Adobe Illustrator :10 Things you did not know you could do with Adobe Illustrator -
Adobe Illustrator is a versatile vector graphics software of industry standard that lets you create graphics, logos, illustrations, maps, icons, products, packaging, etc. Vector graphics allow the object created on Adobe Illustrator to be edited without any limitations and loss of quality. Adobe Illustrator for architects is mainly used to create digital and visual renderings integrated with AutoCAD, Revit, and other Adobe programs. Adobe Illustrator’s tools transform sketches and ideas into designs and are widely used in many design firms worldwide.
Here are ten things you didn’t know you could do with Adobe Illustrator:
1. Text Isolating Tool | Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator for architects is mainly used to create visually compelling infographics or styles that portray your concept or ideas in the best way possible. Text and font styles play a significant role in presenting an artboard to establish hierarchy and emphasis on what is essential. A lesser-known tool for text modifications is the Touch Type Tool. This tool lets you isolate each letter from a text box and can be placed in a non-traditional position.
Type the desired text into the Text Box. Under the drop-down options in the Text Tool, select the Touch Type Tool or use Shift+T. This tool lets you isolate any letter, and it can be moved to any location.
2. Setting Default Text Styles
Another important and widely underrated tool in Adobe Illustrator, especially for architects, is changing the default Text Style to the one you like. Adobe Illustrator has the font style Myriad Pro set as a default as might be a hindrance to change it to the font you desire in your presentation boards every time a Text Box tool is used. It can easily be altered to set your font style and much more as a default setting.
Select the Text Box. Under the Window Menu >> Type >> Character Styles. In the Character Styles Window, Options >> Character Style Options. Under Basic Character Formats, you can change the Font Family, Font Style, Font Size, Case, etc. It will set them as default to your file.
3. Using Recolor For Objects
The Recolor Tool is an excellent presentation tool that lets you experiment with different color schemes in your graphic or presentation. It is most widely used for digitizing concept models or highlighting certain aspects of your artboard.
Select your vector artwork or object with the Selection Tool. Go to Edit >> Edit Colors >> Recolor Artwork. When the dialog box opens up, rearrange the color options, or use the Color Theme Picker to match the rest of your artboard.
4. Duplicating Objects In A Sequence
Duplicating objects can be a useful tool to create geometric and aligned work. Its versatility can be used for making patterns and hatches or for placing furniture or trees in a uniformly spaced manner, which can be very useful in Adobe Illustrator for architects.
Duplicate the selected object to the clipboard and paste it at an appropriate distance To repeat the same length, use the command Ctrl + D. This will continue to duplicate the original object at equidistant intervals.
5. Grid Guides | Adobe Illustrator
Grids act as foundation underlays to create structured and consistent artwork. It helps to build visual relationships and hierarchy to make a layout more efficient and easy to read. Using the Grid as a Guide underlay makes it easier to experiment with composition, just like using a tracing sheet on graph paper.
Add a rectangle to the size of your artboard. To split the rectangle into grids, go to Objects >> Path >> Split Into Grid. From the pop-up window, you can add in the number of rows and columns needed. Select all the grid lines, go to View >> Guides >> Make Guides. This makes it an underlay, and objects can snap on to the guidelines. The guides can be toggled on and off using Ctrl + ;
6. Adobe Color Themes
Adobe Color is a web-based application within the Creative Suite used to create and experiment with shareable colors and themes and can be used in multiple projects. Color Themes in Adobe Illustrator for architects can be used to find and create color palettes using searchable keywords for a presentation board or a vector graphic.
To open the panel, click on Window >> Color Themes. Under the Explore Tab, you can look for various color palettes in the Search Bar. The colors can be saved to your swatches and can be individually added to your objects.
7. Global Colors
In Adobe Illustrator, the Global Color option allows you to change the color after it has been applied to your artwork in multiple objects. All instances of use are linked and will be updated when the Global Color is modified. They are instrumental when a color palette is defined, and the entire artwork would be updated with a change in any one color. It acts as a quick tool to experiment with different hues and color stories in your design.
