Adobe illustrator cs4- P7 pptx

CHAPTER 5: ORGANIZING YOUR DRAWING156 Using the Layers Panel You’ll start learning to use layers by taking a look at the Layers panel and learning some of its simple functions.. The Laye

CHAPTER 5: ORGANIZING YOUR DRAWING

Alterna-to exit isolation mode as well (Figure 5.32).

Figure 5.32 Icons in the gray bar (referred to as breadcrumbs) help identify where

the isolation is in the document’s object hierarchy Clicking the arrow moves you

up the hierarchy one step at a time.

In reality, the usefulness of isolation mode extends far beyond working with groups In Illustrator CS4, Adobe has extended the functionality of isolation mode so it works with individual paths as well In fact, the whole point of isolation mode is to allow for a way to make quick edits in complex docu-ments If you have nested groups, each double-click isolates another level

of the object hierarchy—even down to individual paths In addition, when artwork is isolated, it temporarily pops to the front of the stacking order (until you exit isolation mode, when it returns to its place) This makes it easy to perform quick edits to just about any part of a complex illustration without having to constantly lock and unlock other objects that might get

in the way Isolation mode is also useful when working with masks, which we’ll cover in Chapter 9

Layers are nearly identical to groups in concept, but they offer more fl ity and functionality Whereas groups are used to combine design elements

exibil-in a fi le, layers also allow you to organize and combexibil-ine elements withexibil-in a

fi le Just as groups can be nested within each other, so can layers And just

as groups are containers that hold contents within them, layers are tainers as well In addition, layers, just like groups, can also have attributes applied to them As you explore the power of layers in this section, all of these concepts will come to light

con-TIP The idea for

isola-tion mode came from

Adobe Flash Professional,

which can edit groups and

symbols in the same manner

TIP The General panel

in Illustrator

Prefer-ences contains a setting to

disable the ability to isolate a

group by double-clicking it

WORKING WITH LAYERS 155

The Signifi cance of Layers

Don’t be fooled into thinking that layers are just for making fi les neat and

organized Quite the contrary—a fi le that takes advantage of using layers

can benefi t from many other features as well:

• Layer clipping masks Illustrator has the ability to make the topmost

object in a layer a mask for all items within that layer.

• PDF layers Illustrator can export PDF fi les with layers intact, allowing

users in Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader to interactively turn on and off

those layers Additionally, Adobe InDesign CS4 has the capability to

con-trol the visibility of PDF layers.

• Photoshop export When exporting an Illustrator fi le to a PSD fi le, you

can choose to have layers preserved, thus making your fi le easier to edit

when you bring it into Photoshop.

• Transparency Sometimes artwork with transparency can result in fi les

that look less than perfect when printed on a high-resolution press—if

the fi le is built in a certain way Using layers can signifi cantly reduce the

number of issues you might encounter when using transparency features.

• Animation When creating art for frame-based animations, such as those

used in GIF and SWF (Flash) animations, Illustrator layers serve as frames

Layers are also integral when you are creating art that will be animated in

programs such as Flash and Adobe After Eff ects.

• Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) Illustrator layers can be exported as CSS

layers when you’re creating web layouts and SVG graphics, allowing for

greater fl exibility and better support for browser standards.

• Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) Illustrator layers serve as basic

build-ing blocks when you’re creatbuild-ing fi les that are gobuild-ing to be saved as SVG

Providing structure for SVG fi les can help make it easier to animate and

edit the SVG fi les in a web or wireless environment.

• Variables The XML-based variables feature in Illustrator relies on the

organization of layers in your document Object visibility and naming

conventions are all done through the Layers panel.

There are plenty of other good reasons to use layers in Illustrator, and you’re

sure to fi nd yourself using layers more and more.

