Help, please: off topic | vector - lines in Illustrator

[Mario Sarto]

off topic | vector - lines in Illustrator - problem solved!

A few days ago i bought a CS 5.5 version from Adobe. The part called Photoshop is really great - i love it.

But working with CorelDraw since it version #3 it it quiet hard for me to understand, how Illustrator works. I know a few of you are Professionals by using it. For my personal pleasure i'd like to know, if there is a way to get narrow-lines. I would like to use 'em for the shading part on scrollwork and the outlines to get a more realistic looking result. Any help would be appreciated!

Mario

 

[Mario Sarto]

After a pm from grumpyphil i found the answer to my little problem - thank you!

It is easy - in Illustrator CS5.5 there is a "stroke tool" (see picture) which allows to variate the thickness of every line.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Mario, I use the brush tool for that purpose, you can make your own library of brushes and save them.
I start with the bruches "Artistic - Artistic Ink) you can fine tune them by double clicking them. Then you have the option of the size. Goes from 1 to 100%. And they are tapered lines.
Another option is changing direction and proportional.

This one is done in Illustrator CS3 using that brush tool both for the outlines and the shading lines

 

[Sam]

Congrats on getting Illustrator, Mario!

 

[Mario Sarto]

Thank you Arnaud for your effort! I will try the brushes, too.
Sam, currently it's a big change for me. My conversant workflow i used in Corel doesn't work anymore Let me see, if i can fix that soon. There are hundreds upon hundreds of tutorials out there - so there is hope

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

Mario, I started a tread on Illustrator showing a video tutorial on Illustrator, could be some help perhaps



arnaud

 

[Sam]

I know what you mean, Mario. I used CorelDRAW for years and it's excellent software. When I switched to Mac I had to learn Illustrator and I have no regrets. Besides Arnaud's tutorial, there are hundreds on YouTube and Lynda.com is very highly recommend for software training. My advice to my students who wish to learn Illustrator is to learn the Pen Tool. Becoming proficient with that tool really gives you the power to do anything. It's not easy at first, but it's well worth the effort!

 

[Lee]

I just bought Illustrator and many thanks:clapping: to Arnaud, Sam and all others who generously offer help to the computer illiterate and challenged. I am a charter member of that club.

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

I made the switch too, being familiar with corel, I deleted it from my computer, forcing me to do the same job using illustrator

arnaud

 

[Mario Sarto]

Now i played with it - thinking i got an idea how it works. Calming to know, i am not the only one, who struggled a bit with that.

But ....



for all the replies!

For my wanted effect the pen tool in combination with the stroke tool works very good. With it i can add or take away thickness on every place of the line i like to do - that's great.

:biggrin: Mario

 

[Arnaud Van Tilburgh]

looks great Mario

arnaud