THE_CRIPPLER Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 Just wondering if anyone can give me any pointer on using Adobe Illustrator. I can draw great designs on paper, but when it comes to using Illustrator, I suck. I have a hell of a time drawing using a mouse. Any tips by those that are good with Illustrator? My designs end up looking decent, but it takes a lot longer than it should because of the impreciseness of using a mouse to draw. Oh yeah, I am also self-taught when using Illustrator, so I only know very basic things about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shamrock Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 My best advice would be to use the pen tool. Click to make an anchor point, and click elsewhere to create another, at which point a line will connect the to, and continue from there. To make a curve, put down your first anchor point, and when making the second one, click and hold, and you can move your mouse around to change how it looks. A bit of a warning though, after making a curve, you have to click on your last anchor point before creating another straight line or if you want to continue the curve. Also, perhaps look into purchasing or borrowing a Tablet. And remember, practice makes perfect. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE_CRIPPLER Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 I have been considering a tablet for a while now. Money is just a bit tight lately. Thanks for help with the pen tool. I never figured out how to use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lastmaximal Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 i've found that Illustrator CS has this nifty LiveTrace tool, where you can import a raster line drawing and it'll be converted into pen-editable vector graphic format with varying success levels. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MinimateEspo25 Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 livetrace isn't too reliable yet, although it can be useful, for now, i'd say stick with the pen tool, and try to invest in a tablet, i'm sure u can find a decent one for $50, check pricegrabber, usually they give u the best price around Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hypno Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 If wanting to learn more about how the use illustrator I can't recommend enough picking up an illustrator visual quick start guide. They make these guides for every version and they are what I used to walk myself through learning the program when I was first starting out in design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
THE_CRIPPLER Posted August 6, 2008 Author Share Posted August 6, 2008 Somehow i missed this response. Thanks for the link. I was looking at getting that a long time ago, but I think they wanted $50.00 for it back then. I'd gladly pay $10.00 for a used one now. If wanting to learn more about how the use illustrator I can't recommend enough picking up an illustrator visual quick start guide. They make these guides for every version and they are what I used to walk myself through learning the program when I was first starting out in design. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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