After creating objects in your design, select a color from the Swatches panel, and make sure the ‘Global’ option is selected. A Global color can be identified in the Swatches panel by a white triangle in its lower corner. This color can now be edited in the Swatches panel, and the changes will be seen wherever the original color was used in the entire artboard.
8. Making Maps
A successful architectural presentation starts with a complete site or context analysis. Maps play a large role in understanding design decisions and specifications and are very important to communicate it well through your presentations. Diagrams are easier to read compared to text boxes, and urban connections can be well visualized. The use of maps need not be generic, and Adobe Illustrator for architects lets you be creative with different presentations and graphic styles.
Start with a reference map placed on the artboard. On a new layer, trace the roads using appropriate point thickness using the Pen Tool or Curvature Tool. Each plot or block can then be made into objects by using the Shape Builder Tool or by using the command Shift + M. The map can then be modified with color, text, objects, etc.
9. Direct Selection & Transparency Masks
Adobe Illustrator for architects is one of the most widely used design software by designers globally. It allows you to create a variety of dynamic digital graphics and be experimented with in various ways. Another underrated tool in Adobe Illustrator is the Direct Selection tool that lets you modify an object’s constraints. The Transparency Masks enables you to choose how much of an object can be hidden without changing the shape of the original object.
After selecting the desired object, use the Direct Selection tool to select just the bottom points and drag it down to stretch the object in that direction. This lets you lengthen an object vertically without distorting it. To apply a Transparency Mask, go to Windows >> Transparency. In the Transparency window, uncheck the ‘Clip’ box and make sure the ‘Invert Mask’ is selected. To work on the ‘Mask’ canvas, click on the white box linked to your original canvas in the Transparency window. From here, draw the parts you need to hide using the Pen Tool. Then make sure the ‘Invert Mask’ box is unchecked. Go back to the ‘Object’ canvas to continue editing.
10. Making Seamless Patterns | Adobe Illustrator
Repetition, pattern, and rhythm. All three elements are essential to understand concepts and to make your designs more effective. Adobe Illustrator for architects lets you create patterns for materials or hatches to best showcase your design concepts. A seamless pattern keeps your print consistent and visually balanced.
Create and arrange your motifs on the artboard and make sure to overhang the motifs to the left and top edge of the artboard. Duplicate the objects that overhang and place them in place. For the motifs on the left, select the duplicated objects and press Ctrl + Shift + M. Enter the width of your artboard for Horizontal and 0px for vertical and press Copy. Repeat this process for the top of the artboard, but enter the height of the artboard for Horizontal and 0 px for Vertical. Fill in any blank spaces on the canvas to create a balanced pattern. Use the rectangle tool to add a background of the size of your artboard. Make sure to fill color and no stroke and send it to the back. Create a bounding box by duplicating the background and pasting it to the back using Ctrl + B. Select all the layers and motifs and drag everything to the swatches panel. This creates a seamless pattern and can be used on any object using the Swatches Panel.
Which is best for you, Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop? How are they different?
Which is best for you, Adobe Illustrator or Adobe Photoshop? How are they different?
“Design is intelligence made visible.” — Alina Wheeler
The selection of Illustrator & Photoshop can leave you quite baffled. Especially if you are new in the industry as a designer, you might also be facing a hard time finding differences between the two. when and why to use each program, since on the surface they seem so similar.
Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator are two of Adobe’s massively popular graphics programs in the design industry. If you’re working on a new project, you might have a hard time figuring out which of the two programs will work best for your specific requirement.
Raster Vs Vector
Photoshop & Illustrator are a common application for graphic designing. Deciding on which one of the two you want to work over depends on what you want to create the most.
The main difference between Photoshop & Illustrator is the kind of graphics each application creates, Photoshop creates raster graphics using pixels, while Illustrator creates vector.
What is Illustrator:
Adobe Illustrator is advanced, vector-based editing software. Vectors are scalable images that can be sized as small or as large are you need them to be, but look the same when it comes to clarity and resolution. Illustrator uses mathematical constructs to create vector graphics. If you have a line drawn that way, every time the application displays the line, it redraws the line from scratch using the equation it has in memory.
