Final Image Preview

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Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator CS3
• Difficulty: Beginner to Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: 30 minutes

Introduction

I decided to create a stained glass effect when I saw one very beautiful Tiffany lamp. And, although it might be easy to create a mosaic with Illustrator raster effects, I thought it would be better to make it a different way. The simple method I describe in this tutorial involves only a few tools. Also, you’ll get better results with a reference image – whether it’s your own sketch, a photo, or any other image you like.

Step 1

Let’s open Adobe Illustrator and create a new document. Make it default A4 paper size (210×297 mm horizontal), but your image may be created in any size. I set it to RGB color mode, but you can choose CMYK if you prefer.

Now we’ll need a reference image, and you need to know something about it. Resolution and quality doesn’t matter, it can be a small photo. For a stained glass effect it’s better not to choose high-frequency images, which means images with many small details, or with very distant objects.

It’ll be rather hard to reproduce tiny areas with so many glass pieces (you’ll have to create each of them). Thus, city landscapes or detailed portraits are not the best choice. Choose a low-frequency image like a still life, flowers, or a landscape. See the examples below.

Step 2

Okay, when the reference image is chosen, place it in your document (File > Place). I used a great photo “Spring bouquet” that the Russian photographer Nattalia Shloma kindly allowed me to use in this tutorial. She has some amazing flower compositions that are perfect for stained glass effects.

Position and scale the placed image to your liking, so that the main object is in the center. Then click twice on the layer in the Layers panel (F7) and rename it to “photo.” Check the “template” option, also enter 100% in the Dim To field. This way the image will be visible even in outline mode.

I left some blank space to fill it with glasswork later, and I also decided to crop it with a clipping mask. Simply create a rectangle the same size as your document, select both the rectangle shape and the image, and then press Command + 7.

Step 3

Now create a new layer and name it “Glasswork.” Choose the Line Tool (\) and make sure your bottom layer with a reference image is locked, so you don’t accidentally select it. Colors do not matter now, you’ll change them later, so you can choose a vivid stroke color to work with.

Now it’s time to create the basic shape of the glasswork. This is the most time-consuming part of tutorial and requires some patience. Draw the rough draft of the glasswork, so that the lines are the borders between glass pieces.

Start creating lines that follow the main objects in your image. Make sure that every line touches either another line or the image border with its endpoints. You are making future glass pieces, keep it in mind – so the idea is to break the surface down into separate objects. Avoid open line ends, it’s very important, so overlapping is the key!

Turn on smart guides (Command + U) for help. This way you’ll see where the lines intersect. You don’t have to copy the reference image exactly. I decided to make the table flat and clean, dropped the fallen tulip, and change the vase shape.

Step 4

The flat areas like the wall or table will consist of larger glass pieces, while smaller objects (flowers and leaves) need more detailed work. Try to draw lines that roughly follow the borders of every object. Remember: It’s better to create smaller glass pieces where we do not actually need them, than to create one huge piece where we need more detail.

Here I replaced the mimosa with more simple leaves to avoid too much small detail. You can switch to outline mode (Command + Y) if the line color disturbs you. That’s what I have for now.

It’s easy to know you’re ready for the next step: just turn off visibility of the bottom layer, and you’ll see if the lines look recognizable. Make sure every important object of your reference photo has the appropriate glass piece bounded by lines on the top layer.

Check twice that the lines touch each other or the image border. Correct gaps and any points that are bit over the border – just move them into place with the Direct Selection Tool (A). You’ll be able to correct it later though.

Step 5

Once the lines’ draft looks OK, select all the lines you created (you can simply click the circle beside the layer name in the Layers panel). Now choose the Warp Tool (Shift + R) and start deforming lines to make them wavy – begin with large glass pieces using the default tool size. When you come to working on smaller pieces, change the tool settings to a handle more subtle areas – click Enter and adjust intensity, simplicity, and size.

You can also change the Warp Tool size quickly by holding Alt and dragging inwards or outwards (to constrain proportions also hold Shift). Make the line work repeat the shape of image objects. You have to end up with something similar to the image shown below (I made the bottom layer invisible).

Step 6

Well, the last thing to do before adding color is to create a rectangle that will be the image border. Make sure it has no fill and it touches the lines so there are no gaps. Now, select the whole layer (lines and rectangle together), group these objects (Command + G) and give this group a 3pt stroke of light brown color (#BC8B0F).

Now you should make a copy of this group, we’ll use it later: press Command + C and Command + F. The copy appears above the original group. Hide it for now by pressing Command + 3 or clicking the eye icon beside the group copy in the layers panel. Below shows what it looks like with the bottom image turned off.

Step 7

Now we’ll add some color to our artwork: select the original group of line work and go to Object > Live Paint > Create (Alt + Command + X). This turns the group into a Live Paint Group – the bounding box around it might change a little. Now you can recolor the space between lines with the Live Paint Tool (K).

