Lesson 5: Illustrator CS6, Working with the Drawing Tools

Adobe Illustrator, eBook,

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Adobe Illustrator includes a number of impressive drawing tools that allow you to create a wide variety of artwork with speed and precision.

What you’ll learn in this lesson:

- Using the Pen tool

- Editing existing paths

- Working with tracing presets

- Creating vector artwork from placed images

Starting up

Before starting, make sure that your tools and panels are consistent by resetting your workspace. See “Resetting Adobe Illustrator CS6 Preferences” in the Starting up section of this book.

You will work with several files from the ai05lessons folder in this lesson. Make sure that you have loaded the ailessons folder onto your hard drive from www.digitalclassroombooks.com/epub/illustratorcs6. See “Loading lesson files” in the Starting up section of this book.

Working with the Pen tool

The Pen tool is one of the most powerful tools in Illustrator and it allows you to create any line or shape that you need. The Pen tool creates anchor points that can be rounded, smooth, sharp, or angular. Using the Pen tool, you can create any line or shape that you can conceive. Using the Pen tool and mastering line construction is all about understanding the nature of anchor points and how to create and work with them.

There are two kinds of anchor points that you can create in Illustrator: corner points and smooth points. Corner points are usually seen on linear, hard-edged shapes such as polygons and squares, while smooth points are used to construct sinuous, curved lines. There are two mouse actions that are repeated over and over again when creating anchor points: click and release, which creates corner points; and click and drag, which creates smooth points.

The Pen tool has a versatile feature that allows you to create new anchor points, add anchor points to existing paths, and remove anchor points from existing paths. The tool’s appearance changes based on what your cursor is hovering over on the artboard. Pay attention to what the tool cursor looks like, as it will assist you in using all the Pen tool’s functions.

PEN TOOL VARIATION	DESCRIPTION
	Only appears as you are in the process of creating a line; it signals that the next anchor point created will continue that line.
	Indicates that the Pen tool will create a new line.
	Indicates that the Pen tool can be used to convert the anchor point it is currently hovering over. This icon only appears when the Pen tool is hovering over the last anchor point that was created in a selected path.
	Indicates that the Pen tool will pick up a path and continue from the end point you are hovering over. This icon only appears next to the Pen tool when it is hovering over the endpoint of a path that you are not currently creating.
	Indicates that the Pen tool will connect the path that is currently being created to the end point of a different path.
	Indicates that the Pen tool will close the path that you are currently creating.
	Indicates that the Pen tool will remove the anchor point that it is currently hovering over. This icon only appears when the Pen tool is hovering over an anchor point on a selected path.
	Indicates that the Pen tool will add an anchor point to the line segment that it is currently hovering over. This icon only appears when the Pen tool is hovering over a line segment on a selected path.

Drawing straight lines

The first Pen tool skill you need to master is creating a straight line. To do this, you make corner anchor points with the Pen tool. Straight lines are automatically generated as a result.

1 In Illustrator, choose File > Open. When the Open dialog box appears, navigate to the ai05lessons folder and select the ai0501.ai file. Press OK. This is a practice file containing several different line templates that you will work through in the following exercises.

2 Choose File > Save As. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the ai05lessons folder and type ai0501_work.ai into the Name text field; then press Save. In the Illustrator Options dialog box, press OK to accept the default settings.

3 In the Control panel at the top of the workspace, select None () from the Fill color drop-down menu. If necessary, select the color black from the Stroke color drop-down menu and select 2 pt from the Stroke Weight drop-down menu.

4 Select the Pen tool () from the Tools panel and locate the template labeled Exercise 1 on the artboard. Click and release your left mouse button while hovering over label 1. This starts the line by creating the first anchor point.

 

Use the Pen tool to create the first anchor point.

5 Move your cursor to the part of the line labeled 2, and click and release your mouse. The second point of the line is created. The Pen tool automatically draws a straight line between the two points.

 

Click to create the second anchor point.

6 Continue to click and release to complete the line through labels 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7. Notice how the Pen tool automatically continues the line to include each new anchor point.

7 After you have set a final anchor point at label 7, press and hold Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and click on any empty area of the page. This deselects and ends the line. If you don’t deselect and end the line, the Pen tool continues to link the path to the next anchor that you create.

8 Position the cursor over label 1 of Exercise 2. Click and release the left mouse button to create the first anchor point of the new line.

9 Position the cursor over label 2. Hold down the Shift key, then click and release to create the second point of the line; the Pen tool automatically connects the two points with a straight line. Because you were holding the Shift key when the second point was created, Illustrator automatically draws a perfectly horizontal line.

10 Position the cursor over label 3. Again hold the Shift key and click and release the left mouse button to set a third anchor point. This time, the line created is a perfect vertical line.

11 Continue holding down the Shift key while clicking at labels 4, 5, and 6. Doing this draws the line between points 4 and 5 at a perfect 135-degree angle, as the Shift key constrains the angle to 45-degree increments.

