Organizing Your Illustrations - Illustrator CS6 - Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design and Web Premium All-in-One For Dummies (2012)

Adobe Creative Suite 6 Design and Web Premium All-in-One For Dummies (2012)

Book III

Illustrator CS6

Chapter 7: Organizing Your Illustrations

In This Chapter

check.png Using rulers

check.png Using ruler and custom guides

check.png Working with the Transform panel for placement

check.png Changing ruler origin

check.png Rearranging, hiding, and locking objects

check.png Masking objects

You can know about all the neat special effects in Illustrator, but if you have no strong organization skills, you can become exasperated when things just don’t work as you expect them to. In this chapter, we focus on a few organizational tricks of the trade.

Setting Ruler Increments

Using rulers to help accurately place objects in an illustration sounds simple (and it is), but not knowing how to effectively use the rulers in Illustrator can drive you over the edge.

To view rulers in Illustrator, choose View⇒Rulers⇒Show Rulers or press Ctrl+R (Windows) or maccmd+R (Mac). When the rulers appear, their default measurement setting is the point (or whichever measurement increment was last set up in the preferences).

To change the ruler increment to the measurement system you prefer, use one of these methods:

check.png Create a new document and select a measurement unit in the New Document dialog box.

check.png Right-click (Windows) or Control-click (Mac) the horizontal or vertical ruler and pick a measurement increment.

check.png Choose Edit⇒Preferences⇒Units (Windows) or Illustrator⇒Preferences⇒Units and Display Performance (Mac) to open the Preferences dialog box.

imageChange the ruler unit only by using the General drop-down list in the Preferences dialog box. If you change the measurement unit on the Stroke and Type tabs, you can end up with 12-inch type rather than that dainty 12-point type you were expecting.

imageSetting general preferences changes them in all future documents.

check.png Choose File⇒Document Setup to change the measurement unit for only the document you’re working on.

Using Guides

Guides can help you create more accurate illustrations. After a guide is created, you can turn its visibility off or on quickly with the View menu. You can use two kinds of guides in Illustrator:

check.png Ruler guides: You create these straight-line guides by clicking the ruler and dragging out to the artboard.

check.png Custom guides: These guides, created from Illustrator objects such as shapes or paths, are helpful for replicating the exact angle of a path, as shown in Figure 7-1.

Figure 7-1:Turn selected paths and shapes into custom guides.

image

Creating a ruler guide

A ruler guide is the easiest guide to create: Click the vertical or horizontal ruler anywhere and drag it to the artboard, as shown in Figure 7-2. By default, the horizontal ruler creates horizontal guides (no kidding), and the vertical ruler creates vertical guides. You can press Alt+drag (Windows) or Option+drag (Mac) to change the orientation of the guide. The vertical ruler then creates a horizontal guide, and the horizontal ruler then creates a vertical guide.

Figure 7-2:Click the ruler and drag out a guide.

image

Creating a custom guide

Create a custom guide by selecting a path or a shape and choosing View⇒Guides⇒Make Guides. The selected object turns into a nonprinting guide. Changing a path into a guide isn’t a permanent change. Choose View⇒Guides⇒Release Guides to turn guides back into paths.

Using the Transform Panel for Placement

Placing shapes and paths precisely where you want them can be difficult even if you have steady hands. Save yourself some aggravation by using the Transform panel to achieve this. Type x, y coordinates in the Transform panel to position objects exactly where you want them.

tip.epsIn Adobe Illustrator and InDesign, the Reference Point Indicator icon is on the left side of the Transform panel. Click the handle of the icon to change the point of reference. To measure from the upper-left corner, click the indicator on the handle there. If you want to know the exact center of an object, click the center point in the indicator. The point of reference is the spot on the object that falls at the x, y coordinates, which specify the placement of the selected object:

check.png x coordinate: From left to right

check.png y coordinate: From top to bottom

Changing the Ruler Origin

In Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop, you can change the ruler origin, which defines the start of a printing area of an image.

