*** From the Archives ***
This article is from November 28, 2005, and is no longer current.
Illustrator Tips: Top Questions Answered
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Each chapter in Adobe Creative Suite 2 Workflow features the top 15 questions designers ask about each application in Adobe’s Creative Suite 2. Here are three of the top 15 questions about Illustrator, with step-by-step answers.
How Do I Create a Realistic-Looking Flare?
Because Illustrator’s Flare tool simulates the reflection of a camera lens, you can use the Flare to create cool effects, such as the reflection in an eye. Photographers tend to like the actual reflection only if it enhances the photo, such as the perfect sparkle on the hood of a car. Illustrator gives you the power to put that reflection exactly where you want it.
To add a flare to an eye:
Zoom in to the area to which you want to add a reflection or flare. In Figure 1, the painterly cat’s eye is dull and black.
Figure 1. For a larger version click on the image above.
Using the Flare tool (found in the Toolbox housed with the Rectangle tool), click and drag out a flare in the area you want to see the reflection (Figure 2).
Figure 2.
If you like what you see by using the default settings, then you are finished (Figure 3). This figure shows a flare added to both eyes to give that reflection.
Figure 3. For a larger version click on the image above.
If you are unsatisfied with the flare, you can change it by selecting the flare and double-clicking on the Flare tool to launch the Flare Tool Options dialog box (Figure 4). You can also do this before creating a flare so that you create a new flare with your customizations.
Figure 4.
Tip: So that you can actually see the flare and not the blue selection lines when you’re in preview mode, select the flare and choose View > Hide Edges.
In the Flare Tool Options dialog box, change the settings and check the Preview box to see what the flare will look like before applying it.
The Flare tool can create nice reflections and blend out to the colors in your object. For instance, if you are creating a starry night sky, the Flare tool creates beautiful stars on a dark sky (Figure 5).
Figure 5.
For an even faster and easier starry sky, drag out only one flare (star) with that star selected, make that star a symbol by choosing New Symbol from the Symbols palette menu and name it. Next, use the Symbol Sprayer tool to spray out the rest of the sky. Then, use the other Symbol tools to change the sizes, add transparency, move the location of the stars, and more.
The final use for the Flare tool is displayed in Figure 6. This horror movie poster has incorporated the Flare tool to add to the mystery of the movie.
Figure 6.
How Do I Make a Symbol?
Why would you want to use a symbol instead of copying an image repeatedly? The power of the Symbol is the file size. When you copy a detailed object multiple times, the information for that object is stored in the file for each and every instance of the object. With Symbols, you can repeat the object as many times as you’d like, and Illustrator records the file information only on one instance instead of every instance. This results in huge file savings.
Illustrator comes with a variety of Symbols (for more Symbol libraries, see Window > Symbol Libraries). If you can’t find what you are looking for, you can easily create your own symbol. The Symbol tool is used to create both print and Web graphics. Not only are they repeatable and reusable, but you can customize them by using the other Symbol tools.
To create a custom symbol:
Create an object for a symbol. You can include text, mesh objects, raster images, and grouped objects to create your object. Figure 7 shows a sheep that was created for a symbol. Here, the sheep is placed on a green background so that you can see it.
Figure 7.
Select the object and then choose New Symbol from the Symbols palette. (You can also drag the object onto the Symbols palette or click the New Symbol button at the bottom of the Symbols palette.)
Enter a name for the Symbol and click OK. (If you dragged the object into the Symbol palette or clicked the New Symbol icon, you’ll have to double-click the symbol to enter a new name.) The new Symbol now appears in the Symbols palette (Figure 8).
Figure 8.
The next step is to use the Symbol Sprayer tool so that you can create a bunch of sheep. Then using the other Symbol tools, you can vary the size, location, color, transparency, and more.
To use the Symbol tools:
Choose the Symbol Sprayer tool from the toolbar. Click and drag around your page to ‘spray’ the symbols, just as you would a can of spray paint (Figure 9). If you spray several symbols, they will be all together in one bounding box.
Figure 9. For a larger version click on the image above.
Use the Symbol Shifter tool to move the sheep around by clicking and dragging with the Symbol Shifter tool. The Symbol Scruncher tool pulls the symbols together or pushes them apart (press the Option/Alt key).
Click on the Symbol Sizer tool to make the symbols larger (default) or smaller (press the Option/Alt key). This way you have larger and smaller of the symbol. Click once or click and hold to make the objects even smaller or larger.
The Symbol Spinner tool rotates the symbols around an axis. Click and drag in a direction and the symbols will rotate around that center click point (Figure 10).
Figure 10.
Use the Symbol Stainer tool to add different colors to the symbols. Choose the Symbol Stainer tool; then click on a color swatch or create your own color. Click once, or click and drag to apply the color to the symbols (Figure 11). Note in this figure, the sheep’s noses are the only things to change color because the bodies are a rasterized object.
Figure 11.
If you want some of the symbols to be transparent, use the Symbol Screener tool. Click or click and drag to make the symbols more see-through. The longer you click and hold/drag, the more transparent the symbol will be (Figure 12).
