By now, I hope you are getting more comfortable with your skills in Adobe Illustrator and gaining lots of valuable knowledge. As you continue to use what you have learned, you should see a marked improvement in your skill set. The best tool I can recommend to you is time. With time, your skills will continue to grow, and you will become more efficient using techniques, shortcuts, and additional tools.
Illustrator is already a great tool for creating vector artwork, but when we leverage the benefits that Illustrator offers us with additional tools, it gets even better. Whether it is through powerful third-party plugins, keyboard shortcuts, or even the iPad app, the benefits will be similar. Having these additional options will allow you to extend the capabilities of the software and break out from the rest that use Illustrator. This chapter is loaded with additional resources that can allow you to extend the capabilities of Illustrator.
To accomplish this, the chapter will be divided into the following main topics:
To complete this chapter, you will need the following:
As you continue to develop your skills and work to increase the quality of your designs, you will inevitably strive to gain a more professional appearance. Resources such as templates, stock images, and quality fonts will help you to move in that direction. Adobe has several resources (some included with your subscription and some requiring an additional fee) to allow you to expand your options. In the next sections, we will discuss each service offered by Adobe and what benefits you can obtain from it.
With the Adobe Stock subscription site (https://stock.adobe.com), you can look for a large variety of stock files to use within your own work. Available items include photos, illustrations, vectors, videos, audio, and 3D assets.
Adobe Stock is not included with your Creative Cloud subscription but can be utilized through an Individuals, Teams, or Enterprise monthly plan. You can also choose to pay as you go for each individual asset you need or prepay for a specific number of items (including 4K video, Premium, and extended licenses) using a product that Adobe calls a Credit Pack. You can purchase these packs with several different quantities of credits.
Figure 11.1 shows the website page for Adobe Stock, which includes a prominent search bar. To use the search bar, I recommend narrowing your search by first selecting a filter (located on the left side of the bar). By doing this, you will then only search for your intended media type instead of seeing results from the entire stock library:
You could also utilize the menu at the top of the website to filter the results based on the content you are looking for. After finding an item you are considering, you can download a preview or save a preview to a Creative Cloud library. This will be a lower resolution and watermarked image. If you later decide to use this file, you can then upgrade it to a paid asset.
See Figure 11.2 to view the Download Preview, Save to Library, Open in App, and License buttons:
You can design a composition using the downloaded sample file, and then update it if you decide to share your work or offer it to a client.
When working with vector assets, you can choose to always download them as a vector file type, a JPEG file type, or to be asked each time. As shown in Figure 11.3, my preferred setting is to always download items as a vector file type, but of course, this is only for paid assets, as preview files will always be downloaded as lower resolution JPEG files:
One of the greatest benefits of utilizing stock assets is the avoidance of copyright infringement. The fee is a small price to pay when your integrity is on the line. You will have peace of mind knowing that you have resourced additional assets to use with your work appropriately and legally. In addition to that, they will also raise the quality of your work by providing professional-quality items.
Using the Adobe Fonts site (https://fonts.adobe.com), you can search for and add the perfect type to express the communication of your work. Adobe allows you access to a great collection of fonts that will help you set the tone or personality of your work.
Figure 11.4 shows the website page for Adobe Fonts, which includes a prominent search bar:
The ability to have an extensive library of quality fonts is a great advantage to a creator, and Adobe now makes it available to anyone with a Creative Cloud subscription.
You can use the search bar, but I recommend narrowing your search by first selecting Browse all fonts (located directly below the bar). By doing this, you will then be taken to a web page (see Figure 11.5) that offers you a variety of filters on the left side of the page. The filters are divided into three categories – TAGS, CLASSIFICATION, and PROPERTIES:
You can search for the right font by using the website's filters menu.
Using the Adobe Exchange site (https://exchange.adobe.com/creativecloud), you can expand the capabilities of your software by using third-party plugins. These plugins range from time-efficient workflow tools to design enhancement and template offerings.
Figure 11.6 shows the website page for Adobe Exchange, which includes a prominent search bar. To use the search bar, I recommend narrowing your search by first selecting a filter (located on the left side of the bar). By doing this, you will then only search for your intended media type instead of seeing the results from the entire stock library:
The Substance 3D Community Assets site (https://substance3d.adobe.com/community-assets) allows you to find material assets that have been shared by others. It also allows you to share your assets with others.
Figure 11.7 shows the website page for Substance 3D Community Assets, which includes a prominent search bar at the top of the page. When using the search bar, you can narrow your search by first selecting a filter (located on the left side of the page). By doing this, you will then only search for what you are looking for instead of seeing results from the entire community library:
After downloading assets from any of the previously mentioned sites, you can curate them in a Creative Cloud library (https://creativecloud.adobe.com/libraries) for easy access inside Illustrator (or any other Adobe title):
You can also add additional files that you use to any Creative Cloud library. These additional files could include vector objects, images, type, brushes, patterns, templates, color swatches, and more.
