Illustrator Introduction

Interface Basics
Zooming
Command-plus (holding down the Command key and pressing the plus key) zooms in. Command-minus zooms
out.

Undo
Command-Z undoes the last action performed. You can do this repeatedly to undo several steps.

Layers
• Illustrator uses layers to organize your work. The Layers panel is on the
right side. You can create new layers using the button on the bottom. You
can rename layers by double clicking on their name.
• Objects on layers higher up cover those on layers farther down.
• When you create a new object, it is created on whichever layer is
currently selected in the Layers panel.
• Each layer has a sub-layer that represents each object on that layer. To
see the sublayers of a layer, click on the small triangle next to that layer’s
name.
• You can rearrange layers and sublayers by dragging in the Layers panel.
• You can hide and show layers by clicking on the eyeball next to them.
• You can lock and unlock layers by clicking in the column next to the eyeball.

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Shape Basics
Stroke and Fill
Stroke and fill can be controlled in a number of places. The easiest for us is in the
color panel the top right of the screen. The icon for it looks like a stereotypical
painting palette. The solid square controls the fill color and of the hollow square
controls the stroke color. We will mostly be using a solid fill of either black or white.

Creating Shapes
1. Click and hold the shape tool on the left tool bar (8th icon down) to see the sub-
menu of shapes.
2. Choose one of these shapes. Then, click on the artboard. Type in a size and
click OK. You can also click and drag to adjust the shape size. Try clicking and
dragging on a different spot on your page to create a second shape.

Copying a Shape
1. Click inside your last shape, the selected one, and click ok. An exact copy of your shape should appear.

Selecting a Shape
1. Click on the Selection tool (black arrow at the top of the toolbar).
2. Then click on your original shape. A blue outline with anchor points will appear
when the shape is selected.

Moving a Shape
1. Once a shape is selected, click inside the shape (not on an anchor point) and drag.

Copying a Selected Shape

1. Now that the shape is selected, hold down on the option key on the keyboard, click inside the shape, and
drag with your mouse to the desired location.

Scaling a Shape
1. While the shape is still selected, select an anchor point and while holding down the shift key, drag with your
mouse. To distort the shape, drag without holding down the shift key.

Deleting Shapes
1. While holding down the shift key, select each shape with the Selection tool. Once all are selected, hit delete
on the keyboard. All shapes should disappear.

Rotating a Shape
1. Create a rectangle. Then, click on the Rotate tool in the left tool bar (13th icon down). Now, click outside of
your shape and drag your mouse in a circle.
2. With a shape selected, double click on the Rotate tool. Now you can enter a specific angle to rotate it.
3. You can also rotate with the Selection tool

Free Transform Tool

1. Click on the free transform tool in the left tool bar ( ). With this, you can scale, move, or rotate your
shape. Try clicking and dragging your mouse like you did previously to scale, move or rotate the shape.
2. Click on one of the corner handles. Then, while dragging the handle hold down the command key. This allows
you to move and just one handle at a time.

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Creating More Complex Shapes
Create a Triangle
1. Make a rectangle with the Rectangle tool. Click on one of the anchor points with the direct selection tool
(white arrow). Press delete. (Note: this creates an open shape. If you turn off the black fill and instead give it a
black stroke you can see that it’s really just a V shape. To close the shape, in the menu select Object —>
Path —> Join or press command-J.)
2. Select the Pen tool in the left tool bar. Click on your page to create a point. Click nearby (about an
inch away) to establish a second point. Click nearby again to establish a third point. Finally, click
one the original anchor point to close the shape.
3. If you don’t want to fully close a shape, or if you’re using the pen tool to draw a line rather than a closed
shape, press the Return key on the keyboard to tell Illustrator you have finished that line so it doesn’t keep
adding points each time you click.

Create a Half-Circle
1. Click on ellipse under the Rectangle tool. Make a circle with the shape tool by holding the shift key down while
you click and drag. Hint: If you want an oval, don’t hold down the shift key, just click and drag. With the direct
selection tool, select one of the anchor points and delete it. (Once again, this creates an open shape. Use
Command-J to close it.)

