What are all those eyeballs, colored squares and double rings on Illustrator’s Layers panel? They are all visual cues that let you work better and smarter with layers. Watch this Quick Tip and feel the power!
(Continue)
Browsing Author
Cheryl Graham
Sort by
Cheryl Graham trained as a traditional artist in drawing and painting. These days she spends more time in front of the computer than the easel. Her Illustrator work has been featured in the "The Adobe Illustrator WOW! Book" and "Real World Illustrator CS5." She wrote the now-defunct Illustrator blog at freetransform.net.
Quick Tip: Rulers and Guides
Using Rulers and Guides in Illustrator allows you to be mathematically precise in your work. Here’s the low-down on these measuring tools, including a few handy tricks and shortcuts.
(Continue)
Quick Tip: The Tilde Key Trick
This screencast covers fun with the Tilde key and Adobe Illustrator. Works with any Shape Tool, the Line Segment Tool, the Arc Tool, the Spiral Tool, and more. Use this technique to quickly make complex shape patterns.
(Continue)
Quick Tip: Working with Illustrator’s Navigator Panel and Views
Sometimes when you’re working at a very large magnification, it can be hard to see the overall picture. In this screencast, we’ll show you a neat trick using the Navigator panel, that saves you the hassle of zooming in an out constantly. We’ll also show how you can save custom views that will speed up your workflow.
(Continue)
Inspiration: 50+ Vector-Based Book Covers
Vector artwork is everywhere these days, and book jackets are no exception. Often striking in their simplicity, vector graphics and illustration can stand out in a sea of photo-based covers on the bookshelf. As I looked through cover designs of the past few years, certain themes emerged. I have identified four, which I’ll call: Silhouettes, Pattern & Decoration, Abstraction and Type With A Twist. In addition, there are a few covers that feature beautiful full-on vector illustration. Barring a conversation with the designer, we cannot be certain that these covers were drawn with Illustrator, et al. But they all have a look that could easily be achieved with a vector drawing program. Be sure to click on the illustrators’ links and get inspired!
(Continue)
Create a Forest Scene with Livebrush
For this tutorial, we’ll use Livebrush’s innovative motion brush feature to create abstract shapes. We’ll then bring those shapes into Illustrator for further assembly and editing. As this will focus primarily on Livebrush, I will assume an intermediate to advanced knowledge of Illustrator. If you haven’t seen the Introduction to Livebrush, you might want to read that first. Let’s get started!
(Continue)
Quick Tip: Working with the Group Selection Tool
A quick look at the little-known, but very useful Group Selection tool in Adobe Illustrator. This tool allows you to select individual object within groups, as well as sub groups within groups. Watch the demonstration video to learn the usefulness of this tool and how to work with it.
(Continue)
Quick Tip: Working With Illustrator’s Workspaces
Learn how to work with Workspaces in Adobe Illustrator. Workspaces allow you to arrange the Panels and other interface elements in Illustrator. Learn to work with the built-in default Workspaces Illustrator CS4 comes with, as well as how to customize your own workspaces to suit the type of job you’re working on.
(Continue)
Quick Tip: How to Make Pop Art with Live Trace
Use Adobe Illustrator’s Live Trace feature to turn photos into pop art! In this screencast, we review tracing options, using various color palettes, and other Live Trace settings to create groovy art rapidly.
(Continue)
An Introduction to Livebrush – the Vector Motion Brush Program
Livebrush is a new and innovative drawing program. It’s not a full vector application like Illustrator®, nor does it have the myriad features of Painter® or Photoshop®. Livebrush creates graphics with a simple stroke of a “motion-enabled” brush, which means it responds to your mouse’s movement to modify the line and apply different styles. That’s the “live” part — no two strokes are the same, and each can have infinite variations. This unique brush is what makes Livebrush fun — and addictive.
(Continue)
Join our newsletter!
Freelance Jobs
Create a Tutorial, Get Paid!
Have something to teach the world? Want to earn money doing it? Tutorials, screencasts, and articles published here on Vectortuts+ are largely contributed by readers just like you! We'll pay you great money for good content. Find Out More
Follow Vectortuts+ and Tuts+ on Twitter