Illustrator Workshop: Session 2

Adobe Illustrator: Using the Pen Tool

Notes

"P" = pen tool
essential tool

fill>none
(when tracing need fill to be "none" otherwise it fills your trace)
when hovering over page - the icon needs to be a pen tool. If it isn't it means you have caps lock on

"enter" finalises a shape at any point you are happy with it when using pen tool
a complete shape is when your pointer gets back to the start line and a little circle appears

click>left click> and drag
creates curve with 2 handles.
dots are "anchors"
lines are "handles'

when using this method you have one curved line then it repeats the curve line
so if you want to have a curve then a straight line, just click on the centre point.

can edit shapes with the direct selection tool (white arrow)

to add a point. use your direct selection tool and hover over the line weber you want to add a point"anchor" (you can take away a point via hovering over the point you want to remover)

holding alt lets you remove and adjust handles in curves

remember when tracing - remove your fill!

shift key locks the handle into a 45 degree straight angle. ensures its a nice straight line

cmd>z is undo when creating your points

task image:

finished task image:

Layers

2 pages on top of each other icon
create new layer - same as photoshop.

when tracing > create a layer for image and a layer for tracing

image we are tracing is in the layer below. make sure this image has a low opacity so we can see our lines in the layer on top.

the layer on top is our vectored version of it

shapes drawn on a specific layer are highlighted that layers allocated colour

when adding shapes to a layer - a little triangle appears next to the layer name. click it and drop down and you can see and show/hide/name/edit everything individually on that layer. good organising

lock layers by clicking the space next to the layer name next to the layer colour-this locks the layer

"object>lock selection" helps you to create a new shape next to or joining a shape - instead of adding another anchor point or editing a shape you have already created.

use pen tool and trace image. if image is symmetrical, you only need to trace half of the shape, then copy the shape you have made and reflect it and pop it in place next to it:

edit>copy>paste in place

hold alt while moving object

object>transform helps you reflect an image

object>path>join helps you join paths together filling an object if you have places them next to each other

Joining two sides of an object together:

If you have reflected and placed two sides of an image together - to join them together as one object…..

use the white arrow and draw a box around the 2 points we want to join (one point from each object closest to each other) this box has now selected the points.
now go "object>path>join> to join the points together. you can now see on your layer that the objects are now one. do this for the bottom two points we want to join on the object as well. just to make sure both sides are completely joined.

a process which is good for tracing images with block colour:

select image>window>image trace

play around with this feature. once you have image traced something - it does turn it into vectors.

decide what you want it to trace (colour/b&w etc)

object>expand>ok turns everything into editable paths-yay!
it will select everything so go around and delete any of the paths you don't want.

object>ungroup (might have to do this a few times) lets you select each shape individually.

use direct selection tool to delete the bits you want.

Workshop Task

Pen tool task

Pen tool completed

Screenshots of processes listed above

Thoughts
Being introduced to the pen tool helped me to understand Adobe Illustrator a lot more. I have always seen people using these funny bars to curve lines and have never understood how to do it or why - but now I know. I got the hang of it pretty quickly and found the whole workshop to be really useful and in-depth - especially with the task to complete. I am looking forward to using my notes and all I have learnt to gain confidence in using digital media and to create some great illustrations for our upcoming brief.