To choose swatches I suggest that you go to Window > Swatches Libraries and select the combination you like (I used the “Food” and “Nature” libraries). Simply click the color swatch as a fill color and bring the tool cursor to the area you want to paint, it will be indicated with a wide selection. Start painting the entire image with colors you like (don’t change the stroke color though).

Step 8

You may face some problems when painting your glasswork. If some areas appear as a single one due to gaps between lines, select the line endpoint with the Direct Selection Tool (A) and move it to close the gap.

If you feel that some lines are missing, draw new lines and deform it with the Warp Tool, then select both the new lines and the Live Color group and go to Object > Live Paint > Merge. The lines will be added to the group.

Keep painting your image – you can change the color of any piece in this group if you like with the same Live Paint Tool. Switch the bottom layer’s visibility off to check the fill of glasswork. Below is what I have so far.

Step 9

To complete the basic shape of glasswork, unhide the backup group you duplicated in Step 6 (press Alt + Command + 3). Select the duplicate and change its stroke to 2 pt and dark yellow color (#EAA00C). Now copy the group in front again (Command + C and Command + F) and give this one a 1 pt stroke and light yellow color (#FCD515). This way the glass borders look as if they are made with copper foil.

Finally, let’s crop the image. Draw the rectangle above the glasswork so that it covers the entire canvas (or you can copy one from the bottom layer). Make the layer a clipping mask (select the “Glasswork” layer in Layers panel and choose Make Clipping Mask in the fly-out menu). You can lock the “Glasswork” layer now, as the basic work is done.

Step 10

Create a new layer and name it “Realism” (as we’ll add some realistic details now). Create a rectangle that covers the whole canvas again (or copy the clipping path from the layer below). Duplicate it twice and hide the copies for a moment (Command + C and Command + F). Select the first one and make it’s fill 50% black with no stroke. Now go to Effects > Artistic > Sponge, enter these values:

• Brush size: 2
• Definition: 12
• Smoothness: 5

You can go to the Opacity panel now (Shift + Command + F10) and change the rectangle’s blending mode to Overlay. Now, with it still selected, again go to Effects > Sketch > Plastic Warp, and enter the following:

• Highlight strength: 9
• Detail: 5
• Smoothness: 11

It will create a nice glass texture. You can reduce it’s opacity for a more subtle effect. Also, if your document has different dimensions, you may want to change the effects’ settings a little bit.

Step 11

Unhide the first rectangle copy and fill it with a white to black radial gradient. Move the gradient’s center point with the Gradient Tool (G) wherever you want to imitate the light outside the glass window. Now change the rectangle’s blending mode to Soft Light.

Step 12

The image looks good already, but if you want to add extra lighting, select the third rectangle above two others, fill it with a gray color and turn it into a gradient mesh (Object > Create Gradient Mesh), enter 4 for rows and 6 for columns. Now change some point color to white, selecting them with the white arrow (A), and move some points and handles to create the shapes of the color transitions.

Now, again change the mesh mode to Soft Light and adjust the opacity if you want. This object imitates additional light sources outside a glass window. At this point I also changed the colors of the Light Paint group slightly. That’s it, below is my result.

Conclusion

In this tutorial we made a stained glass effect with simple method using several Illustrator tools. You can use most images for reference to create this effect, but try to avoid high-frequency pictures.

This method produces good results when created from scratch, as you can randomly make a line work and paint it as you like. Moreover, even the simplest ornament with this effect applied looks nice – look at the image below. Hope you’ve found something useful for yourself in this technique.

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Final Image Preview

Below is the final image we will be working towards. Want access to the full Vector Source files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Vector Plus for just 9$ a month.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator CS4
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 hours

Step 1

I went over to stock.xchng and picked a nice photograph of an eagle. We’ll use this image and trace our eagle head out of it. Open a new document in Illustrator and place the image on its own layer and lock it.

Step 2

There is no real shortcut for this kind of thing, just plain and simple tracing. Select the Pen Tool (P) and start tracing the outline of the eagle head. Fill the shape with white and set the Stroke to none.

Step 3

Start adding another shape by loosely tracing it following the out line of the first shape. Fill it with 10% black.

Step 4

Add another shape. Just keep looking at the reference image, trace it, and fill it with 20% black. You can let your imagination run. It doesn’t have to have the exact shape of the eagle head.

Step 5

We pretty much keep adding shapes and filling them with gradients and colors similar to the photo.

Step 6

All these shapes will make up the head and feathers. The most important thing is to distinguish the shapes from each other by placing them underneath or above each other and give them slightly different colors or gradients. Try to orient yourself on the colors of the photo.

Step 7

Let’s move on to the eye. Create a small circle with the Ellipse Tool (L) and fill it with a white/orange radial gradient.

Step 8

Then create two circles filled with orange. Make one circle smaller that the other. Fill the bigger one with a slightly darker orange and then select both and apply a blend (Command + Alt + B). Set the Blend option to Specified Steps of 10.