CHAPTER 5: ORGANIZING YOUR DRAWING

156

Using the Layers Panel

You’ll start learning to use layers by taking a look at the Layers panel and learning some of its simple functions Then you’ll put together everything you’ve learned in this chapter to take full advantage of the power found in the Layers panel

By default, all Illustrator documents are created with a single existing layer, called Layer 1 The buttons across the bottom of the panel are used to acti-vate clipping masks (which Chapter 9 will cover in detail), create new lay-ers and new sublayers, and delete layers To the left of each layer are two boxes—the box on the far left controls layer visibility, whereas the other box

enables locking (Figure 5.33) The Layers panel menu contains duplicates

of these functions, as well as some other functions that we’ll cover when we talk about animation in Chapter 13, “Web and Mobile Design.”

Double-clicking a layer enables you to specify several settings for that layer

(Figure 5.34).

• Name Every layer can have its own distinct name Layer names are

important when you’re creating SVG fi les and generally make fi les easier to work with Naming layers is especially important when you’re designing templates A fi le littered with layers named Layer 1, Layer 2, Layer 3, and so on, can make editing a challenging task

Figure 5.33 All fi les are

created with a blank layer

in the Layers panel.

Layer Color

Visibility Icon

Lock Icon

Layer Name

Make/Release Clipping Mask

Create New Layer

Create New Layer

WORKING WITH LAYERS 157

• Color This setting is a bit deceiving because it doesn’t add a fi ll color to

the layer but instead defi nes the selection color used for the layer When

you select an object in Illustrator, the path of that object is highlighted

so that you see what is selected By assigning different colors to each

layer, you can tell what objects belong to which layer by selecting the

object and observing the highlight color Setting a layer color to black

or really light colors generally isn’t a good idea because you won’t be

able to differentiate a selection from a regular path A layer’s color also

appears along the left side of the layer name in the Layers panel

• Template This setting is used specifi cally when you want to manually

trace placed images Setting a layer as a template automatically locks the

layer, disables printing of that layer, and sets the Dim Images to setting

to 50 percent Although this makes it easier to see and draw over placed

images, the new Live Trace feature makes this option less important

• Show This setting controls layer visibility (whether the art on a layer is

shown or hidden) and performs the same function as clicking the

vis-ibility icon in the Layers panel

• Preview This setting controls the preview setting for the chosen layer

By default, Preview mode in Illustrator is turned on, but deselecting

this option displays the layer in Outline mode

• Lock This setting controls layer locking and performs the same

func-tion as clicking the lock/unlock icon in the Layers panel Locking a layer

effectively prevents you from selecting any object on that layer

• Print By default, all layers in a fi le will print However, Illustrator

allows you to deselect this option to create a nonprinting layer This

can be useful when you want to add instructions to a template fi le or

to explain how a fi le should be folded or printed but you don’t want

those instructions to print Layers that have the Print option deselected

appear in italic in the Layers panel

Figure 5.34 The Layer

Options dialog box allows you to specify settings for each layer—most notably, the name of the layer.

TIP Option-click (Alt-click) the visibility icon of a layer to hide all other layers with one click Option-click (Alt-click) once more to show all layers again The same shortcut applies

to the lock icon as well To change layer visibility for multiple layers, you can click and drag across several layers

CHAPTER 5: ORGANIZING YOUR DRAWING

158

• Dim Images to This option lets you defi ne an Opacity setting for how

placed images appear on your screen By making placed images dim, you can make it easier to manually trace them This feature is often used in tandem with the Template function

Confi guring the Layers Panel

The Layers panel in Illustrator displays more than just layers—it also displays all the objects in your fi le

Many people are confused and think that all elements displayed in the Layers panel are layers (It’s called the Layers panel, so can you really blame them?) It’s actually pretty easy to determine what is a layer and what

is an object—layers appear with a shaded gray background, and objects appear with a white background

(Figure 5.35) This functionality that was added way back in Illustrator 9, and it allows a user to locate any

object from the Layers panel.

Figure 5.35 In the Layers panel,

objects have white backgrounds, and layers have gray backgrounds.

If you fi nd that the level of detail off ered by the Layers panel is beyond the needs of your simple design tasks, you can set the behavior of the Layers panel to match the functionality that existed prior to Illustrator 9

Choose Panel Options from the Layers panel menu, and select the Show Layers Only check box (Figure 5.36)

This hides all objects from the Layers panel Additionally, you can turn off layer thumbnails (which will signifi cantly enhance performance) For documents that have lots of layers (such as maps, for example), you might also choose the Small option for Row Size One caveat to these options is that they are document-specifi c,

-which means you need to change these settings for each document.

