8+ Tips and Tricks to Boost Your Adobe Illustrator Skills

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8+ Tips and Tricks to Boost Your Adobe Illustrator Skills

If you’ve never used Adobe Illustrator before, the program may seem overwhelming at first. There’s so much to it, where do you even start?

This is even true if you’ve come from another image editing tool, such as Photoshop.

But before we look into some tricks and useful tips, let’s first look into what Adobe Illustrator is and what’s new in this software.

Adobe Illustrator – What’s New?

Adobe Illustrator is a software which is widely used to design logos, fonts, presentations, alphabetical and numerical images, banners, and flex. As this is a vector based graphics program, the images can be made irrespective of size. This was the first software to launch this feature and became most popular in graphic designing industries.

Adobe Illustrator is good to start for newbies in the graphic design field as they can learn this software in an easier way. While buying Adobe Illustrator, the company provides notes and guides which brief users about all of its features. Here are some of the functions Adobe orients its customers with:

  1. Freeform Gradients

Using Freeform Gradients, all you need to do is the points of shade after that mix with each other to develop abundant, intricate color blends which were not feasible prior to. What’s even more, the interface is easy as well as easy to use.

  1. Global Edits

If in case there is a project and you are using similar items like logos and icons, then it is simple to change colors, shapes and rotate objects in just a few simple steps. With the help of Global Editing feature, one can not only select but also find and modify similar objects across different art boards. This kind of edit is more versatile as compared to certain features like symbols or select similar. Using this feature requires no setup and you will have the liberty to modify the changes you require.

  1. Custom Toolbar

Illustrator has got all the tools which you need to get your job done. It has more than 80 tools. There is a new way with the help of which you can organize your most-used tools. With the recent update, all the most-used tools can be organized and grouped which can help in understanding what the tools available are and what their functionalities are. There are certain tool sets which graphic designers use it more often, then simply do drag and drop the tool to create a custom tool menu.

  1. Adobe Fonts Integration

With the recent release, you can find the right type of font within the application. Due to the direct integration with Adobe Fonts, designers can access more than 14,0000 fonts that comes along with the Creative Cloud membership within Illustrator CC. You will get the ability to preview fonts in the designs without even applying them and can be applied just by doing a single click without paying any additional cost apart from the Creative Cloud membership.

Adobe Illustrator – Additional Features

 

Apart from the new features, Illustrator CC continues to enhance the experience. To know more, it is good to have a detailed breakdown of the release notes. Before joining Adobe Illustrator courses you need to have a look at some of the new and exciting enhancements which consist of:

  1. Scalable interface

Illustrator has introduced a new feature which comes with a screen resolution and does the display adjustments automatically. It also has a feature of optimal default scaling of the interface taking into consideration the facts related to the display resolution. The best part is it comes with the option of scaling design workspace.

  1. True-size view

This new feature of Illustrator CC will automatically adjust zoom value in accordance with display to render designs in actual size, done at 100% zoom. So, at the time of rendering a business card as 100% on any screen, the dimensions would be the same as it would be at the time of the print.

  1. External GPU support

Illustrator will use external graphic processing units (GPU) on MAC computers along with Thunderbolt 3 running and above

  1. Trim view

This brand-new sneak peek technique shows artwork as if it were to be published, subduing all non-printing items on the art board, like grids, overviews, and so on. All artwork dropping beyond the art board is concealed in this sight. This brand-new approach offers a great way to preview the final layout and designs.

  1. Presentation mode

You can easily make use of a file in Illustrator to present your work. In this brand-new setting, each art board ends up being a slide. The application consists of menu, overviews, panels, as well as frame edges,  are concealed so your target market will focus on your designs as well as not be side-tracked by the application.

9 Tips and Tricks to Make You an Illustrator Pro

These top 10 Adobe Illustrator tips and tricks will help you get the most out of your time with Illustrator, and help you make great art.

  1. Use the Pen Tool; It Makes Wonderful Designs

Many beginners shy away from the pen tool, as it looks much more complicated than anything else Illustrator offers. In fact though, you can get to grips with it easily, and make amazing art with it. If you’re not sure where to start, try looking for exercises online. They’ll show you how to use it, and soon you can make the most of this tool.

  1. Use Color CC

One aspect of creating professional looking art is picking colors that work with each other. Illustrator has a tool already built in that can help you with this, called Color CC. This tool helps you pick colors that work together from a color wheel. Then you can save the colors you choose to a palette, making it easier to find them the next time you work on a graphic on Adobe Illustrator.

  1. Get To Grips With Bezier

The Bezier tool helps you create natural looking points and curves that can add a lot to your illustrations. Again, it’s a good idea to look up tutorials if you want some ideas on how to use it. Another good idea is to use the shortcuts to make using this tool even easier. For example, holding down shift will snap your next point to a 45 degree angle.

  1. Try Using Clipping Masks

Clipping masks are a tool that can make your work a whole lot easier, and every beginner should use them. They’re tools that restrict any pattern or design to a pre-determined area. If you can use them properly, they can save an awful lot of time.

  1. Make Use Of Pathfinder

Pathfinder, put simply, can help you make shapes out of other shapes. If the shape you want isn’t readily available, you may be able to make it using this tool. Once you have the basics down, it’s an easy tool to master and it comes in handy more times than you’d think.

  1. Get Familiar With The Strokes Panel

When you create a shape in Illustrator, either with the pen tool or with shapes, an automatic stroke weight and definition will be applied to it. Make sure you get to know the strokes panel, and make use of it. This helps you get the most out of every shape you draw, and add some personality to your designs.

  1. Make Your Own Brushes

Many people don’t know that you can actually make your own brushes with Illustrator. If you’re finding that the basic tools aren’t quite what you need for the job, you can create them. Again, you can search online for good tutorials, or you can actually custom made tools online.

  1. Practice Using Layers

The layers panel is one that you’ll have to get used to as an illustrator, especially if you’re going to be selling your work. Even if you’re not though, it’s a good habit to get into to start organizing your layers as you work. Keeping them labeled, and removing layers that aren’t needed, can help you when you’re making edits to an image.

  1. Keep Practicing

The most important Illustrator tip to give you is to keep practicing with Adobe Illustrator. The more you use it, the more you’ll get used to it. Soon, you’ll be able to create amazing things with this image tool. You’ll get out exactly what you put into it, so keep going.

Adobe Illustrator vs Adobe Photoshop

Well the most obvious difference is that Photoshop does raster files, while Illustrator does vector files. But there are more differences and obviously it’s a bit more complicated than that.

However, at the end of it all, the program you pick to edit or create your files depends entirely on where it will be used. If you want to make a logo, go with Adobe Illustrator. If you want to tweak some pictures, go with Adobe Photoshop. And for everything in between, it all depends on where it’s going.

If you’re fluent in one and not the other, here’s a piece of advice: become a master of both programs. It makes you more flexible as a designer, and there’s nothing wrong with picking up a new skill.

Final Words

As you’re starting out, keep these 10 Illustrator tips and tricks in mind. When you get comfortable with Illustrator, you can create all kinds of amazing things with it.

Keep practicing and keep learning with it, and you’ll be able to create images that really stand out from the crowd. Here’s a video you can check out for more Adobe Illustrator tutorials:

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