Illustration
A vector graphic will never lose its quality if it’s scaled up or down. Illustrator will also give you a better print output since it’s not resolution-dependent. Common vector file extensions are AI, EPS, and SVG. Illustrator is considered the best application for:
Freehand drawing
Logo and icon creation
Infographic creation
Projects with an extensive line drawing (for example, graphs and charts)
Custom fonts and typography
Print projects with excessive typography
Custom font creation
Work that needs to be scalable to accommodate a range of platforms and products
Adobe Illustrator Workspace
What is Photoshop:
Photoshop is raster-based and uses pixels to create images. Raster graphics are the kind of graphics where the image is created by having small squares, called pixels, arranged side by side. The computer memorized the arrangement of these pixels & uses that to display the picture. Photoshop files are saved with extensions PSD, so that we can continue editing from where we have left from. Typical raster file extensions are of JPG and PNG.
Bitmapped (Raster) Graphics
Photoshop is a great program for modifying already created images or graphics for example, photo editing since those projects will stay at a fixed size. Another great benefit of Photoshop is that you can have complete control of your projects since you can edit your graphic pixel-by-pixel. Photoshop considered the best application for:
Photo editing and enhancements
User interface design
Graphics composed with minimal gradient
3D painting and animation
Adobe Photoshop Workspace
Comparing their features:
While Photoshop is the tool mostly and widely used for image editing purposes, Illustrator is mostly and widely used for image creation purposes. Illustrator also doesn’t allow you to automate page numbers. Illustrator cannot be used with ease to modify images that are already created, since there are limited filters and image editing tools available.
Photoshop’s editing tools let you crop, adjust lighting and colouring, mask blemishes, and add or remove backgrounds. Creative professionals also use Photoshop for user interface creation, website designs, and graphics with minimal gradient.
Logo Designing
Photoshop is not a good choice when creating logos. Everything in Photoshop is just a series of pixels, so if you’re scaling something up or down, it can lose its quality very quickly. since the pixels are memorized by the computer, it can’t be enlarged without losing some of the quality. Vector graphics a huge advantage over raster, no matter how you zoom in or enlarge the picture, and no matter how large the paper you want to print the image on is, vector graphics will never fail you here.
Illustrator is an object-based editing tool and therefore, you have a collection of objects with their own attributes. Whenever you select an object in Illustrator and apply any effect on that, it affects the entire object. Whereas, in Photoshop, you select it on a few chunks of pixels instead of the whole object. This is one of the fundamental and one of the imperative differences between them both.
Illustrator’s advantage lies in graphics creation, as you sketch images and enhance this work through the application. Illustrations are more than digital eye candy. Freehand drawing and colouring options, along with line drawing and typography features, make Illustrator ideal for artists, illustrators, and anyone who likes to draw. Illustrator is also beneficial for businesses that need to create logos and icons for their marketing materials. Web designers often use Illustrator to create logos and images for banners and websites. Artists use Illustrator’s line-drawing tools to create charts and freehand drawings.
Ps vs Ai
Even though Photoshop can handle vector images, it is not recommended because the result is still as good as that taken from Adobe Illustrator. When making a digital painting it is recommended not to use Illustrator because of the Brush icon in Photoshop that allows you to mix pixels up to give it a new colour.
Images edited previously in Photoshop can always be re-edited in the same software. However, this luxury lacks severely in Adobe Illustrator. Once an image, be it a logo or an icon, is created on Illustrator and is saved as a normal image, it cannot be edited on the same software. It is because, once an image is saved, it develops pixels that don’t work on Illustrator but that image can be edited on Photoshop.
Conclusion:
You’ll come to find that some people just prefer to use one software over another, but sometimes it’s best to use Photoshop and Illustrator together. Lot of the hotkeys and tools are the same in both the software, understanding the application for each program is important. One program is definitely not better than the other, they’re just different in their own ways. Understanding the difference between Photoshop and Illustrator will help you make the decision about which software is best for your next project. Make your choice and start learning!! Designing is creativity with fun.