Step 9

Create another circle on top and fill it with black.

Step 10

For the eye detail, create a triangle shape with the Pen Tool (P) and fill it with a radial gradient.

Step 11

Select the Rotate Tool (R), and with the object selected, click on the bottom tip of the triangle shape. Then hold Alt and drag the shape to the right (clockwise). This will duplicate it. Then press Command + D over and over again until you have a full circle of shapes. Now group them together.

Step 12

Place the grouped shapes over the black circle.

Step 13

Create another smaller black circle on top. This will act as a pupil.

Step 14

Last but not least, place two different shaped white circles as highlights on top of the black circle.

Step 15

Let’s move on to the beak. Create a small sickle shape with the Pen Tool (P) along the beak in the image and fill it with an orange color.

Step 16

Keep looking at the image and create shapes to build up the bird beak.

Step 17

Pay attention to the different shades of orange. The top beak shape should be lighter than the bottom half.

Step 18

Create a small ellipse as the nose.

Step 19

Copy the nose ellipse (Command + C + F) on top and scale it down a bit. (E). Then add a linear gradient.

Step 20

Create a wiggly line with the Pencil Tool (N) and choose an orange color.

Step 21

Add more detail to the beak. Have a look at the photo to orient yourself. Sometimes it just takes a small detail to make all the difference.

Step 22

In case you need to change the shape of small detail objects, grab the Direct Selection Tool (A) and transform it.

Step 23

This is the eagle illustration. As you can see, we really didn’t need all that many shapes. The important thing to remember is that it all comes down to shading and highlights.

Step 24

We want to make this into a sticker. Select all of the shapes and make a copy. Then apply the Unite option in the Pathfinder Palette.

Step 25

Select the shape again and apply an Offset Path of 7pt. Make sure you choose the "Round" option for the joins.

Step 26

In case there are shapes not added, select them with the Direct Selection Tool (A) and delete them.

Step 27

Select the Offset shape (you might want to ungroup everything) and fill it with black. As you can see, this shape acts like a rounded stroke around the eagle head.

Step 28

I added a start burst and placed it behind the eagle head. To make it fit into the sticker shape, copy the united shape from Step 25 and place it on top of the star burst. Then select the start burst and the shape and apply a Clipping Mask (Command + 7).

Final

I transformed the sticker shape a little. You can create any sticker you’d like, round rectangle, following the eagle head shape or an ellipse. It’s all up to you. I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

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Final Image Preview

Below is the final image we will be working towards. Want access to the full Vector Source files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Vector Plus for just 9$ a month.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator CS3 (MAC OS, German Version)
• Difficulty Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: 30-60 minutes

Step 1

Use the Pen Tool (P) to create a 2-point-path. The handle of the lower anchor point has to be horizontal and the handle of the upper anchor point 45°. Activating the Magnetic Guidelines (Command + U) will help you during this tutorial. The length of the handles affects the look of the rope and can be varied.

Step 2

Duplicate the path, rotate it 180°, and move it until the two paths connect. Use the Direct Selection Tool (A), select the two overlapping anchor points, and join them (Command + J).

Step 3

Duplicate the complete path again, but this time it has to be mirrored (either horizontally or vertically). Connect the two paths and join the overlapping anchor points as you did in Step 2.

Step 4

Duplicate the complete path again to extend your rope even more. Connect and join the anchor points. This curve will be the basic element for the climbing rope.

Step 5

Duplicate the complete path again, but this time the two paths have to overlap 50%. These two paths will be essential for the correct distribution and alignment in Step 6.

Step 6

Paste the basic path several times in-between the two existing ones. Don’t worry about the horizontal alignment. The number of curves will affect the look of the climbing rope and more curves will make it look thicker. I used a total of 13 curves in this tutorial.

Step 7

Select All and distribute horizontally centered. It almost looks like a rope now!

Step 8

Convert all the outlines to filled objects (Object > Path > Outline Stroke), create one shape from it (Pathfinder – Add to Shape Area), and release the compound path (Object > Compound Path > Release or press Alt + Shift + Command + 8). You might use the Outline View (Command + Y) to check the result.

Step 9

Remove the outline and everything but 2 rows. Now it’s time to connect certain squares to get the typical look of a climbing rope.

Step 10

Use the Outline View (Command + Y) to remove certain parts of the squares.

Step 11

Reconnect the squares as seen below by selecting and joining the equivalent anchor points (Command + J).

Step 12

Duplicate all and move it to the right. Use the Magnetic Guidelines (Command + U) for the perfect distance. To do so the movement has to be performed in two smaller steps. Now it’s time to choose the colors of the rope.

Step 13

Extend the rope even more and group everything (Command + G).

Step 14

Duplicate the group and paste it in the background (Command + B) for the new outline. Choose a black outline with rounded corners and convert the outline to a filled object (Object > Path > Outline Stroke).

Step 15

Select all and group it (Command + G). Draw a rectangle and make sure that the left and right side lock at equivalent anchor points of the climbing rope.