 

Pressing Shift while clicking allows you to create 90- and 45-degree angles with the Pen tool.

12 With a final anchor point at label 6, hold down the Ctrl key (Windows) or Command key (Mac OS) and click on the artboard to deselect and end the line.

13 Choose File > Save to save your work.

Drawing curved lines

Straight lines can only take you so far; more organic and complex compositions require you to use curved lines to render objects. You will now complete Exercise 3.

1 Position your cursor over label 1 at the beginning of the curved line. Click and, without releasing the mouse, drag your cursor up slightly above the hump of the line to create your first anchor point. As you drag your cursor up, it looks like you are dragging a line away from the point. You are, in fact, creating a direction handle for the anchor point.

 

Dragging while clicking with the Pen tool allows you to create direction handles.

What are direction handles?

When you select or create a smooth point, you can see the direction handles of that point. Direction handles control the angle and length of curves. Direction handles comprise two parts: direction lines and the direction points at the ends of the lines. An anchor point can have zero, one, or two direction handles, depending on the kind of point it is. Direction handles serve as a kind of road map for the line, controlling how the lines approach and leave each anchor point. If the exiting handle is downward-facing, the line leaves the anchor point and goes down. Similarly, the line faces upward if the direction handle is pointing upward.   A. Anchor point. B. Direction Line. C. Direction Handle. D. Line Segment.

2 Place your cursor over label 2, located at the end of the first curve in Exercise 3. Click and drag straight down to create the second anchor point. Continue to drag the mouse until you form the curve in the template. As you drag your cursor down, you will notice that a curve is being formed between the two anchor points in real time. As long as you do not release the mouse button, you can reshape this line by dragging the mouse in different directions.

If you need to modify any of the previous points, choose Edit > Undo or use the keyboard shortcut, Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac OS). Do not worry if the curves do not follow the template perfectly, they can be adjusted in future steps.

 

Dragging while creating the second anchor point allows you to curve the path.

3 Place your cursor over label 3, located at the end of the second curve. Click and drag up to create the third anchor point of the line. Continue to drag the mouse until you form the curve indicated by the template. Again, as long as you do not release the mouse button, you can reshape this line depending on the direction in which you drag the mouse.

4 Place your cursor over label 4, located at the end of the second curve. As in step 3, click and drag down to create the fourth and final anchor point of the line. Continue to drag the mouse until you form the curve indicated by the template.

5 As in the previous exercise, after you have created your final anchor point at label 4, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and click on the artboard.

6 If necessary, use the Direct Select tool () to reposition the handles and points so the curves follow the path more closely, then choose File > Save to save your work.

Drawing hinged curves

In the previous exercise, you created S-curves, lines curved in the opposite direction from the previous one. In this exercise, you will create hinged curves, lines that curve in the same direction; in this case, they will all curve up like a scallop. You will now complete Exercise 4.

1 Select the Pen tool () from the Tools panel and position your cursor over label 1 at the beginning of the curved line in Exercise 4. As you did in the previous exercise, click and drag your cursor up slightly above the hump of the line to create your first anchor point.

2 Place your cursor over label 2, located at the end of the first curve. Click and drag straight down to create the second anchor point. Continue to drag the mouse until you form the curve in the template.

3 Press and hold the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key on the keyboard. This temporarily changes the Pen tool into the Convert Anchor Point tool (), which is a separate tool in the Pen tool grouping. Among other things (covered later in this chapter), this tool is used to edit direction handles. Position the Convert Anchor Point tool over the direction handle for the exiting direction line, and click and drag this point so that it points upward. The two direction lines now form a V.

 

Move the direction handle to change the direction of the next path.

Direction handles control the curvature of the lines in a path. Because the exiting direction handle created in step 3 is pointing down, the line will want to go down. To draw the hinged curve, you must change the angle of this direction handle so that it points upward.

4 Place your cursor over label 3, located at the end of the second curve. Click and drag straight down to create the third anchor point. Continue to drag the mouse until you form the curve in the template.

5 Again, press and hold Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to temporarily switch the Pen tool to the Convert Anchor Point tool. Once again, position the Convert Anchor Point tool over the direction handle for the exiting direction line, and click and drag this point so that it points upward and the direction lines form a V.

6 Repeat step 4 for the final curve at label 4. After you have created this final anchor point, hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) key and click on the artboard.

7 Choose File > Save to save your work.

Drawing curved lines to straight lines

While some compositions you create in Adobe Illustrator are composed of only straight or curved lines, most are some combination of the two. The following two exercises cover how to draw straight and curved lines together as part of the same path. You will now complete Exercise 5.

1 Position your cursor over label 1 at the beginning of the curved line in Exercise 5. Hold the Shift key, and click and drag your cursor up slightly above the hump of the line to create your first anchor point. As you drag your cursor upward, your movement is constrained to a perfectly vertical line. Release the mouse before releasing the Shift key.

2 Place your cursor over label 2, located at the end of the first curve. Again, while holding the Shift key, click and drag straight down to create the second anchor point. Continue to drag the mouse until you form the curve in the template.