What’s the Difference between Illustrator and Photoshop?
In the world of digital design, two names stand above the rest: Photoshop and Illustrator. These two Adobe applications are extremely popular, but what’s the difference between them? Why would you use one over the other?
For the non-Adode fans out there, this also applies to GIMP (an open-source alternative to Photoshop) and Inkscape (an open-source alternative to Illustrator). Keep that in mind when we’re talking about these applications.
It’s All About Raster vs. Vector
Photoshop and Illustrator have some things in common, but there’s one major difference that requires them to be separate products. Photoshop is a “raster-based” editing application, while Illustrator uses “vectors.”
Raster-based editing applications use pixels to create images. Millions of pixels of different colors combine to make up the image. When you zoom in, you can see the individual pixels, but from afar, they are unnoticeable. A raster-based application that many people have used is MS Paint.
Vectors are shapes with perfectly smooth lines created with “points” or “nodes.” They can be scaled to any size you want, and the lines will remain perfectly clean and crisp. Let’s view the differences up close.
The image above shows a zoomed-in view of a shape in Photoshop. You can see the pixels along the edges of the black curve. Now let’s take a look at the same object created as a vector in Illustrator.
The edge of the black curve is completely smooth and crisp. It doesn’t matter how far you zoom in on the object. You will never see pixels while viewing it in Illustrator.
One way to think about the differences between the two is to imagine a canvas. Raster is like painting with a brush. From afar, it may look clean, but when you get up close, you can see the texture and any irregularities in the brush strokes. A vector is like if you cut out a shape from paper and glued it on the canvas.
File Formats
As you might expect, raster and vector come with their own file formats as well. You likely already know the typical raster file extensions of JPG and PNG. Common vector file extensions are AI, EPS, and SVG.
Here’s where things get a little complicated. You can save a Photoshop project in progress, containing layers of images and text, as a PSD. Someone else can open that PSD in Photoshop and continue the editing, and even undo some of the changes you’ve made.
However, to get it to the final form of a raster image, it needs to be exported as a JPG or PNG. This merges all the layers. Changes can no longer be undone.
Illustrator, on the other hand, is different. An AI or SVG is the project file and the final product. A vector file maintains all the separate layers of shapes and text. Someone can open an SVG file and continue to tinker with the vector.
That being said, you can export an Illustrator project as a JPG or PNG as well, which will merge everything into a flat raster image. The outcome from both applications can be the same, but the way you get there is very different.
RELATED: What Is an SVG File, and How Do I Open One?
Which Should You Use?
Photoshop or Illustrator each has its own strengths and weaknesses. In some situations, you might be able to use both, but most of the time, they’re used for very different purposes. There’s some personal preference involved, too.
As its name implies, Photoshop is primarily used for photo editing and manipulation—things like adjusting the white balance on a photo, removing red-eye, erasing a crease from a scanned photo, editing an object out of a photo, etc. Generally, if your starting point is an existing image(s), Photoshop is the application you should use.
Illustrator is primarily used for things like logo design and image creation. The ability to scale an image and maintain its quality is critical in these situations. A logo, for example, can be used in so many different ways. It’s important that whoever is using the logo can resize it without destroying it.
Many designers prefer Illustrator when creating something from scratch. Say you draw a circle and realize that it should be slightly bigger. In Photoshop, you would highlight the circle and resize it. However, that makes it blurry. Like so:
In Illustrator, you can grab the object handles and cleanly scale it up. The edges of the shape remain clean. This gives you a lot of flexibility when you’re designing from scratch. This is harder to show in a video, but you can see a difference.
There are certainly exceptions to this, but a good rule of thumb is that Photoshop is for editing or modifying and that Illustrator is for creating.
Keep in mind that not everyone needs to use both of these applications. Photoshop is widely used because it’s more flexible. For example, you can design logos in Photoshop, but you can’t edit a RAW photograph in Illustrator.
Photoshop and Illustrator are complex applications with tons of powerful tools, but the differences between them really boil down to raster vs. vector. Once you understand that fundamental difference, it becomes clear which one you should use.
