This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
This chapter is from the book
Workshop
Now that you've got basic creation skills and some more advanced concepts, let's get in a little practice time.
Q&A
Q Can two objects be created on top of each other?
A Sure! Multiple objects can overlap in Illustrator without any problem. In a later hour, you'll learn all about the Layers palette, but for now just think of objects being stacked on the artboard.
Q What is the difference between a rectangle and a rounded rectangle?
A There are a couple of ways of looking at the difference. For right now, let's just say that one object has square corners and the other has curved corners. In Hour 6, when you learn about editing paths, you'll recognize the difference in the paths and anchor points that make up the objects.
Q A spiral is an open path. Is it an object or a line?
A Because it's an open path, a spiral is a line, just like an arc.
Q Why is my computer so slow when working with symbols?
A A set of symbols is a whole lot of little vector objects, some of them rather complex. (Think about all of the little pieces that are required to construct an American flag.) Making changes to each of those little collections of objects takes a lot of computational power. Patience!
Quiz
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Which of the following is a line, rather than an object?
a. Circle
b. Rounded rectangle
c. Arc
d. Star -
When working with spirals, a wind is how big?
a. One quarter of a turn
b. One quarter of a circle
c. Ninety degrees
d. All of the above -
How many of the eight symbolism tools can place symbols on the artboard?
a. One
b. Two
c. Three
d. Eight -
Which file format retains all of Illustrator's features?
a. .eps
b. .ai
c. .tif
d. .png
Quiz Answers
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c. Arcs are lines rather than objects because they have end points.
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d. All of the above. These are several ways to say the same thing.
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a. Only the Symbol Sprayer actually adds symbols to the artboard. The rest of the symbolism tools are used to edit the appearance of the symbol sets.
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b. The Adobe Illustrator (.ai) file format is the only one of these formats that supports all of the program's features. (PDF, EPS, and SVG can also produce files that retain al Illustrator information.
Exercises
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Practice using the modifier keys with the object creation tools. Try to remember what Shift does for each tool. Don't forget Option (Mac)/Alt (Windows), either.
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Create a number of grids. Use the dialog box to skew them horizontally, vertically, or both. Try to determine the highest skew percentage that results in a useable grid. Also see if you can create some 3D effects with skewed grids.
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Double-click on each of the symbolism tool icons in the Toolbox. Take a look at each tool's options. Experiment with the settings to see how they work.