Figure 11.9 shows the website page for curated Creative Cloud libraries:
There is a huge number of resources available to you using these free shared libraries. Creative Cloud libraries also allow you to collect your own resources into a library, which can then be shared with and used by anyone who is collaborating with you on a project.
You can use the Creative Cloud app to find access to all these resources under the Stock & Marketplace tab, as shown here:
Adobe has done an excellent job of curating content that you may find useful for your workflow and hosting all of it directly in the app. This is also where you can find additional tutorials and update all your licensed Adobe software.
In this section, I have introduced you to each of these resources individually, so that I can highlight them one at a time. Figure 11.10 shows the Creative Cloud app's menu, which includes the Apps, Files, Discover, and Stock & Marketplace tabs. By selecting the Stock & Marketplace tab, you will find the links to every resource we have just gone through.
By using the benefits of the Creative Cloud Libraries, you will be able to bring in resources that you have created and saved or those you have acquired from any of the Stock & Marketplace options. This will up your efficiency game quite a bit, as you won't be wasting valuable time searching for items such as branding, type, and colors if you have prepared a project library first.
Next, we will look at even more ways to extend Illustrator's abilities and further increase your efficiency with the software.
As you get more and more comfortable with the tools already offered to you within Illustrator, the inevitable need to ask even more from it will occur. It might be based on a desired look or even a specific printing requirement. Although Adobe has done an excellent job developing Illustrator through the years, there are still areas where a third-party developer can devote a great deal of time and resources to bring even more out of the software. A third-party developer has the benefit of having a more limited focus than Adobe, since Adobe is looking at how everything works within Illustrator and even how it interacts with the additional software titles offered by their company.
There are many plugins out there, but the one that I go to most often and has the most opportunities to extend the capabilities of what Illustrator can do for me is the Astute Graphics (AG) collection (https://astutegraphics.com). The collection offers 21 different plugins. Four are considered free and included with a free 7-day trial (Astute Buddy, AutoSaviour, DirectPrefs, and MirrorMe), while the other 17 are all included in a yearly subscription. In addition to the 21 plugins, the subscription will give you updates on current plugins, new plugins when they become available, texture packs, brush sets, graphic styles, and more. They also have lots of training videos and knowledgeable customer support.
Let's look at what each AG plugin does and the opportunities it offers to you for improvement. This is not intended to be an extensive list of their functions and capabilities, but rather a brief overview of each, so you can get a feel for what each one is intended for.
The apps offered by AG perform a variety of tasks, and it might help to explain each app. In the following list, with each app, the available options are listed as described directly from the AG website, with a few additional thoughts from me:
The apps that you acquire through a subscription offer a wide range of capabilities. Whether your work is graphic or illustrative in nature, the AG plugins can be a huge benefit to your workflow. They can also be very helpful to the final output quality. To illustrate the point, I have shared one of AG's online lessons for creating infographics and what my results were in Figure 11.11:
Astute offers tutorials for each plugin they offer, as well as several quality lessons for completed projects. The AG infographics lesson that I used can be found at https://astutegraphics.com/learn/tutorial/how-to-create-infographic-elements-with-vectorscribe-in-illustrator. This lesson allows you to become better acquainted with the capabilities of the Dynamic Shapes plugin while creating completed infographic elements.
In contrast, here is an illustration I created using a variety of AG's plugins (Figure 11.12):
Many additional industries make use of third-party extensions to Illustrator, but graphic design, fashion design, and illustration are the three most prominent trades that make use of them.
I created the bug illustration to illustrate the use of AG plugins. The illustration benefited from the use of many AG plugins, but really highlights the benefits of the Stipplism, Texturino, and Stylism plugins.
Additional Information
I have included a link that was shared on the AG website, which highlights an extensive collection of additional third-party plugins: https://astutegraphics.com/learn/tutorial/third-party-illustrator-plugins.
To take a deeper dive into what the AG plugins are capable of, I would recommend researching a few of these artists, who make excellent use of these tools:
To reach a professional level of production within Illustrator, practice your skills and techniques as often as possible, and even extend the capabilities of Illustrator when needed to get to what you truly intended. The most important thing to remember is to be creative! Tools can help you create your concepts but being able to conceptualize something intriguing and unique is the "secret sauce" that you must bring to any creativity tool you are using.
In the next section, we are going to look at an enhancement to Illustrator that allows you to map your artwork directly onto complex prebuilt 3D models.