 

Create another curved path.

Direction handles control the curvature of the lines in a path. Because the exiting direction handle created in step 2 is pointing down, the line will want to go down. If you drag the direction point so that the line points up as in the previous exercise, it will want to curve up. To form a straight line, however, you want to remove this direction handle entirely, thus converting the anchor point into a corner point.

3 Position your cursor over the anchor point you created in step 2. The Pen tool cursor changes, giving you the ability to convert the anchor point you just created.

 

The Pen tool cursor changes, allowing you to modify the anchor point.

4 While hovering over the anchor point, click the mouse. This collapses the anchor’s outgoing direction handle, allowing you to create a straight line.

 

Collapse the direction handle.

5 Place the cursor over label 3. Hold the Shift key on the keyboard, and click at label 3 to create a straight line to finish the path.

6 After you have created your final anchor point at label 3, hold down Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) and click on the artboard to deselect and end the line.

7 Choose File > Save to save your work.

Drawing straight lines to curved lines

Now, you will work from the opposite direction and connect straight lines to curved lines. Practice with Exercise 6.

1 Locate the template labeled Exercise 6. Hold the Pen tool over the start of the line (labeled 1). The cursor changes (), indicating that you will start a new line. Click and release your left mouse button while hovering over label 1. This starts the line by creating the first anchor point.

2 Place the cursor over label 2. Hold the Shift key and click at label 2 to create a perfectly straight line between points 1 and 2 on the path.

3 Position your cursor over the anchor point you created in step 2. The Pen tool cursor changes (), indicating that you can change the direction of the direction handle.

4 While hovering over the anchor point, click and drag upward in the direction of the curve you want to draw. This creates a new direction handle.

 

Change the direction of the direction handle.

5 Position the Pen tool over label 3. Click and drag down to create the curve seen in the template.

 

Finish the path by creating a curve.

6 After you have created your final anchor point at label 3, hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) key and click on the artboard to deselect and end the line.

7 Choose File > Save, then choose File > Close.

Tracing images

Illustrator is often used to convert artwork that has been scanned or rendered in a pixel-based painting program, like Adobe Photoshop, into crisp vector line art. There are two ways to trace images in Illustrator CS6. You can manually trace them using template layers and drawing tools or you can use the new Image Trace feature, discussed in further detail later in this section, that will automatically convert a bitmap image into a vector graphic.

In the first part of the exercise, you will place a scanned image as a template and retrace it using the skills you just learned with the Pen tool. In the second part of the exercise, you will learn how to use the improved Image Trace feature, equipped with built-in presets and custom settings, to convert a bitmap image into a vector graphic.

Placing an image as a template

1 Create a new Illustrator document by choosing File > New. In the New Document dialog box, type ai0502_work into the Name text field. Choose Print from the Profile drop-down menu. Choose Letter from the Size drop-down menu, if it is not already selected. Press OK.

2 Select File > Save. Make sure that you are in the ai05lessons folder, and keep the type Adobe Illustrator. When the Illustrator Options dialog box appears, press OK.

3 Choose File > Place. In the Place dialog box, navigate to the ai05lessons folder and select the ai0502.tif file. Select the Template check box at the bottom of the Place dialog box to import the selected artwork as a template layer. Press Place. A faint outline of a truck appears in your document.

 

Turn your artwork into a template before placing it in on the artboard.

4 Select the Move tool (), and then click anywhere on the artboard to deselect the truck artwork.

5 In the Control panel, choose None () from the Fill Color drop-down menu and choose the color black from the Stroke Color drop-down menu, if it isn’t already selected. Choose 2 pt from the Stroke Weight drop-down menu.

 

Set the attributes for the vector stroke.

6 Select the Pen tool () from the Tools panel. Position the cursor near label 1, then click and release to create the first anchor point of the path along the tracing template for the truck. If necessary, increase the magnification to see the template more clearly.

 

Create the first anchor point of the truck.

7 Press and hold the Shift key and click along the truck outline near label 2. Because you held down the Shift key, Illustrator creates a straight 90° line to the second anchor point.

8 Press and hold the Shift key, and click at label 3 to continue tracing the truck’s outline.

9 Continue to hold down the Shift key, and click along the truck body at labels 4, 5, 6, and 7.

10 The line between labels 7 and 8 is diagonal, and not on a 45° or 90° angle, so release the Shift key and click at label 8.

 

Continue outlining the truck.

11 Again, press and hold the Shift key, and click at labels 9 and 10.

12 Release the Shift key on the keyboard and click at label 11. Up to this point, the exercise has dealt entirely with creating straight lines and corner points; for the line between labels 11 and 12, you need to create a curved line.

Because the point created at label 11 is a corner point, the Pen tool automatically will default to creating a straight line between this anchor and the next anchor point. You will change this behavior by converting the anchor point from a corner to a curved anchor point.

13 Hover the Pen tool over the anchor point created at label 11, and look for the Convert Anchor Point symbol () to appear next to the tool. Click and drag with the tool in the direction of the curve to create a new direction handle.