To change the ruler origin, follow these steps:

1. Move the pointer to the upper-left corner of the rulers where the rulers intersect, as shown in Figure 7-3.

Figure 7-3:Changing the ruler’s origin.

image

2. Drag the pointer to the spot where you want the new ruler origin.

While you drag, a cross hair in the window and in the rulers indicates where the new ruler origin will be placed.

tip.epsYou can restore the original ruler origin by double-clicking the ruler intersection.

Thinking about Object Arrangement

Just like the stacks of paper on your desk, new objects in Illustrator are placed on top of existing objects. Change their order by choosing the Object⇒Arrange menu options.

The easiest choices are to bring an object to the front or send it to the back. The results of sending forward or backward can be unnerving if you don’t know the exact order in which objects were created. The illustration in Figure 7-4 shows that we rearranged objects by using four available choices. Figure 7-5 shows the result of each choice.

Figure 7-4:Objects in their original positions.

image

To change the stacking order, select the object (or objects) whose placement you want to change and then choose one of these commands:

check.png ObjectArrangeBring to Front: Moves the selected object to the top of the painting order. In Figure 7-5a, the square is brought in front by using the Bring to Front command.

check.png ObjectArrangeBring Forward: Moves a selected object in front of the object created just before it or one level closer to the front. In Figure 7-5b, the circle is moved in front of the square by using the Bring Forward command.

check.png ObjectArrangeSend Backward: Moves a selected object so that it falls under the object created just before it or one level back. In Figure 7-5c, the triangle is sent backward so that it’s just under the circle.

check.png ObjectArrangeSend to Back: Moves a selected object to the bottom of the painting order. In Figure 7-5d, the triangle is placed on the bottom by using the Send to Back command.

Figure 7-5:Rearranging objects.

image

Hiding Objects

Seasoned Illustrator users love the Hide command. Use it when the object you want to select is stuck behind something else or when you need to select one object and another repeatedly activates instead.

A good opportunity to use the Hide command is when you’re creating text inside a shape. In Chapter 6 of this minibook, we show you that as soon as you turn a shape into a text area, the fill and stroke attributes turn into None. Follow these steps to hide a shape:

1. Create a shape.

For this example, we created an ellipse.

2. Click the Fill color box at the bottom of the Illustrator Tools panel and then choose WindowSwatches.

The Swatches panel appears.

3. In the Swatches panel, choose a color for the fill.

In this example, yellow is selected. The stroke doesn’t matter; this one is set to None.

Clicking a shape with the Type tool converts the shape to a text area and converts the fill and stroke to None. To have a colored shape remain, you must hide a copy.

4. After selecting a colored shape, choose EditCopy; alternatively, you can press Ctrl+C (Windows) or maccmd+C (Mac).

This step makes a copy of your shape.

5. Choose EditPaste in Back or press Ctrl+B (Windows) or maccmd+B (Mac).

This step puts a copy of your shape exactly in back of the original.

6. Choose ObjectHide or press Ctrl+3 (Windows) or maccmd+3 (Mac).

The copy of the shape is now hidden; what you see is your original shape.

7. Switch to the Type tool by selecting it in the Tools panel or pressing T.

8. Use the cursor to cross over the edge of the shape and change it to the Area Type tool.

You use the Area Type tool to type text in a shape.

9. When you see the type insertion cursor swell up, as shown in Figure 7-6, click the edge of the shape.

Figure 7-6: The type insertion cursor on the edge of a shape.

image

The insertion point is now blinking inside the shape, and the fill and stroke attributes of the shape have been changed to None.

10. Type some text, as shown in Figure 7-7.

Figure 7-7:Type directly in the shape.

image

11. When you finish entering text, choose ObjectShow All or press Ctrl+Alt+3 (Windows) or maccmd+Option+3 (Mac).

The colored shape reappears with the text in the middle of it, as shown in Figure 7-8.