Maxon is the creator of Cinema 4D and has been in the 3D workspace for many years. You can find out more about them and the products they offer at https://www.maxon.net/en/. They have now partnered with TurboSquid (a stock 3D store owned by Shutterstock) to offer a plugin that will work with selected 3D models offered under the Cineware brand. These objects can work directly within Illustrator and allow a simple method for 2D artwork mapping onto an assortment of items represented by 3D models, such as packaging and apparel. You can find out more about the plugin and access a download link at https://www.maxon.net/en/cineware-illustrator. After downloading and installing the plugin, you should visit https://www.turbosquid.com/cineware/browse to find a selection of both free and paid 3D models to download and use the Cineware plugin with.
The plugin has a custom workspace that you need to set up before beginning to import any of the TurboSquid 3D templates. Go to the top menu and choose Window > Workspace > Cineware 3D. This will give you three panels that are part of the Cineware plugin package. These three panels are Scene Structure, Attributes, and Materials (see Figure 11.13):
From the Scene Structure window, you can open the subdivision that you intend to adjust (in the case of this baseball cap, it would be the Logo Space subdivision), and then select that subdivision's material (represented by a small sphere icon). This will open the properties for the material in the Attributes panel. Inside this panel, you should find a Texture attribute that may already contain the image for that panel. You can apply your adjusted texture simply by dragging it to your selected attribute and dropping it on top of the previous instance.
Adobe has continued to add valuable 3D options and improvements to Illustrator. In the next section, we will look at how you can use the built-in offerings to create 3D objects, apply and edit materials, and render the final output.
Through the acquisition of Substance 3D, Adobe has begun to integrate this product into the Creative Cloud subscription in interesting ways. You can now benefit from some of the free materials offered within the updated 3D user interface within Illustrator. Adobe has decided to offer the complete Substance 3D package as an additional subscription, but you can still do quite a bit with the free materials, as it gives you the ability to add your own materials or even wrap a graphic. You can also add lighting for a final touch before rendering your image.
For a thorough introduction of the latest 3D options offered in Illustrator, including the integration of Substance 3D, check out this section of the Illustrator User Guide: https://helpx.adobe.com/illustrator/using/create-3d-graphics.html?trackingid=YB1TGLWS&mv=in-product&mv2=ai.
This guide offers simple instructions divided into three steps:
The first and the third steps are part of most Illustrator workflows and are quick and simple, but with 3D, we should take a moment to discuss step 2.
As you will see in the second step, Apply 3D effects to the artwork, the 3D and Materials panel (Effect > 3D and Materials) has three sections that offer options for transitioning your vector artwork to 3D. The three sections are as follows:
The Object section will allow you to select which type of 3D you would like by selecting one of the 3D Type buttons at the top of the panel.
Illustrator can develop vector artwork into Plane, Extrude, Revolve, and Inflate types of 3D. In Figure 11.14, you can see that I have simulated a cork by first drawing a simple rectangular vector shape, then using the Revolve type to develop it into 3D:
Using the Materials section, I have applied the Cork Natural material offered by the free Adobe Substance Materials library that comes with Illustrator. In the third section, you can make final lighting decisions before rendering the scene out as an image file. To render the image, use the button on the top right of the 3D and Materials panel and choose your intended render results.
Adobe has been making steady improvements to the 3D panel and it has become a valuable element of the Illustrator offerings. Another area of steady development is the iPad version of Adobe Illustrator. In the next section, we will look at what you can do with this tablet version of Illustrator.
Adobe has been working hard at developing a natural workflow between the desktop and iPad versions of Illustrator. Using the new cloud AI format (.aic), your work can be saved to the cloud and then travel between the two Illustrator apps. At the time of writing this book, I would not recommend this for all situations, as there are still many things that the iPad version cannot do. In fact, I have found that it makes some destructive changes to files occasionally. The good news is that cloud files always have a revisions list and can be brought back to a previous state.
To get acquainted with what you can do with Illustrator for iPad, follow along as I build a quick card design that can later be opened in Illustrator on the desktop for further enhancements. Before beginning the project, it is worth noting that a quick way of learning about different tools and methods of working with them in this version of Illustrator is to explore the help icon (third from the right at the top of the GUI). This offers a very thorough library of tool hints, shortcuts, and tutorials.
As you can see in the screenshots I have included in Figure 11.15, starting a file is still similar in this version of the software, but due to the touchscreen capabilities and the Apple Pencil option, there are several iPad-specific techniques to get familiar with:
The following activity is intended to give you something to create that will allow you to get more familiar with the iPad version of Illustrator and consider what you might want to use it for. I have found that it allows you to get an artwork started, even when you are away from your desktop (or laptop), and then you can choose to continue working on it with the desktop version. In this activity, we are creating a holiday card design that will require building objects with simple shapes, the use of text, and the use of patterns:
We are now going to go through a few steps to develop a heart shape. Granted, there are several options for creating such a shape, but I have found this to be an interesting way to show how to make use of the tools within Illustrator and Illustrator for iPad.
