctrl (Ô)+Shift+F10 (toggle) Type ➪ Character Ctrl (Ô)+T (toggle) Type ➪ OpenType... place-linked files and use all sorts of unusual fonts Even so, I always click the Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities check box in the PDF Options dialog box when saving, 674 Illustrator Workflow so if there are changes after submission, I can make them to the PDF version of the file instead of opening up the original Illustrator file and then resaving it as a PDF I usually use the High Quality Print... points (I used 15 mm, or about 42 points) in the same section FIGURE 20.11 The Marks and Bleeds section of the Save Adobe PDF dialog box with the settings I used for these project files 675 20 Part IV Getting Art Out of Illustrator Summary While each project is different, you can use Illustrator effectively by following these guidelines: Figure out the components in the project first and then set up... Document Setup Ctrl (Ô)+Alt (Option)+P File Info Ctrl (Ô)+Shift+Alt (Option)+I Print Ctrl (Ô)+P Exit (Quit) Ctrl (Ô)+Q (under the Illustrator menu for Mac OS X) * In Mac OS X 10. 4 (Tiger), reassign this in the Exposé & Dashboard System Preferences pane, and in Mac OS X 10. 5 (Leopard), reassign this in the Exposé & Spaces System Preferences pane TABLE A-2 The Edit Menu Command Shortcut Undo Ctrl (Ô)+Z... (Ô)+C Paste Ctrl (Ô)+V Paste in Front Ctrl (Ô)+F Paste in Back Ctrl (Ô)+B Check Spelling Ctrl (Ô)+I 678 Appendix: Shortcuts in Illustrator CS4 Command Shortcut Color Settings Ctrl (Ô)+Shift+K Keyboard Shortcuts Ctrl (Ô)+Shift+Alt (Option)+K General Preferences Ctrl (Ô)+K (under the Illustrator menu for Mac OS X) TABLE A-3 The Object Menu Command Shortcut Transform ➪ Transform Again Ctrl (Ô)+D Transform... (Ô)+Shift+Alt (Option)+Y Pixel Preview Ctrl (Ô)+Alt (Option)+Y Zoom In Ctrl (Ô)++ (plus sign) Zoom Out Ctrl (Ô)+– (minus sign) 680 Appendix: Shortcuts in Illustrator CS4 Command Shortcut Fit in Window Ctrl (Ô)+0 (zero) Double-click the Hand tool Actual Size (100 %) Ctrl (Ô)+1 Double-click the Zoom tool Hide Edges Ctrl (Ô)+H (toggle) Hide Template Ctrl (Ô)+Shift+W (toggle) Show/Hide Rulers Ctrl (Ô)+R (toggle)... translation of the text I colored the German text light blue to match the German tagline from the front of the box Figure 20 .10 shows the final box bottom artwork FIGURE 20.9 The box bottom after the sides have been completed 673 20 Part IV Getting Art Out of Illustrator FIGURE 20 .10 The box bottom with all elements in place Preparing for production I saved both files as PDF files Saving as PDF files... Shortcut Illustrator Help F1 (Windows) Help key or Cmd+? (Mac) Toolbox Commands TABLE A -10 Tool Selection Function Shortcut Select the next popup tool Drag to the right and then release on the desired tool Alt (Option)+click on a tool Open a tool’s dialog box Double-click on the tool Hide the Tools panel and other panels Tab Hide the panels (except the Tools panel) Shift+Tab 682 Appendix: Shortcuts in Illustrator. ..Part IV Getting Art Out of Illustrator FIGURE 20.2 The initial document with the background image in place Note that all the layers are already created, but only the background image layer has any objects on it Next, I placed the logo The Ultimate Werewolf logo, as shown in Figure 20.3, was created in Illustrator (although it uses a pixel-based image for the texture... linked file The reason I chose this method was twofold: I was still tweaking the logo, and this way, any changes to the logo would be reflected in the artwork automatically (Illustrator automatically updates linked placed files) 666 Illustrator Workflow I used effects with x and y coordinates, such as a drop shadow The location of the shadow is based on x and y coordinates in the effect itself These values . 65925_345191-ch19.indd 659 10/ 24/08 2:17:51 PM10/24/08 2:17:51 PM 660 Getting Art Out of Illustrator Part IV Taking advantage of data-driven graphics with Adobe GoLive Adobe GoLive has support. techniques for real- world production Illustrator Workflow 26_345191-ch20.indd 66326_345191-ch20.indd 663 10/ 24/08 2:22:00 PM10/24/08 2:22:00 PM 664 Getting Art Out of Illustrator Part IV Because the. artwork automatically (Illustrator automatically updates linked placed files). 26_345191-ch20.indd 66626_345191-ch20.indd 666 10/ 24/08 2:22:18 PM10/24/08 2:22:18 PM 667 Illustrator Workflow 20 