Alphabet Soup Illustrator - Second session.

In this session we learned

• more about the pen tool.
• how to make shapes to produce letterforms not using the pen tool.
• how to scan images to trace on illustrator.
• how to fill shapes once drawn using pen tool using colour/patterns.
• how to create own patterns to use.

Because I know what I am like for loosing things, I am going to type out my notes I made from this session so just incase I come to needing them again I know where they are.

To scan...

Scan images only using 'Image Capture' - it can be used for everything.

  - before actually scanning you must check the settings for the scan, because if not it will scan for screen.

      - open settings.

      - change resolution to 300 (for print).

      - save file to user work.

      - change format so that it saves as a .tiff.

      - always do overview before scanning to select areas.

      - then scan.

Open scan to use in Illustrator...

The image that is scanned always saves as a bitmap image, and it needs to be a vector.

  - to start, open Illustrator and set up a new document.

      - file - new document.

          - set profile to print.

          - set colour to CMYK.

          - set resolution to 300.

      - when opened a new file, go to...

          - file.

          - place.

          - select the scanned image.

Trace a scanned image on to Illustrator...

Before starting to trace the document needs to be set up properly.

  - click on the layers panel on the right side of the screen.

  - create a new layer.

  - lock the background layer (which should be the scanned image) and
    double click on it to change the dim to 50%.

  - rename layers to appropriate names.

  - zoom really into what is being traced.

  - set up the colours properly so that the line colour is black and the fill
    colour is set to transparent.

  - use the pen tool to draw round the image.

Here is my letters that I produced while tracing on Illustrator using the pen tool.

Create not using pen tool...

For this we use the shape tool from the pallet on the left.
  - select the elipse shape.
  - start drawing from center point by holding 'alt' key.
      - use selection tool to change and move paths and angles of the curves until achieving right shape.
          - basically draw with it then use white arrow to alter paths to make right shape.

Here is the shape I produced using this technique.

Fill...
Select the shape you want to fill and change the fill colour to what you want it to be.
  - on shapes with counters (like my Q), it colours in all the area.
  - need to use the counter shape to cut out of the outer shapes fill.
  - to do this you use 'Pathfinder'.
      - go to the window drop down menu at the top of the screen.
      - select path finder.
          - have the counter shape above the outer shape.
          - select both shapes together.
          - press the 'Minus Front' button on the Pathfinder menu.

Here is how my Q looks after I filled it.

To add colour...

To do this you can either,

  - use the colour bar on the right (CMYK).

  - or the swatches bar also on the right.

      - in swatches you can choose category for colours.

      - use colourbook.

      - it also has patterns.

          - lines.

          - dots.

          - etc..

Can make own pattern to use...

When ever you do this it should always be done within a square.

  - set the fill colour of it to white.

  - do the pattern within a big square then when it is done, make it smaller.

  - delete the existing swatch colours in the pallet.

  - then drag over the square into the pallet, and this now works to fill shapes.

Here is a pattern I made to use.

And here how it looks on the letter Q I made.

I carried on experimenting with this for the rest of the session creating a few more patterns and using them on the letter Q I made. Here is the ones I did.