Use the Rotate handle on the outside of the object's bounding box or use Properties > Transform to rotate this shape to 45˚. When using the Rotate Tool, you can also hold the center of the Touch Shortcut tool (gray circle in the lower left of the GUI in Figure 11.16) to get Illustrator to snap the rotation to 45˚. The center of the Touch Shortcut tool is known as the primary shortcut. If you were to pull the Touch Shortcut tool to the outside of the circle, a secondary shortcut would occur. In this case, the selected object would then snap to 10˚.
Now that we have a single pill shape angled to 45˚, we need to make the bottom point. Using the Direct Selection tool, we will select one of the lower anchors and then pull the Live Corners widget outward to develop a sharp corner. Next, we will need to make a duplicate using the Common Actions bar located directly below the selected object (See Figure 11.17). The icon located second from the right will create a duplicate, and you can then go to the taskbar located on the left of the GUI to select Flip > Vertical.
Holding the Touch Shortcut tool will allow you to constrain the movement if you would like it to only move upward, but not outward.
Try to align the center edges so that there is neither overlap nor a gap. Adjust the color of this second side of the box so that it is a tint of the first side. This will represent the side of the box that is receiving more light.
Now that we have the front of the box created, we will be using it to create the back of the box.
You will need to move this group up to meet the edges of the front of the box. Hold down the Touch Shortcut tool to constrain the movement. I would recommend you lock the other objects using the lock icon in the Layers panel, as they may inadvertently get selected as you are trying to work with the back of the box grouping.
You can then open the Fill attributes and use the eyedropper to the top right of the color wheel to select the opposing color from the front of the box. For example, if you have selected the back-right box shape, you will fill it with the same color as the front left. If you selected the back left, then you will initially fill it with the same color as the front right. I like to adjust the back left to have a slightly darker shade, as it is an inside panel so would be receiving less light. I would recommend setting the color space to be CMYK and then moving the black slider to the right by a small amount.
Your text should now be wrapping around the ellipse shape but might not be located along the path the way you would like. Find the left alignment bracket (single line) and the right alignment bracket (double line) and place them at the beginning and end of the intended arc for the text. Then, under the Properties panel, choose Paragraph > Align Center to distribute it evenly between the two guides.
Although the organization of layers is not required, I would highly recommend once again that you consider it for your own benefit. You are likely to use Adobe Illustrator for iPad as a method for starting your work but will usually revisit it in Illustrator on your desktop, and the naming and placement of layers will make it easier for you to jump in where you left off.
It is also going to be highly appreciated if you are sharing the document. While still in Illustrator for iPad, you can quickly export as PNG and then share the file as a composite layout (comp) for approval (see Figure 11.31):
Illustrator for iPad works well with the Apple Pencil and thus becomes a great alternative to a drawing tablet (such as a Wacom Intuos Pro tablet). Having both an Apple iPad and a drawing tablet adds additional benefits to your workflow, but either one will help you get the job done with more control than a mouse generally can.
Although both the desktop and iPad versions have some similarities, they still differ quite a bit when it comes to their features and capabilities. Storing your files in the cloud allows you to easily move back and forth between the desktop and iPad versions while keeping the files synced (see Figure 11.32):
One of the best benefits of Illustrator for iPad is the ability to continue working on your vector-based artwork when a desktop or even a laptop is not convenient. You can also work offline and then update it when you once again have a connection to the internet.
The additional options for Illustrator allow you to customize important tasks that Illustrator might not have been specifically designed for or is currently capable of doing.
As I have said in previous chapters, it is not only about gaining skills but also becoming more efficient with them. The plugins and extensions I have highlighted in this chapter will save you valuable time as well as improve the quality of your work.
In this chapter, you have learned that using the Creative Cloud app will connect you to a large volume of resources. More specifically, when using the Stock & Marketplace tab, you will gain access to a variety of websites that Adobe is offering specifically to enrich your artwork through additional resources and knowledge. We have also looked at the AG line of plugins to extend the capabilities currently offered in Illustrator. We finished this chapter by exploring the use of 3D options through both the third-party plugin known as Cineware by Maxon, as well as the built-in capabilities of Illustrator and the inclusion of Substance 3D.
In the next (and final) chapter, we will try to pull together all that you have learned to this point and put it into action. We will discuss why efficiency is such a valuable asset. Most creatives understand the necessity to gain knowledge and skills (myself included) but fall short in increasing their ability to use them efficiently. We will look at methods for gaining and practicing several time-management behaviors, such as keyboard shortcuts and focusing apps.