Step 16

Select all and create a Clipping Mask (Object > Clipping Mask > Make or press Command + 7). Then use the Pathfinder to remove the hidden parts (Pathfinder > Trim).

Step 17

Select all and create a Pattern Brush (Brushes > New Brush > New Pattern Brush). Use the settings shown below.

Conclusion

Now you can use the Brush Tool (B) or Pen Tool (P) with your created Pattern Brush. Add a drop shadow (Effects > Stylize > Drop Shadow) for a more realistic look. Repeat the tutorial and experiment with the parameters (shape of the 2-point-path, number of paths, colors, outline thickness, etc.) for additional climbing ropes. Have fun creating your own versions!

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Final Image Preview

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Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator Version CS3
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 hours

Step 1

Start with an A4 landscape document and open the Grid Preferences (Illustrator > Preferences > Guides & Grid) set the Gridline to every 1.5mm, Subdivisions to 1 and tick the Grids in Black box.

Step 2

Turn on Snap to Grid (View > Snap to Grid) and turn the grid on (View > Show Grid). Then zoom into the grid in the top-left corner, and use the Rectangle Tool to draw a square with a black fill and no stroke in one of the grid squares. You’ll find this easy to do with Snap to Grid turned on.

Step 3

Continue to draw squares in the grid to create the first spacey character.

Step 4

Next using the same method, draw the second character, starting three squares from the first character, as shown below.

Step 5

Ok, now we are going to create a row of these little bad boys. Select both the characters using the mouse and Copy/Drag them (Alt-Drag) to the right, positioning them three squares to the right of the second character, release the mouse and then the Alt key.

Step 6

Immediately after Step 5 select Object > Transform > Transform Again or (Command + D) and repeat this four times until you have a row of 12 invaders.

Step 7

Now we are going to use the Copy/Drag and Transform Again process to create more rows of invaders. First select all of the characters and Copy/Drag them (Alt-drag) downwards, positioning them two squares from the bottom of the first row (release the mouse and then the Alt key).

Step 8

Immediately after, select Object >Transform > Transform Again or (Command + D) and repeat this three times, so now you should have five rows of invaders, as shown below.

Step 9

Now we want to stagger the rows. Select the second and fourth rows using the mouse, then select Object >Transform > Move and enter: Horizontal of 13.5mm, Vertical of 0mm, Distance of 13.5mm, and Angle of 0mm. Lastly. Lastly, press OK.

Step 10

OK, you should now have something that looks like the image below. Check to see if the eyes of the characters are lined up underneath each other (as shown with the tinted strip). If not, then just select the second and fourth rows again and move them with the mouse until they snap into the correct position.

Step 11

Lets now create the defending spaceship. Use the Rectangle Tool and draw a square with a black fill and no stroke in one of the grid squares underneath the last row of invaders somewhere near the middle. Again this will be easy to do with Snap To Grid still on. Continue to draw squares and rectangles in the grid to create the character below with some extra squares for the shots.

Step 12

To blow up the invaders delete some of the squares and move others around. You can follow the pattern below or create your own.

Step 13

Now lets delete some of the invaders to set the scene, again you can follow the pattern below (delete the magenta ones) or choose your own.

Step 14

Now add some shots coming from the invaders, again you can follow the pattern below or choose your own.

Step 15

Now turn off Snap to Grid (View>Snap to Grid) and hide the grid as well (View > Hide Grid). Select all the artwork and Cut it (Edit > Cut). Then view the page at Actual Size (View > Actual Size) then Paste the artwork back in (Edit > Paste). This will place the artwork in the center of the page.

Step 16

Next, select any Space Invader character with the little sticking out legs and Copy/Drag it (Alt-Drag) to the left. While it is still selected bring up the Pathfinder Window (Window > Pathfinder), select the Add To Shape Area button on the Shape modes section (see below) and then press the Expand button. This will join all the pieces into one object.

Step 17

This is a repeat of Step 16, but this time select the other shape style of invader and Copy/Drag it (Alt-Drag) to the right. Again, while it is still selected, press the Add To Shape area button on the shape modes section, and then press the Expand button.

Step 18

Now select the two Space Invaders you have just created and Lock them (Object > Lock > Selection). Next, select the rest of the artwork and again select the Add To Shape Area button on the shape modes section, and then press the Expand button. Now Unlock the two extra invaders (Object > Unlock All).

Step 19

You should now have three separate objects (see below).

Step 20

Next we are going to apply the 3D effect. Select the main body of the invaders (No.2) and select the Extrude & Bevel Effect (Effects > 3D > Extrude & Bevel). Be sure to first tick the Preview box then enter: Rotation around X axis of 24°, Rotation around Y axis of -12°, Rotation around Z axis of -12°, Perspective of 120°, Extrude Depth of 15pt, and Surface of Plastic Shading. Don’t press OK yet, first press the More Options button.

