If you need to crop a photo, Adobe Illustrator really is NOT the best program to do that. You can do it but it’s best to use Photoshop instead. However, if you need to crop your vector artwork or an embedded image, or simply have no other options, there are several ways you can do … Read more
Curving text is one of those things people want to use Adobe Illustrator for, since that is the app specifically intended to work with curves. And there are indeed many ways to curve text there for all sorts of scenarios. Type on a Path Not the simplest to use, but the most direct and customizable … Read more
Tracing is a way convert a raster image into a vector image. Raster images consist of pixels and are good at storing rich details and complex textures of real-world pictures. But as you zoom in or resize the image those pixels start to show as square blocks or blurred spots. Vector images on the other … Read more
Layers in Illustrator can be confusing as they are not as straightforward as say in Photoshop or any other programs. What you might understand as a ‘layer’ can be something else in Illustrator’s terminology. But let’s just cut through that and review some of the most common ways you may achieve your goal. Layers Panel … Read more
By default, Illustrator’s background is shown as white, which doesn’t allow you to see whether some of your objects themselves have white background or transparent. And unlike in Photoshop, there is no background layer that you can turn off or delete to see transparency. You would have to check by placing something with a color … Read more
Patterns are special types of fills, alongside with solid colors and gradients, that consist of repeating objects. They can be made out of any objects an are stored as swatches on the Swatches panel or as separate libraries. Make a Pattern Create new document of any size or designate an area in your existing one … Read more
Outlining text can actually mean two different things: creating (or converting to) outlines before sending off for print or making your text look outlined. Creating Outlines A common requirement before submitting your files for printing is converting your text to outlines. This is actually easily achieved in one step. Select your text and go to … Read more
There is actually a surprising amount of ways to combine, group or merge objects together in Adobe Illustrator which can lead to confusion. But there is a couple of very common, quick and easy, and the rest we will clear up if you need them. Grouping The number one method of combining objects is simple … Read more
Gradient is a blend between two or more colors or different levels of transparency and the Gradient Tool is a way to fill with and edit gradients with relative ease, directly on the objects. Gradient Fill Select or create an object. It might be easier to begin with the Rectangle (M) or Ellipse Tool (L). … Read more
Clipping mask is a vector shape used to hide the visibility of objects in Illustrator. You can use it to clip the visibility of any object or combination of objects up to the entire artwork. Make Clipping Mask To make a new clipping mask do the following: Create or copy and paste any shape you … Read more
There are plenty of different ways you can resize a layer in Photoshop, but the most common and by far the most universal method, whether it’s an image, text, vector shape or any other type of layer is by using Free Transform. Free Transform Select your layer in the Layers panel. If you don’t see … Read more
Feathering is an easy way of blending an image into another image or background by softening the edges. Extracting something from background properly takes time and skill, but is not always necessary or may not even be the desired effect. This is where simple feathering comes to help. There are several ways to do it … Read more
Merging layers is necessary when you want to optimize the structure of your file or make several objects behave as one under your manipulations. There are several ways to achieve that. Merge down Place the layers you want to merge under one another. You can do this by simply dragging them on the Layers Panel … Read more
Most of us know how to crop an image from its original, rectangular shape into another, usually smaller rectangular shape that leaves unnecessary objects, background elements and people out of the frame. But not everyone and not at all times is satisfied with the box-y, corner-y shape of a rectangle. Unfortunately, even at the current … Read more
Photoshop provides a variety of tools for blurring images for all kinds of purposes: blurring objects or specific parts of images, smoothing backgrounds or creating advanced effects such as tilt-shift or bokeh. The Blur Tool The Blur Tool acts like a brush that lets you manually blur parts of the image to the degree you … Read more