 

As you drag to create the directional handle, the cursor has the appearance of an arrowhead without a stem.

14 Click with the Pen tool at label 12 to create a smooth point and complete the line.

15 Hold the Shift key on the keyboard, and click labels 13, 14, then 15.

16 The half circle between labels 15 and 16 presents the same challenge that you faced previously. Again, hover the Pen tool over the anchor point you just created. While holding the Shift key, click and drag upward to create a constrained directional handle.

 

Move the direction handle up to start another curve.

17 At label 16, click and drag the cursor down to create a new smooth point and continue the line.

18 Position the cursor over the anchor point that you just created at label 16, and click on it when you see the Convert Anchor Point symbol () appear next to the Pen tool. Hold down the Shift key and click at label 17 to convert the curve point to a corner point.

19 Repeat the process, explained in step 18, until you reach the anchor point numbered 20. After you have collapsed the anchor point at label 20, position your cursor over label 1. A circle appears next to the Pen tool (), indicating that this action will close the path you have just drawn. Click on the anchor point to complete the line and close the path.

20 Choose File > Save, then choose File > Close.

Placing an image using Image Trace

Adobe Illustrator added tracing options several versions ago with the Live Trace feature, but it did have some limitations. Illustrator CS6 now uses a new tracing engine and Image Trace panel. The results are cleaner, more accurate, crisper and reliable using this new technology.

When you place a bitmap image in your document, you can access Image Trace in two ways: using the default presets located in the Control panel or using the new Image Trace panel.

 

The new Image Trace panel.

Along the top of the Image Trace panel are six preset buttons: Auto-Color, High Color, Low Color, Grayscale, Black and White, and Outline. Simply select your image and choose one of the default presets. The preset you choose will preview live on the artboard.

To customize the results, you may want to fine-tune the trace, which can be done manually using the options in the Image Trace panel. You can control the number of colors used, path and corner appearances, complexity of the tracing, and more.

Image Trace Options

Preset: Specifies 11 types of tracing presets. View: Specifies the view of the traced object. You can choose to view the tracing result, source image, outlines, and other options. Mode: Specifies if the tracing result will be in color, grayscale or black-and-white. Palette: Specifies the palette used to determine the number of colors in the tracing result. To let Illustrator determine the colors, select Automatic (this option is available only when the Mode is set to Color). Color settings: Depending on what is selected for the Mode and Palette options, the following color settings are displayed: Colors: The number of colors used in the tracing result (this option is available only when Mode is set to Color). Grays: The number of grays used in the tracing result (this option is available only when Mode is set to Grayscale). Threshold: Value for generating a black-and-white tracing result from the original image (this option is available only when Mode is set to Black and White). Paths: Controls the distance between the traced path shape and the original path shape. The lower the value, the tighter the path fits; the higher the value, the looser the path fits. Corners: Specifies the corner appearance. A higher value results in more corners. Noise: Determines the pixel area that is ignored while tracing. Method: Specifies a method for tracing: Abutting — This option creates paths that are cutout. Overlapping — This option creates paths that are stacked. Fills: Creates filled regions in the tracing result. Strokes: Creates stroked paths in the tracing result. Snap Curves To Lines: Determines if curved lines are to be replaced with straight lines. Ignore White: Specifies if White filled areas are to be replaced with no fills.

1 Choose File > Open. In the Open dialog box, select the ai0503.ai file and press Open. This Illustrator file consists of two images already placed for you on separate layers for this exercise.

2 Choose File > Save As. In the Save As dialog box, make sure that you are in the ai05lessons folder and name the fileai0503_work.ai, then press Save. When the Illustrator Options dialog box appears, press OK.

3 You will first work with a picture of bananas, converting it from a bitmap image to a vector image. Select the Zoom tool () in the Tools panel and click once on the center of the page to enlarge the view so you can see the tracing results better.

4 Using the Selection tool (), click on the picture, then choose Window > Image Trace. The Image Trace panel will appear. Position the panel to the side of your image so you can view both the panel and image at the same time.

 

Click on the picture and open the Image Trace panel.

5 On the top of the panel are six preset options. Click on the Auto-Color button. The Auto-Color preset will preview live on the artboard.

 

Press the Auto-Color preset and preview the results on the artboard.

6 The default preset gets you started, but you may want to fine-tune the tracing results before expanding the final image. If you do not see the Advanced options, click the arrow to the left of Advanced in the Image Trace panel to expand the advanced options.

7 From the Palette drop-down menu, select Full Tone. In the Advanced option section, type 25% in the Paths, 50% in the Corners and 70 px in the Noise text fields, then press Enter (Windows) or Return (Mac OS). As you can see, these small adjustments produce a much better rendering of the original bitmap image.

 

Make some custom adjustments to enhance the image tracing results.

To view your original image, click and hold the visibility icon located to the right of the View drop-down menu. Let go of the mouse button to turn off the preview and continue making adjustments.