Step 21

In the More Options box change the Shading Color to None and drag the white circle on the sphere to the right as shown below (this will change the direction of the lighting).

Step 22

Now create a new light by clicking on the New Light Icon and drag the white circle on the sphere to the left as shown (this will give us a more dramatic look). Now click OK or you can play around with the Rotations, Perspective and Extrude Depth to create a look you may prefer first.

Step 23

Next select one of the other remaining invaders and apply the same effect (Effects > Apply Extrude & Bevel).

Step 24

Now selection the last invaders left and apply the same effect again (Effects > Apply Extrude & Bevel).

Step 25

Next we want to Expand the effect we have just applied. Select all of the artwork and select Object > Expand Appearance.

Step 26

Now lets add some color. First double-click on the Magic Wand Tool to bring up the preference box, then set the Tolerance to 4.

Step 27

Using the Magic Wand Tool select the darkest gray color on the base of any of the invaders (see below). This will now select all of the bases because of the setting we applied in the Magic Wands Tolerance.

Step 28

With all the bases selected, apply a color to them. I have gone for 50% cyan, 50% magenta, 50% yellow, and 100% black to give me a rich black color.

Step 29

Again using the Magic Wand Tool, select the lightest gray/white color on the side of any of the invaders (see below).

Step 30

With all the sides selected apply a color to them. I have chosen 0% cyan, 50% magenta, 100% yellow, and 0% black for a bright orange color.

Step 31

Once more use the Magic Wand Tool to select the light gray color on the face of any of the characters (see below).

Step 32

With all the sides selected apply a color to them. I have chosen 0% cyan, 0% magenta, 0% yellow, and 0% black, in other words: white.

Step 33

Next select the Direct Selection Tool.

Step 34

Use the tool to individually select the white faces of the defending spaceship and the shots coming from it (see below), remember to hold the Shift key down as you go.

Step 35

When all the faces are selected apply a color. I went for 100% cyan, 0% magenta, 100% yellow, and 45% black for a dark green color.

Step 36

Again using the Direct Selection Tool, select the orange sides of the spaceship and shots.

Step 37

Now apply a color to those selections. I went for 100% cyan, 0% magenta, 100% yellow, and 75% black for an even darker green color.

Step 38

You should have something looking like the image shown below. Now select the extra invaders (see below) one at a time, scale them up, and rotate them into positions that look good to you.

Step 39

Now it’s time for the finishing touches. Select all of the artwork and Group them together (Object > Group). Now Copy the Group (Edit > Copy) and Paste in Back (Edit > Paste in Back). Next, scale and rotate the Copy, something similar to that shown below will work. Then change the fill color to none, the stroke color to 85% black, and set the stroke to a weight of 0.3pt.

Finally, using the Rectangle Tool to draw a box with a fill of 100% black and no stroke around the illustration. Now send it to the back (Object > Arrange > Send to Back).

Conclusion

I hope you found this useful and had fun making this design! The final image is below!

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Final Image Preview

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Step 1

Open up a new project at least 600px by 400px. Using the Ellipse Tool (L), click on the canvas. A dialogue box should appear. Enter a height and width of 100px. You should now have a perfect circle on your canvas. Give the circle a black Fill and no Stroke.

Step 2

Next, double-click the Crystallize Tool in the Tool Pallet. The Crystallize Tool can be found under the Warp Tool. A dialogue box should appear. Enter the setting indicated below, then click OK.

Step 3

Now with the Crystallize Tool selected, hover over the black circle. If you have Snap To Point activated you will notice the Crystallize Tool snap to the center of the circle. If Snap To Point is not activated, go to View > Snap To Point. Once the Crystallize Tool is snapped to the center of the black circle, click once with the mouse. Your shape should now look like the image shown below.

Step 4

Next, draw a new circle with a height and width of 120px centered over the old shape.

Step 5

With both shapes selected, hit the Intersect button in the Pathfinder Window (Window > Pathfinder).

Step 6

Now go to Object > Transform > Scale. Set the Scale to 200%, then click OK.

Step 7

Apply a Linear Gradient using a 10% gray and a 60% gray, make sure the lighter color is on the left. Give it a rotation of -24 degrees. The Gradient Pallet can be found under Window > Gradient.

Step 8

Now for the tricky part. With the Star Tool selected (the Star Tool can be found under the Rectangle/Ellipse Tool in the Tool Pallet), click on the canvas. A dialogue box should appear. Give Radius 1 a value of 190px, Radius 2 a value of 50px, and set the Points to 24, then click OK.

Now do it again, but this time give Radius 2 a value of 80px. You should now have two large 24 point stars. Now center all three shapes. You may have to nudge and rotate the star shapes slightly in order to line up the shapes to look like the image below.