Figure 5.36 The Show Layers

Only option keeps the Layers panel from displaying objects.

WORKING WITH LAYERS 159

Understanding Object Hierarchy

When a layer contains artwork, a disclosure triangle appears just to the left

of the layer Clicking this triangle reveals the contents of the layer within

the Layers panel (Figure 5.37) Every object that appears in an Illustrator

document appears listed in the Layers panel As you learned earlier in this

chapter, the order in which items appear has signifi cance—it indicates the

stacking order, or object hierarchy, of the fi le Objects that appear at the

bottom of the Layers panel are drawn fi rst, and therefore they appear at

the bottom of the object stacking order

Figure 5.37 Clicking a

disclosure triangle reveals the raw power of the Layers panel—the ability to view the entire object hierarchy

of a fi le.

You can drag items listed in the Layers panel to adjust where they sit in the

stacking order Dragging an object from the bottom of the Layers panel to

the top of the panel places that object at the top of the stacking order It’s

important to note that each layer and each group also maintain their own

stacking orders The Layers panel basically represents the stacking order of

the entire fi le

You can create nested layers by dragging one layer into another layer You can

do the same with groups, which makes it easy to organize your artwork even

after the art is created In fact, this method of dragging items within the

Layers panel makes it possible to move objects from one group and place

them into another group (Figure 5.38 on the next page) As you learned

ear-lier in this chapter, groups can have attributes applied to them; this becomes

signifi cant because when you’re moving an object into a group that has an

attribute applied to it, that object takes on the attributes of the group The

reverse applies as well, so simply moving an object from one layer to another

or into or out of a group can change the appearance of the art in your fi le

NOTE In the Layers panel, layers and sub-layers appear with shaded backgrounds, and objects appear with white back-grounds

CHAPTER 5: ORGANIZING YOUR DRAWING

160

Using Layers and Appearances

When an object is selected, a small colored square appears in the far right end of the Layers panel Small squares indicate that an object is selected, and larger squares indicate that all objects on a layer are selected (layers with

small squares indicate that only some elements on that layer are selected)

You can move an object from one layer to another simply by dragging the square into the desired layer Holding the Option (Alt) key while dragging the square moves a copy of the object into the desired layer

If you take another look at the Layers panel, you’ll notice that to the right of

every item listed is a small circle, called the target indicator (Figure 5.39) If

you remember, we spoke earlier about how the target controls where butes are applied If you take the same examples we used earlier, the ones of identical design elements of which one is grouped and one is not, you can clearly see how targeting works

attri-Figure 5.38 When you’re

dragging layers in the Layers

panel, black arrows on the

left and right indicate that

you’re moving a layer into

another layer rather than

above or below it.

Figure 5.39 The little circles

that appear on the right

side of each layer are target

indicators.

WORKING WITH LAYERS 161

In the Layers panel, ungrouped design elements appear listed as separate

paths, whereas the grouped design element appears as objects nested inside

a group (Figure 5.40) When you select the fi rst design element, a double

circle appears on each of the individual paths, indicating that those paths are

targeted (Figure 5.41) Now select the grouped design element, and you’ll

see that although the objects are selected, the group is targeted (Figure 5.42).

Figure 5.40 A quick look at

the Layers panel reveals the hierarchy of the fi le Layer 1 contains four path objects and a group The group con- tains four path objects.

Figure 5.41 Selecting the

path objects also targets the four individual paths The large squares to the right indicate the objects are selected, and the small square to the right of the layer indicates that some objects on the layer, but not all of them, are selected.

Figure 5.42 When

select-ing the group, the smart targeting feature targets the group, not the objects Notice the double circle target indicator appears only on the group, not the objects.