8 Once you are satisfied with the results, you can save your own preset to use again on other images. Click on the Preset panel menu and select Save as New Preset. In the Save Image Trace Preset dialog box, type Full Tone Image then click OK.

 

Save your own custom preset.

9 In the Control panel, click the Expand button to finalize the trace and expand your image into a fully editable vector image. Try using the Selection and Direct Selection tools to experiment with the results.

 

Click Expand in the Control panel to complete the vector trace.

10 Choose File > Save. Leave the file open for the next exercise.

Working with the new Image Trace Method option

One of the new features worth experimenting with in the Image Trace panel is the Method option. There are 2 methods to choose from:

• • Abutting — This option creates cutout paths.
• • Overlapping — This option creates stacked paths.

To understand the difference between these two methods, perform the following steps:

1 If the Layers panel is not visible, choose Windows > Layers or press the Layers button () in the dock on the right side of the workspace. In the Layers panel, press the visibility icon () to the left of the Bananas layer to hide it, then press the visibility icon to the left of the Target layer to show it.

2 If the Image Trace panel is not visible, choose Windows > Image Trace. Using the Selection tool (), click on the picture of the target to select it. In the Method section in the Image Trace panel, click on the Abutting option. At the top of the panel, click on the Auto-Color preset button (), then click on the Expand button in the Control panel.

3 Click anywhere on the artboard to deselect the image. Select the Direct Selection tool () from the Tools panel, then click and drag the outer red circle on the target slightly to the right. You will notice that by choosing the Abutting option, the paths are cut out in sections that you can move and edit easily.

 

Choose the Abutting method in the Image Trace panel.

The results.

4 Now let’s try the Overlapping method to see the difference. Choose Edit > Undo Move to reposition the red circle back into place, then choose Edit > Undo Expand Tracing to undo the tracing of the image and bring it back into its original bitmap state.

5 With the target still selected, click on the Auto-Color preset button () in the Image Trace panel, then select the Overlapping button for the Method. Click on the Expand button in the Control panel.

6 Click anywhere on the artboard to deselect the image. Select the Direct Selection tool () from the Tools panel, then click and drag the outer red circle on the target slightly to the right. By choosing the Overlapping method, the paths stack on top of each other.

 

Choose the Overlapping method in the The results. Image Trace panel.

7 Choose File > Save, then File > Close.

There are many options to explore within the new Image Trace panel. Try placing your own bitmap image and experimenting with the various tracing results.

Other drawing tools

While the Pen tool is definitely the most versatile drawing tool in the application, there are several other drawing tools that exist to fulfill specific functions.

Using the Line Segment and Arc tools

As the tool names imply, the Line Segment and Arc tools create line segments and arcs. As you learned in the previous exercises, the Pen tool can also create lines and arcs. However, unlike the line segments and arcs that can be created with the Pen tool, each new line or arc is separate and unique from the previous one.

1 Choose File > Open. In the Open dialog box, navigate to the ai05lessons folder and select the ai0504.ai file. Press Open.

This is a practice file containing several different line templates that you will work through in the following exercises. Choose File > Save As. In the Save As dialog box, navigate to the ai05lessons folder, and type ai0504_work.ai in the Name text field. Press Save. In the resulting Illustrator Options dialog box, press OK to accept the default settings.

2 In the Control panel, choose None () from the Fill Color drop-down menu and choose the color black from the Stroke Color drop-down menu, if it isn’t already selected. Choose 2 pt from the Stroke Weight drop-down menu.

3 Select the Line Segment tool () from the Tools panel on the left, and locate the template labeled Exercise 1. Hold the Line Segment tool over the start of the first line (labeled 1). Click and drag with your mouse from label 1 to label 2 to create a line segment.

 

Using the Line Segment tool.

4 Position the cursor over label 3. While holding the Shift key, click and drag the mouse from label 3 to label 4. The Shift key is used to constrain the Line Segment tool to perfectly horizontal, vertical, or diagonal (45-degree) lines.

5 Position the cursor over label 5. While holding the Shift key, click and drag the mouse from label 5 to label 6.

6 Press and hold the Line Segment tool to view the hidden tools. Select the Arc tool () and locate the template labeled Exercise 2. Hold the Arc tool over the start of the first line (labeled 1). Click and drag with your mouse from label 1 to label 2. This creates an arc.

 

Create an arc path.

7 Position the cursor over label 3. While holding the Shift key, click and drag the mouse from label 3 to label 4. The Shift key constrains the created arc.

8 Position the cursor over label 5. Click and drag to label 6. Continue pressing down the mouse button, and notice that the arc is very similar to the others you have previously created. While still holding the mouse button, press F on the keyboard and release it to reverse the direction of the arc.

 

Press F while creating an arc to reverse the curve’s direction.

While drawing an arc, press the up- and down-arrow keys on the keyboard to change the angle of the arc.