Step 9

Now select the back most shape. Copy it (Edit > Copy), then Paste in Front (Edit > Paste in Front). This will make a duplicate of the shape directly in front of itself. With the duplicate selected, hold Shift and select one of the two 24 point stars created in Step 8. In the Pathfinder Window, hit the Intersect button (shown below). Copy & Paste in Front the back most shape once again creating another duplicate. With the duplicate selected, hold Shift and select the other 24 point star. Hit the Intersect button again. Your shapes should now look like the image shown below.

Step 10

Next, select the front most shape and give it a Linear Gradient using white and a 70% gray. Give the rotation a value of -90 degrees making sure that the white is at the top end.

Step 11

With the middle shape selected, give it a Linear gradient as well, but with a 50% and 20% gray. Give the rotation a value of -24 degrees and make sure that the darker color is at the top-left.

Step 12

Next, create a circle using the Ellipse Tool (L). Make sure it is 215px both high and wide. Center it, then give it a Linear Gradient using white and an 80% gray. Set the rotation to -45 degrees and make sure the white is at the top-left.

Step 13

Create another centered circle, this time 190px both high and wide. Give it a Linear Gradient using white and a 20% gray. Set the rotation to -45 degrees and make sure the white is at the top-left again.

Step 14

With both new circles selected, double-click the Blend Tool (W) in the Tool Pallet. A dialogue box should appear. Set the Spacing to Specified Steps and give it a value of 10, then Click OK. Now go to Object > Blend > Make.

Step 15

Now we’ll add some color. Select the back most shape, Copy it (Edit > Copy) then Paste in Back (Edit > Past in Back). This will duplicate the shape and place it behind the original. Color the duplicate red (R=220, G=0, and B=0).

Select all the shapes except the new red shape and Group them together (Object > Group). With the grouped object selected, go to the Transparency Window (Window > Transparency) and select Multiply from the drop-down menu. Your image should now look like that shown below.

Step 16

Now we can add some shine. To create the crescent shape, create two large circles 200px wide and tall. Center them over the artwork, then nudge the front circle to the left 7px and down 7px. With both circles selected, hit the Minus Front button in the Pathfinder Window. You should now have the crescent shape. With the shape selected, give it a Linear Gradient using white on both ends. Set the Opacity of the white color stop on the right side of the Gradient Slider to 0%. Also, set the rotation to -45 degrees.

Step 17

How about some text or a familiar logo? Simply pick your font and type out some text. Mickey Rossi was nice enough to let me use his font Ballpark Weiner for this tutorial. Make sure you place your text above the solid red layer, but below the grouped object. This will ensure that your logo has some of the shading on it otherwise it will look like it’s just floating in front of the image.

Step 18

So that’s one, but how about the competition? Make a copy of the existing object. Draw a rectangle with the Rectangle Tool (M) 300px wide by 100px high. Center it over the artwork.

Step 19

With the new rectangle selected, go to Effect > Warp > Flag. Set the Bend to 25% and click OK.

Step 20

Next, with the rectangle still selected, go to Object > Expand Appearance. Your shape should look like that shown below.

Step 21

Now with both the flag shaped rectangle and the red background shape selected, hit the Divide button in the Pathfinder Window.

Step 22

Delete the two extra shapes on the left and right. Leave the top shape colored red, color the middle shape white, and color the bottom shape blue (R=0, G=45, and B=130). Now with all three colored shapes selected, go to Object > Arrange > Send To Back. You object should now look like the image shown below.

Step 23

Now bring back in your text or logo. I repositioned the 5 cent mark to the top-left and re-colored the text red. Remember to place the logo above the colored shapes, but below the grouped object.

Step 24

To enhance the text to make it look more like the competitor’s vintage logo, select the text minus the 5 cent mark and go to Effect > Warp > Flag. Set the Bend to 30 and click OK.

Step 25

In the Transform Pallet (Window > Transform), set the rotation to 5 degrees.

Conclusion

There you have it, a simple vintage vector bottle caps, just like that!

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In this tutorial, we will learn how to create a wide range of custom swatches using the color blending methods. In the end, we will learn how to organize these swatches into Color groups. Let’s get started!

Final Image Preview

Below are some of the swatches we’ll be creating in this tutorial. Want access to the full Vector Source files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Vector Plus for just 9$ a month.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator CS3
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: 1 Hour

Step 1: Understanding the Color Blending Methods

Before proceeding towards the meat of the tutorial, let’s have a brief look towards two different types of color blending methods.

Method 1. Color Blend Using Object > Blend > Make

This method blends two or more colored objects by generating a series of intermediate objects between them.

Method 2. Color Blend Using Edit > Edit Color

This method blends three or more colored objects by filling the intermediate objects with graduated blends. It does not create any new object; rather, it divides the color gradually between the selected objects.

For our purpose, we will use the second method in this tutorial. Let’s proceed ahead!

Step 2: Create a Dummy Swatch

Create a new document. With the Rectangle Tool (M), draw a rectangle of 15px by 15px and fill it with 50% K.

Step 3: Create a Swatch Card

Select the rectangle and go to Object > Transform > Transform Each (Alt + Shift + Command + D). Enter 20px for Horizontal move and click on Copy. Next, press Command + D thirteen more times until you see 15 rectangles as shown below.