Figure 12.
The last tool is the Symbol Styler tool. Use this to apply any of the Graphic Styles to the symbols. Select the Symbol Styler tool, select a Graphic Style from the Graphic Styles palette, then click and drag to apply that style to the symbols (Figure 13).
Figure 13.
Note: If you are using a Graphic Style from a library other than the default, you’ll have to drag and drop the style over into the default palette to use it with the Symbol Styler tool. If you don’t select a style, the Symbol Styler tool uses the last style chosen.
How Do I Turn a Symbol Into an Art Brush?
Art brushes are a quick, easy way to make a strong statement in a single brush stroke. Illustrator has a plethora of default brush strokes, as well as an entire library of brushes to explore. If that isn’t enough for you, then this little tip about clip art might catch your eye. Although you can you use clip art, right within Illustrator you can use any of the symbols from the Symbol libraries and turn the symbol into a brush. For example, say you want to create a party invitation showing a crowd of people, but you have only two figures. Thanks to the Art Brush, that’s all you need to create a crowd and get them to dance!
To make an Art Brush from a symbol:
Create a new file, choose Window > Symbol Libraries, and choose a library. Drag a symbol onto the file. This example uses Male Figure and Female Figure from the Tiki library.
Choose Object > Expand. Here, the default settings for expand Object and Fill are used (Figure 14). Click OK to expand the symbol.
Figure 14.
After the object has expanded, you can change the colors of the symbol by using the Direct Selection tool. For the Male Figure symbol, the colors were left as they were for the symbol (Figure 15).
Figure 15.
Select the man and choose New Brush from the Brushes palette.
Choose New Art Brush from the New Brush dialog box (Figure 16). This launches the Art Brush Options dialog box, where you can set the Name, Direction, Size, Flip, and Colorization settings.
Figure 16.
Enter a name for the brush. The direction you’ll choose is how you’ll draw: Right to Left, Left to Right, Bottom to Top, or Top to Bottom. For the people, I chose top to bottom (default). I also chose 100% for Size, chose to go without a Flip, and left Colorization Method as None (Figure 17).
Figure 17.
Now that you have one man brush saved in the Brushes palette, you can re-use the same guy. You can reposition and recolor him for your other men and make more brushes with different people.
Repeat steps 2 through 7 for the Female Figure.
Make sure any symbols are deselected, and choose the Brush tool from the Toolbox.
Choose one of the guy brushes from the Brushes palette.
Drag a brush stroke from top to bottom for your person. Varying the length of your lines results for taller and shorter people.
Pick another guy and create more people for your crowd.
Repeat steps 10 through 12 — selecting another person brush — and drag out more people (Figure 18).
Figure 18.
At any time you can use the Direct Selection Tool to change the length of any of the lines. If you curve the brush stroke, the people will have a bend in them, which makes them look as if they were dancing.
How Do I Create Multiple Pages In Illustrator?
Illustrator users have long wanted to create multi-page documents. Illustrator can now take a tiled document, save it as a multi-page PDF, and show tiling overlay in printing dialog. To do this, however, you must have Illustrator CS2, Acrobat Distiller 5.0 or higher, and a PostScript Printer driver.
To create multiple pages in Illustrator:
When creating your document (File > New) be sure to create the Size as Custom. That way, you specify the Width and Height to include the pages you want in your new document. For this example, I created a 6-page document by entering an 8.5 inch width and 66 inches in length (or height) instead (Figure 19).
Figure 19.
Create all of your pages. In this case, I created a rectangle and used it a guide for each of my pages.
Put or Place all of your illustrations within the guides you made for your pages (Figure 20).
Figure 20.
Choose File > Print.
In the Print dialog box, choose Setup from the list on the left.
Under the Tiling pop-up menu, choose Tile Full Pages. You’ll see the pages showing in the preview box (Figure 21).
Figure 21.
Click the Done button. Illustrator will number the pages for reference only, left to right top to bottom on the bottom left of each “page.”
Choose File > Save As.
Pick Adobe PDF from the Format pull down menu in the Save As dialog box.
Click the Save button. This launches the Save Adobe PDF dialog box.
In the Save Adobe PDF dialog box, check the Create Multi-page PDF from Page Tiles check box in the Options pane (Figure 22).
Figure 22.
Click the Save PDF button to save the file as multiple pages. You’ll get a warning that saving the document with “Preserve Illustrator Editing Capabilities” unchecked may disable some editing features when the document is read back in. Click OK to continue.
Open the PDF in Acrobat to see the multiple pages (Figure 23).
Figure 23. For a larger version click on the image above.
Material from this article has been excerpted from the upcoming book Adobe Creative Suite CS2 Workflow, from O’Reilly Media (digitalmedia.oreilly.com), to be published in December, 2005. © 2005, O’Reilly Media, Inc., all rights reserved.
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I really can’t follow this… I was just looking for somewhere to figure out how to make all of the icons larger in adobe creative suites including illustrator. The current icons cause me to squint hard at the screen and I can still barely make out the details. I’m not sure if you answered that here but I skimmed it and couldn’t find it let me know if I’m wrong.