9 Choose File > Save to save your work, and then choose Select > Deselect.

Using the Pencil, Smooth, and Path Eraser tools

While the Pen tool exists for precise line work, the Pencil tool creates freeform lines. In addition to being able to draw lines, the Pencil tool can also be used to refine existing lines. You will now complete Exercise 3.

1 Select the Pencil tool () from the Tools panel and locate the template labeled Exercise 3. Hold the Pencil tool over the start of the first line (labeled 1).

2 Click and drag with your mouse from label 1 to label 2 to replicate the looping line shown in the template. Don’t worry if your path doesn’t follow the path exactly. The freeform nature of the Pencil tool makes this difficult for even experienced users.

 

Create a line using the Pencil tool.

3 Choose the Selection tool () and select the line between labels 3 and 4. Select the Pencil tool, then click and drag along the guideline between labels 3 and 4. The line adjusts to fit the new path you have created.

 

Select, then redraw a part of the path.

4 Choose the Selection tool again and select the line between labels 5 and 6. Press and hold the Pencil tool in the Tools panel, and choose the Smooth tool ().

5 Beginning at label 5, click and drag the Smooth tool back and forth across the jagged part of the line to label 6. This smooths out the jagged line. Depending upon the magnification at which you are viewing the page, you may have to repeat this process several times to match the example. When viewing the page at a higher magnification level, you will need more passes across the artwork with the Smooth tool.

 

Smooth the path using the Smooth tool.

6 With the Selection tool, select the line between labels 7 and 8. Press and hold the Smooth tool in the Tools panel and choose the Path Eraser tool ().

7 Beginning at label 7, click and drag the Path Eraser tool back and forth across the selected line to erase it. Be sure to thoroughly overlap the line or you may leave stray segments intact.

 

Using the Path Eraser tool, erase the path between labels 7 and 8.

8 Choose File > Save to save your work.

Using the Eraser tool

The Eraser tool can erase vector objects in much the same fashion as a real-world eraser. This opens the door to the creation of a wide range of organic shapes in a very intuitive way.

1 Using the Selection tool (), select the black circle in Exercise 4, then choose the Eraser tool () in the Tools panel.

2 Click and drag from label 1 to label 2 in a pattern similar to the one in the template to the left of it. The Eraser tool bisects the circle, forming two separate shapes. Be certain to start outside the shape before clicking and dragging.

 

Use the Eraser tool to bisect the circle.

3 Choose the Selection tool and select the black line located between labels 3 and 4. Choose the Eraser tool and drag over the line between labels 3 and 4 to sever it.

 

Use the Eraser tool to remove a section of the path.

4 Choose File > Save to save your work.

Editing existing paths

In addition to creating lines and shapes, the tools in Illustrator provide the ability to modify paths that you have already created. The two main ways to do this are by adding or removing anchor points to a path, and converting anchor points from smooth to corner points, or vice versa.

Adding and removing points

The best way to modify paths in your artwork is to add or remove anchor points from an existing path. Both the Pen tool and the Control Panel can be used to modify the anchor points. You will now complete Exercise 5.

1 Using the Selection tool (), select the first path in Exercise 5 to highlight it, then choose the Pen tool () from the Tools panel.

2 Place the Pen tool over the portion of the path at label 1. The new cursor () indicates that clicking with the Pen tool will create an anchor point on the line segment. Click on the line segment to create a new anchor point.

 

Create a new anchor point.

3 The anchor point that was just created is automatically highlighted. Use the arrow keys on your keyboard to move this anchor point into position to match the template.

 

Move the anchor point using the arrow keys on the keyboard.

4 Now you’ll move to the next template. Choose the Direct Selection tool () from the Tools panel, and draw a selection marquee around the anchor point at label 2 to highlight it.

 

Select the anchor point.

5 Press the Remove Selected Anchor Points button () in the Control panel to remove the highlighted anchor point from the line and make it match the template.

When the path is selected, you can also use the Pen tool to remove an anchor point. The only disadvantage to using the Pen tool to remove anchor points is that it cannot remove points from the beginning or end of a line.

6 Choose File > Save to save your work.

Refining a curve

You will now experiment with curved paths by completing Exercise 5 in the ai0504_work.ai lesson file.

1 Locate the third and final path in Exercise 5. Using the Direct Selection tool (), draw a selection marquee around the anchor point at label 3.

2 Press the Convert Selected Anchor Point to Corner button () in the Control panel to change the smooth point into a corner point. This changes the curvature of the preceding line segment.

 

The curve changes.

3 With the line still selected, click and hold the Pen tool () in the Tools panel, then select the Convert Anchor Point tool ().

4 Select the anchor point at label 4 to convert it from a smooth point to a corner point.

If you want to convert a corner point to a smooth point, you can do so either from the Control panel or by clicking and dragging on a corner point with the Convert Anchor Point tool.

5 Press Ctrl+Shift+A (Windows) or Command+Shift+A (Mac OS) to deselect everything on the artboard. Choose File > Save to save your work.

Cutting and joining paths

One of Illustrator’s very helpful features is the ability to cut and join paths. Paths can be cut either at anchor points or line segments, but they may only be joined by connecting two adjacent anchor points, called end points. You will now complete Exercise 6.