Step 4: Discovering the Range Between Two Swatches

To find a range of colors available between two given swatches, color the first and last rectangle with those two master swatches respectively. For example, we want to find 13 color swatches between 100% Cyan and 100% Yellow. Color the first rectangle with 100% Cyan and the last rectangle with 100% Yellow, as shown below.

Step 5: Blending the Colors – Normal Blending Using Method 2

Select all rectangles and go to Edit > Edit Colors > Blend Horizontally. You will find 15 different swatches ranging from 100% Cyan to 100% Yellow. You can broaden the range by increasing the number of rectangles.

Note that the middle swatch is not pure green. It is 50% Cyan and 50% Yellow.

Normal blending yields the swatches whose CMYK sum never exceeds the average CMYK sum of the master swatches. To understand it more clearly, let’s have a look at the example below.

To get full color range, in which the intermediate swatches are rich in color, we will follow another intensive method in next step.

Step 6: Editing the Swatch Card: Full Color Blending Using Method 2

Grab the swatch card that we created in Step 2. Next, we will specify three master swatches: First, middle and the last. The middle swatch should be the union of CMYK values of the first and the last swatch. To make it more precise, we will consider an example. If M1 has C=100, M=0, Y=0, and K=0, and M3 has C=0, M=0, Y=100 and K=0, then the middle swatch i.e. M2 will be C=100, M=0, Y=100 and K=0.

Tip: The Union of 100% and 100% is treated as 100%, whereas, the union of 30% and 40% is taken as their addition. i.e. 70%. All the additions exceeding 100 are treated as 100.

Step 7

Once the master swatches are defined, select rectangles from M1 to M2 and go to Edit > Edit Colors > Blend Horizontally. Next, select rectangles from M2 to M3 and blend them horizontally too. The final output will be a full color range from M1 to M3.

Note that the middle swatch (Green) is a pure combination of 100% Cyan and 100% Yellow. Hence, we get a full color range.

Step 8: Multi Color Blending: The Matrix Method

We have seen two different methods of discovering color swatches – The “Normal Blending” and the “Full Color Blending.” To expand more options, we will use the Matrix method. This technique involves the blending of pre-created swatch card with the third set of swatch card. We will use the output of Step 7 to blend with a third color, say, 100% magenta. For this, create six more rows of rectangle sets to form a matrix, as shown below.

Step 9: Define Master Swatches in a Matrix

Select all the rectangles of last row and color them with 100% Magenta. Next, we will define the master swatches for the “Full Color Blending” method.
Note: I will denote each rectangle as RxCy where R and C denotes Row and Column, whereas x and y denotes row number and column number respectively.

Step 10

Select rectangle R4C1 and assign it a CMYK union of R1C1 and R7C1. Next, select rectangle R4C8 and assign it a CMYK union of R1C8 and R7C8. Similarly, select R4C15 and assign it a CMYK union of R1C15 and R7C15. Once the master swatches are defined, we will proceed to blending.

Step 11: Blending the Matrix

Select all rectangles from R1C1 to R4C1 and go to Edit > Edit Colors > Blend Vertically. Next, select all rectangles from R4C1 to R7C1 and blend them vertically.

Step 12

Select all rectangles from R1C8 to R4C8 and go to Edit > Edit Colors > Blend Vertically. Next, select all rectangles from R4C8 to R7C8 and blend them vertically.

Step 13

Similarly, select all rectangles from R1C15 to R4C15 and go to Edit > Edit Colors > Blend Vertically. Next, select all rectangles from R4C15 to R7C15 and blend them vertically. In the next steps, we will follow horizontal blending.

Step 14

Select rectangles from R2C1 to R2C7 and go to Edit > Edit Colors > Blend Horizontally. Next, select rectangles from R2C7 to R2C15 and go to Edit > Edit Colors > Blend Horizontally.

Step 15

Repeat Step 14 for each row until you reach to Row 6. The last row need not be blended. After successful horizontal and vertical blending, the end result should look like the one below.

Step 16: Creating Color Groups

Now that the Color Matrix is created, we can organize the swatches of similar kind into Color groups. For this, select all the rectangles of first row and go to Edit > Edit Colors > Recolor with Preset > Color Harmony.

Next, select All from the Colors option and click on the New Color Group icon at the top. The newly created Color Group will appear in the Color Groups section with the name “Artwork Colors.”

To rename it, double-click on the name and enter the new name as “Nature.” Press OK to continue.

The “Nature Color” Group will appear in the Swatches.

Step 17

Using the same procedure, you can select the swatches of similar kind and organize them into Color groups. I have defined seven Color Groups from this Matrix. They are: “Nature,” “Corporate,” “Berries,” “Aqua,” “Kids,” “Forest” and “Valentine.”