CHAPTER 5: ORGANIZING YOUR DRAWING

162

Now add a drop shadow to each of the design elements A quick glance at the Layers panel now shows that some of the target indicators are shaded

or fi lled, whereas some of the target indicators are hollow (Figure 5.43)

Hollow circles indicate that the item listed has a basic appearance, whereas

fi lled circles indicate that a complex appearance exists on that object Just by looking at the Layers panel, you can tell that the second design element has some kind of effect applied to the group This is your fi rst indication that ungrouping such a group will result in a change in appearance—without having to even select it fi rst

You can manually target groups or layers by clicking the target indicator for that object For example, just as you learned how to apply a stroke to

a group earlier in this chapter, you can click the target circle of a layer and then add a new stroke to that layer By moving the Stroke attribute beneath the contents of the layer in the Appearance panel, all objects that appear on that layer will have a stroke at the perimeter When you move a shape into such a layer, the object automatically appears to have a stroked appearance, and likewise, when you move an object out of the layer, that stroked appear-ance disappears

The important concept to remember is that taking a quick look at the Layers panel and scanning for fi lled target circles helps you fi nd complex appear-ances in the fi le In this way, you won’t accidentally change a fi le’s appear-ance just by grouping or ungrouping objects The Appearance panel is also useful in helping you understand how fi les are built because it displays how complex appearances were added to the fi le

Figure 5.43 Shaded target

indicators show where

com-plex appearances exist.

TIP Dragging a fi lled

target circle from one

layer or object to another

eff ectively copies the complex

appearance and applies it to

the object to which you are

dragging it

PUT TING IT ALL TOGETHER 163

The importance of the Appearance panel is obvious Without it, you have no

way to edit multiple attributes applied to an object, you have no way to edit

attributes that are applied to groups or layers, and you have no way to edit

the properties of a live effect

The importance of the Layers panel is equally apparent Without it, you have

no way to understand the hierarchy of a fi le, and you have no warning as

to when a simple action such as grouping or ungrouping will change a fi le’s

appearance

But it’s deeper than that The Appearance panel is like the Matrix—you can

look at it and see the underlying makeup of any Illustrator fi le By using

the Layers and Appearance panels together, you can quickly and effi ciently

reverse-engineer any fi le you receive (Figure 5.44) If you’re a production

artist who needs to know every detail about a fi le or if you’re trying to

trou-bleshoot a particular fi le, these two panels will be your best friends

Throughout the chapters of this book, you’ll see how features such as

clipping and opacity masks, envelope distortions, and placed images are

all easily identifi ed in the Layers panel You’ll also learn the importance of

using layers when you’re creating content you’re planning to animate in

Flash or with the SWF export feature in Illustrator

Figure 5.44 Don’t trust

everything you see on the artboard By using both the Appearance panel and the Layers panel, you will be able to see exactly how any art was created and, most importantly, how to edit it quickly.

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Chapter

Six

Coloring Artwork

At one time, Adobe Illustrator (back in version 1.1) was

black and white only Then, Illustrator 88 introduced

color features Of course, back then, few designers

could even afford to buy a color monitor Technology

eventually caught up, and color plays a huge role in a

graphic designer’s life today The ability to add color

and manipulate it, view it accurately on a monitor, and

give life to artwork with color are abilities we take for

granted; however, the challenges of working with color

are still present

In this chapter, you’ll learn about creating color in Adobe Illustrator CS4

and applying it to your artwork, as well as a variety of ways to edit or modify

colors Illustrator features a collection of powerful inspirational tools that

you can use to develop color harmonies and custom color palettes; you’ll

explore them in this chapter Finally, you’ll discover how to trust the color

that appears on your computer screen and learn to use various settings to

simulate different color-viewing environments

The artwork featured throughout this chapter comes from Kemie Guaida Ortega

(iStockphoto; username: kemie).