1 Select the Direct Selection tool () from the Tools panel, and draw a selection marquee around the anchor point at label 1.

 

Draw a marquee around the anchor point.

2 Press the Cut Path at Selected Anchor Points button () in the Control panel to sever the path at this point. Repeat this step for the anchor point at label 2.

3 Press and hold the Eraser tool () in the Tools panel to reveal and select the Scissors tool (). Click on the anchor point at label 3. This tool performs the same function as the Cut Path at Selected Anchor Point button in the Control panel.

If you miss the anchor point even by a little, the Scissors tool displays an error message and you have to try again.

4 Choose the Selection tool () in the Tools panel, and use it to move the individual line segments apart to the positions of the blue lines in the template.

5 Select the Direct Selection tool and draw a selection marquee around the two end points located at label 4. Zoom in if necessary to confirm that these end points are not connected.

6 Press the Connect Selected End Points button () in the Control panel. This merges the two anchor points into one.

7 Select the Direct Selection tool and draw a selection marquee around the two end points located at label 5. Zoom in if necessary to confirm that these end points are not connected. Select Object > Path > Join. If a Join dialog box appears, select Corner and press OK.

 

Select Object > Path > Join.

8 Select the two end points located at label 6 by clicking and dragging to create a marquee containing both points, then right-click (Windows) or Ctrl+click (Mac OS) on the page and choose Join from the contextual menu.

9 Select the two end points located at labels 7 and 8 by drawing a selection marquee using the Direct Selection tool.

10 Press the Connect Selected End Points button () in the Control panel. A line connecting the two selected end points is created.

 

The two end points are connected.

You can select two end points and press Ctrl+J (Windows) or Command+J (Mac OS) to create a connecting path to each end point. If you want to move the end points to meet (not create a new path) you can select both end points and press Shift+Ctrl+Alt+J (Windows) or Shift+Command+Option+J (Mac OS).

11 Choose File > Save, then choose File > Close.

Combining shapes using the Shape Builder tool

In this section, you have the opportunity to create an illustration using a drawing feature called the Shape Builder tool (). By using the Shape Builder tool, you can create unique shapes by adding, subtracting, and intersecting one shape from another.

1 Choose File > Browse in Bridge. When Bridge comes forward, navigate to the ai05lessons folder and double-click on the file named ai0505_done. An image of a fish appears. You will create this shape by using the Shape Builder tool.

 

The completed shape.

2 Choose File > Close to close this file, or keep it open for reference.

You will start out by creating the fundamental shapes that will be used to create the fish in the illustration.

3 Create a new Illustrator document by choosing File > New. In the New Document dialog box, type ai0505_work in the Name text field. Choose Print from the New Document Profile drop-down menu. Choose Letter from the Size drop-down menu, if it is not already selected, and set the Units to Inches. Press OK.

4 Select File > Save. Make sure that you are in the ai05lessons folder, and keep the type Adobe Illustrator. When the Illustrator Options dialog box appears, press OK.

5 Press D to confirm that the fill and stroke are set at the default of white and black, respectively.

6 Click and hold on the Rectangle tool and select the hidden Ellipse tool.

 

Select the hidden Ellipse tool.

7 Click anywhere on the artboard (don’t click and drag). If you inadvertently create an ellipse, press Ctrl+Z (Windows) or Command+Z (Mac OS) to undo your last step. Then simply click once on the artboard. The Ellipse dialog box appears.

8 Type the value of 1 in into the Width text field, and then press tab and enter 1 in into the Height text field. Click OK.

This circle will serve as the body of your fish.

 

Click once on the artboard to open the Ellipse dialog box.

9 Zoom in so the fish’s body fills your window, click and hold on the Ellipse tool (), and select the hidden Polygon tool (). Click and drag to create a polygon shape, but do not release it. Instead press the down-arrow on your keyboard several times until the polygon is a triangle. Release the mouse when you have a triangle shape. Do not be concerned with the angle or size for now.

 

Press the down-arrow (while creating the shape) to reduce sides on the polygon.

10 Choose the Selection tool () and notice that a bounding box appears around the triangle. If the bounding box is not visible, make sure that you are on the Selection tool and choose View > Show Bounding Box.

11 Position your mouse around an outside corner, and, when you see the curved arrow cursor, click and drag to rotate the triangle. Position your triangle so that it creates the shape of a fish tail.

 

Click and drag to rotate the triangle.

12 With the Selection tool still active, position your mouse on a corner point and click and drag to scale the triangle either up or down; you are now visually resizing the triangle. Resize the triangle until you think it would make a good fit as a fish tail. In our example, the tail is approximately .8 inches.

If you would rather enter an exact amount, choose Window > Transform; the Transform panel appears. With the triangle selected, type .8 in into the W: (Width) text field, then press Tab and type .8 in into the H: (Height) text field.

 

Enter an exact measurement in the Transform panel.