Creating a Compound Shape by Overlapping Shapes

1. Create two more rectangles. Move these five shapes so that they overlap slightly. Turn on the Grid (View/
Show Grid) to make alignments, or use Smart Guides (the green lines that flash up to indicate two objects are
aligned. Hint: You can also create the appearance of subtracting out a shape by creating a white shape (white
fill) and overlapping it onto your black shapes.
2. Try scaling your new complex shape. With the Selection tool drag a rectangle around your complex shape.
Now, select an outside anchor point while holding down the shift key and drag. Do the same without holding
down the shift key.

Grouping Shapes to Stick Them Together

1. With multiple objects selected, press Command-G to group them. (Or, in the menu select Object —> Group)
2. Now they all move, scale, etc. together.
3. Press Shift-Command-G to ungroup.

Drawing Shapes
Line Segment Tool
1. If the Stroke Panel is not on your screen, in the menu select Window —> Stroke. Next, choose the
line segment tool (straight diagonal line in the left tool bar). Then click and drag to form a line. Adjust
the stroke by clicking on stroke weight and selecting the desired point size.
2. Now, hold down on the line segment tool to see the sub-tools. Select the arc tool. Then, click and drag to draw
a curved line. If you double click on the arc tool, a box will come up that will allow you to adjust the arc’s
specifications prior to drawing it. Delete all.

Pen Tool
1. Set stroke to black, with no fill. Select the Pen tool. Click, then move the mouse, then click again, then keep
going. Each time you click an anchor is set. Click back at the first anchor to close the shape.
2. Click once to set an anchor. Now click to the right of that anchor and drag up or down. Clicking and dragging
with the pen tool creates a smooth point (one that defines a smooth curve) instead of a corner point. You can
continue building your shape, clicking and dragging to create smooth points or just clicking to create corner
points. You can even start a shape with a smooth point by clicking and dragging.

Paintbrush Tool
1. Select the Paintbrush tool (9th icon down). Go to the top menu and change the stroke to 18 for example. Click
and drag on your page.

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Modifying Shapes
Creating Organic Shapes
1. Create an ellipse with the ellipse tool.
2. With the Direct Selection Tool (white arrow) select one of the anchor points and drag it to modify the ellipse.
3. Smooth anchor points have what are called Bezier handles (the lines sticking off of the anchor point). Click on
the anchors at the end of the handles and drag to modify the shape of the curve.

Shear Tool
1. Create a rectangle. Select the Shear tool, under the Scale tool.
2. Click on one of the edges of your rectangle and drag.

Creating a Symmetrical Shape

1. Again create an organic shape. Deselect by clicking on the white page. Then select
it with the Selection tool.
2. In the menu select Object —> Transform —> Reflect.
3. In the box that pops up, choose between a vertical and horizontal axis or set a different angle. Then click
Copy. (If you click OK then it just changes the original shape rather than duplicating it and reflecting it.)

Gradient Mesh
1. Make a shape. Fill it with black.
2. Select the object, then select Create —> Gradient Mesh in the menu.
3. Choose any number for rows and for columns. The numbers can be different for each. Then select OK.
4. With the Direct Selection tool (white arrow) modify the shape by dragging the anchor points and Bezier
handles.
5. Try not to overlap these dragged shapes to not have self-intersecting paths.
6. With the black arrow select all. Now press the apple (command) and y key at the same time (your shape should
fill black). If this did not work you can just change the fill to black.
7. Now click on the white page to deselect.
8. Delete all shapes.

Pathfinder
Pathfinder allows you to perform various operations on overlapping shapes. Bring up the Pathfinder panel on the
right (the icon looks like two overlapping squares). If you don’t see it, select Window —> Pathfinder in the menu.
1. Create two overlapping shapes.
2. The order you create them in determines which is on top. To bring a shape to the front (top) select Object —>
Arrange —> Bring to Front.
3. In the Pathfinder panel, under Shape Modes, select Unite. This creates a single compound shape. Undo with
Command-Z.
4. Try each of the other Shape Modes.
5. Now try Divide, the first on the left under the Pathfinder modes.
6. Divide results in three distinct shapes, but they’re grouped, so you have to ungroup them (select, then
Command-Shift-G). Then deselect and select only one of them.
7. Try using Minus front to create a shape with a fully enclosed hole in it.

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