165

CHAPTER 6: COLORING ART WORK

166

Whether you are working with graphics that are to be printed (which use a

combination of cyan, magenta, yellow, and black, also known as the CMYK

color model) or those that are to be displayed on computer screens,

televi-sions, or monitors (which use red, green, and blue, otherwise known as the

RGB color model), you will always be specifying color as a combination of

primary colors When working in Illustrator, you’ll fi nd that, likewise, you defi ne colors by mixing values of CMYK or RGB

Of course, you can defi ne and apply colors in plenty of ways Some ways are more effi cient than others, and some offer specifi c benefi ts More so, some color features in Illustrator apply specifi cally to certain kinds of workfl ows and may even be irrelevant to some users For example, using spot colors (solid, colored inks) serves no real purpose in the world of web design, while web-safe colors don’t interest print designers in the least But no matter what you’re using your colors for, you’ll fi nd that, for the most part, you’ll

be creating and applying them via the Color panel and the Swatches panel (both available via the Window menu)

Using the Color Panel

The Color panel contains sliders that allow you to mix primary colors to create just about any custom color and apply it to your artwork In fact, some graphics programs (such as Adobe FreeHand, for example) refer to this kind of panel as the Mixer Think of it as a fi ne arts artist’s palette that contains the primary colors By mixing these colors, you can achieve any

of your color needs The Color panel doesn’t store colors, so you can’t use it

as a repository for frequently used colors (that function is relegated to the Swatches panel, which we’ll talk about shortly) However, any time you select an object, the Color panel will display the color values of that object

So, you can use it either to apply color or to modify an existing color

(Figure 6.1).

CREATING AND USING COLOR IN ILLUSTRATOR 167

You can use the Color panel to specify colors using any of fi ve sets of sliders:

Grayscale, RGB (Red, Green, Blue), HSB (Hue, Saturation, Brightness),

CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black), and Web Safe RGB (216 colors that

won’t dither on a VGA monitor) To switch between these, either choose

one manually from the Color panel menu or Shift-click the color ramp that

appears toward the bottom of the Color panel

The Color panel features fi ll and stroke indicators in the upper-left corner

(similar to those found in the Tools panel) Clicking the fi ll indicator allows

you to specify a color for the Fill attribute of a selection, and clicking the

stroke indicator does the same for the Stroke attribute To save time,

press-ing the X key on your keyboard toggles between the two attributes (Shift-X

will swap the fi ll and stroke colors)

Although the Color panel doesn’t store colors, you’ll fi nd that the color

ramp at the bottom of the panel contains one-click shortcuts to the None,

Black, and White attributes The keyboard shortcut for the None attribute

is the slash (/) The Color panel also displays a color warning in the shape

of a small 3D cube beneath the fi ll and stroke indicators when the chosen

color is not a web-safe color Clicking the cube snaps your current color to

the closest web-safe color match For more information on web-safe colors,

refer to Chapter 13, “Web and Mobile Design.”

Using the Swatches Panel

The Swatches panel stores a collection of predefi ned colors, making it easy

to apply specifi c colors to your document quickly Think of the Swatches

panel as a box of crayons You just choose the color you need and use it In

Figure 6.1 By adjusting

the sliders in the Color panel, you can mix any color you need.

Fill and Stroke Indicators

CHAPTER 6: COLORING ART WORK

168

fact, the Swatches panel stores more than just solid colors; it also stores the two other types of fi lls that Illustrator supports: gradients and patterns If the Swatches panel seems a bit cluttered with all these types of swatches, you can click the Show Swatch Kinds icon at the bottom of the panel to

limit the display to a specifi c swatch type (Figure 6.2).

You can create a new color swatch in Illustrator in several ways:

• Click the New Swatch icon in the Swatches panel

• Choose New Swatch from the Swatches panel menu

• Choose Create New Swatch from the Color panel menu

• Drag a color from the fi ll and stroke indicators in the Color panel

or the Tools panel to the Swatches panel

• Drag a color from the Color Guide panel (the Color Guide panel

is covered in detail later in this chapter)

Double-clicking a swatch opens the Swatch Options dialog box and lets

you edit the swatch (Figure 6.3) By default, swatches are named by their

color values; however, you can name your swatches as you like You can also specify a color mode and a color type for your swatch (refer to the “Hitting the Color Swatch Trifecta” section for explanations of these types)

Figure 6.2 You can set the

Swatches panel to display

all kinds of swatches or just

solid colors.