Figure 7-8: The hidden shape reappears behind the text.

image

Use the Hide command anytime you want to tuck away objects for later use. We promise: Nothing hidden in Illustrator will be lost. Just use the Show All command and any hidden objects are revealed, exactly where you left them. (Too bad the Show All command can’t reveal where you left your car keys!)

Locking Objects

Being able to lock items is handy when you’re building an illustration. The Lock command not only locks down objects you don’t want to change, but also drives anyone crazy who tries to edit your files. In fact, we mention locking mainly to help preserve your sanity. Sometimes you need to make simple adjustments to another designer’s artwork and can’t, unless the objects are first unlocked. Follow these instructions:

check.png To lock an object: Choose Object⇒Lock or press Ctrl+2 (Windows) or maccmd+2 (Mac) to lock an object so that you can’t select it, move it, or change its attributes.

check.png To unlock an object: Choose Object⇒Unlock All or press Ctrl+Alt+2 (Windows) or maccmd+Option+2 (Mac). Then you can make changes to it.

You can also lock and hide objects with layers. See Chapter 8 in this minibook for more information about using layers.

Creating a Clipping Mask

Creating a clipping mask may sound complex, but it’s easy and highlights some topics in this chapter, such as arranging objects. Similar to peering through a hole in a piece of paper to the objects underneath it, a clipping mask allows a topmost object to define the selected shapes underneath it; with a clipping mask, however, the area around the defining shape is transparent, as shown in Figure 7-9.

Figure 7-9:Some items using the clipping mask feature.

image

You may recall what a film mask looks like — it’s black to block out the picture and clear where you want to view an image, as shown in Figure 7-10.

Figure 7-10: A conventional film mask.

image

The clipping mask feature uses the same principle as the conventional film mask. It hides the area outside the mask area. To create a clipping mask, follow these steps:

1. Choose FilePlace to place an image.

Masks work with objects created in Illustrator and with objects placed (scanned or otherwise imported) there.

2. Create the item you want to use as a mask by using the Pen tool to create a shape or a closed path.

For example, in Figure 7-11, the circle is the mask. (The photo underneath it is the placed image from Step 1.) The circle is placed where the mask will be created. The shape’s color, fill, and stroke values don’t matter because they automatically change to None when you create a mask.

Note: When creating a clipping mask, make sure that the object to be used as a mask is a closed shape and is at the top of the stacking order.

Figure 7-11:Position the mask shape over the object.

image

3. Use the Selection tool to select the placed image and the shape.

Shift-click to add an object to the selection.

4. Choose ObjectClipping MaskMake.

Alternatively, you can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+7 (Windows) or maccmd+7 (Mac) to create the clipping mask.

Ta-da! You created the clipping mask. Masked items are grouped, but you can use the Direct Selection tool to move the image or mask individually.

5. To turn off the clipping mask, choose ObjectClipping MaskRelease.

tip.epsYou can also use text as a clipping mask: Type a word and ensure that it’s positioned over an image or another Illustrator object (or objects). Then select both the text and the object and choose Object⇒Clipping Mask⇒Make.

Creating a Clipping Path Using the New Draw Inside Button

imageYou can use the Draw Inside button to create a clipping path. The button is at the bottom of the Tools panel. Just follow these steps:

1. Select your artwork and choose EditCopy or Cut.

In Figure 7-12, the artwork to the right has been cut to fit into the star image.

Figure 7-12:Select artwork and copy or paste it.

image

2. Select the artwork that you want to “paste into” existing artwork and then click the Draw Inside button.

3. Choose EditPaste.

The artwork is pasted inside the shape, as shown in Figure 7-13.

tip.epsAfter you have pasted your artwork, you can use the Direct Selection tool to reposition it.

Figure 7-13:Create a clipping path by using the Draw Inside button at the bottom of the Tools panel.

image