13 Using the Selection tool, click and drag to position the triangle so that it is on the left side of the ellipse, making sure it overlaps slightly.

 

Position the triangle so that it is slightly overlapping the ellipse on the left side.

14 Choose File > Save or press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+S (Mac OS) to save your file. Keep it open for the next part of this lesson.

Combining the shapes

You will now start the process of combining your shapes.

1 Using the Selection tool (), click on the triangle shape if it is not selected, then Shift+click on the ellipse.

2 Select the Shape Builder tool () in the Tools panel. Click and drag from one shape to another. The triangle and ellipse are combined into one shape.

 

Click and drag with the The resulting combined shape. Shape Builder tool.

Subtracting with the Shape Builder tool

You will now create what will soon be the mouth shape (when it is subtracted from your ellipse shape).

1 Click and hold down on the Polygon tool () in the Tools panel to select the hidden Ellipse tool ().

2 Choose View > Snap to Point to uncheck that feature. When creating small shapes, the Snap to Point feature can prevent you from forming the correct shape.

3 Click and drag a small ellipse over the right side of the newly created shape. Keep in mind that the ellipse will be subtracted from the combined shape to form the mouth.

 

Create the shape that will be subtracted to form a mouth.

4 Switch back to the Selection tool and Shift+click on the combined shape to activate both the ellipse and combined shape at the same time.

5 Select the Shape Builder tool and hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key. The cursor now shows a minus sign in the lower-right.

6 With the Alt/Option key still being held down, click and drag from the inside-right edge of the ellipse into the left edge. When you release, the ellipse shape is subtracted from the combined shape, forming a mouth.

 

Select both shapes. Hold down Alt/Opt key and drag within the ellipse shape to subtract it.

You will use the Shape Builder tool for one last time to add a shape (on top of the fish) to create the fin.

7 Select the Ellipse tool, then click and drag to create an oval shape that intersects across the top of the combined shape. Again, there is no exact size or position required for this shape.

In the next step, you will take advantage of a shortcut that allows you to activate the Selection tool temporarily, helping you to avoid switching tools.

8 Hold down the Ctrl (Windows) or Command (Mac OS) key and notice that, even though you are on the Ellipse tool, the cursor has changed into the Selection cursor. With the Selection cursor, click and drag a marquee that touches both the ellipse and the fish body shape to activate both shapes.

 

Hold down the Ctrl/Command key to temporarily access the Selection tool.

9 With both shapes selected, select the Shape Builder tool and click and drag from the area where the ellipse and the fish body shape meet into the fish shape. The intersected area is added to the fish body shape.

 

Click and drag from within the intersected The result. shape into the fish body shape.

10 Choose File > Save or press Ctrl+S (Windows) or Command+S (Mac OS) to save your file. Keep it open for the next part of this lesson.

Creating the fish eyes

In this section, you add an eye to the fish illustration.

1 Select the Ellipse tool () and then click and drag a circle that will serve as the outside of the fish eye. In our example, the size was approximately .25 in.

If you want your circle to match our example, you can type the value of .25 in into the Width and Height text fields in the Transform panel.

2 Using the Selection tool (), reposition the circle so that it is approximately the correct position for the eye that is furthest away.

3 Select the Ellipse tool and, holding down the Shift key, draw a smaller circle to act as the iris in the eye.

4 Using the Selection tool, reposition the iris, if necessary.

 

Create the eye for the fish.

5 With the Selection tool, select both parts of the eye and then hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) and drag the eye to the left. This clones the original eye, you now have two eyes.

 

Hold down Alt/Option and drag to clone a selected object.

6 Make sure that the newly cloned eye is selected then position your cursor on a corner of the bounding box.

7 When the cursor changes to a double-arrow, click and drag outward to enlarge the eye slightly.

 

The illustration with the eyes added.

8 Choose File > Save, and choose File > Close to close the file.

Congratulations! You have completed the lesson.

Self study

Experiment with color and shapes by coloring the fish image you just created named ai0505_work.ai.

Create you own custom shapes using the Shape Builder tool. You can create multiple overlapping shapes and click and drag across selected objects to combine them into one shape. Experiment with subtracting shapes from others by holding down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) key when clicking and dragging with the Shape Builder tool. Here are some examples of shapes that you can practice creating:

 

Examples of shapes you can create with the Shape Builder tool.

Review

Questions

1 When drawing with the Pen tool, how does creating the first point of a straight line differ from creating the first point of a curved line?

2 How do you import a bitmap image that you want to trace in Illustrator?

3 What key do you hold down on when you want to remove one shape from another using the Shape Builder tool?

Answers

1 To create the first point for a straight line, you must click and release the Pen tool. When creating a curved line, you should click and drag the Pen tool in the direction of the curve you want to create.

2 Use the File > Place command and check the Template option in the Place dialog box. While the Template option is not required, it is helpful for tracing scanned artwork.

3 You can hold down the Alt (Windows) or Option (Mac OS) to remove one shape from another using the Shape Builder tool.