Step 18: Using the Color Guide

Until now, we have created custom swatches and organized them into different Color Groups. We can further play with the harmonies of each Color Group using the Color Guide Panel. For this, select any Color Group in the Swatches panel and go to Window > Color Guide (Shift + F3). You will see harmony variations of the Color Group based on the current fill color in the Tools panel.

Note: There are only three options available for complete transition of the selected Color group with a third Color. They are: Tints/Shades, Warm/Cool and Vivid/Muted.

To get more transitions of a Color Group with custom colors, we can use the Matrix method of Step 8. In the example below, I have shown transitions of the “Nature” Color Group with White and Magenta using the Matrix method.

Conclusion and Scope

For browsing more and more color options, you can select any row or column from the color matrix and blend it with the third set of color using the procedure described in this tutorial. The “Normal Color Blending” is useful in finding shades of a single swatch, whereas “Full Color Blending” is effective in finding the multiplied output of two swatches.

The Matrix method is another effective procedure to broaden the possibilities. All these methods are experimented for on-screen view of CMYK colors only, and does not guarantee printing in a proper gamut. I will still follow Pantone color books when it comes to standard printing. I hope you like this custom technique of creating and organizing swatches!

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Final Image Preview

Below is the final image we will be working towards. Want access to the full Vector Source files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Vector Plus for just 9$ a month.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe InDesign CS4
• Difficulty: Beginner
• Estimated Completion Time: 1.5 hours
• Fonts used: PT Banana Split, Avant Garde, Wingdings

 

Step 1

Open up a new document and uncheck the Facing Pages check box. Choose 24 picas for width and height. 1 pica is 12 pt, 72 point is 1 inch, therefore 24 picas are 4 inches.

InDesign is so nice to convert that right away to picas (you can change that in the document settings). So if you type 4 inches into the size boxes, InDesign will convert it into picas. Set the margins to 1 pica 6 points all around and the Bleed to 9 point. Since we checked the Linked icons, you only have to input it once.

Step 2

As you can see, the bleed is marked with a red outline and the margin with a pink outline. In the Layers Palette, double-click the first layer and name it "background," then click OK.

Step 3

Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and start dragging a rectangle onto the page. Make it as big as the page including the bleed. Since we assigned a bleed already, you can just drag along the bleed line. Fill it via with a beige color via the color or swatches palette.

Step 4

Lock the background layer and add a new layer on top. Double-click it and name it "elements."

Step 5

Select the Ellipse Tool (L) and start adding a white filled circle to the layout.

Step 6

Add several circles. Add more elements of your liking. I made the circles look like trees. Next, select the Pen Tool (P) and start adding a wave like shape. The Pen Tool (P) in InDesign works the same way as in Illustrator. I filled the shape with blue and then added another shape filled with green.

Step 7

Lock the elements layer and add another layer and call it "text."

Step 8

Select the Type Tool (T) and drag a text box onto the page. Click Command + B to open the Text Frame Options window. In General, make sure you are checking the Ignore Text Wrap button. That means the text box will ignore any other elements.

Step 9

Start adding some text. I just invented some silly text. I chose PT Banana Split for the title and Avant Garde for the rest. Since this is a coupon, I added “Save 5 cents.” I set the Paragraph to flush left. But I want to add the cent symbol instead of typing it out.

Step 10

In order to add special symbols, you have to open up the Glyphs Palette. Go to Type > Glyphs and open the palette.

Step 11

I font I chose is … and it fortunately has the cent symbol. Click on it once, then put the text cursor back into the text frame where you want to add the special character. Now click the character in the Glyph Palette again. This will insert the character.

Step 12

I decided to place the “5 cent” into its own text box. Just copy it into the clipboard and add a new text box with the Type Tool (T). Then paste the text into there. I scaled it up to make it stand out.

Step 13

I added another text box and added more silly text. Sometime you might want to set all text in All Caps. To do so, you can highlight the text, open up the Character Palette and click on the top-right small arrow with lines icon.

This fill show you a drop-down and from there you can apply the All Caps option. Of course things like this have handy shortcuts. So for the future you can just click press Command + Shift + K.

Step 14

This is what I added in elements and text boxes. Of course it’s incomplete, since it doesn’t even talk about the product, but I’ll leave it up to you to be creative with.

Step 15.

Let’s add the coupon part. Go to the Page Palette and click and drag a “A-Master” page underneath the first page.

Step 16

Add another text box and add the to be filled out elements like: name, address, town etc. You don’t need to format it right away, just make sure that each text element is its own paragraph.

Step 17

Go to the Paragraph Style palette. There you will already have one default paragraph style. We want to add a new one. Just in case you don’t see the Paragraph Styles Palette, hit F11. This will open it.

Click on the Create New Style icon on the bottom-right. It will automatically be called “Paragraph Style 1.” Double-click it and the Paragraph Style Options window will open up. There, set up your character settings like: font, leading, spacing before or after and so on.

Step 18

Next we want to make it as easy and fast to add an underscored line where the coupon can be filled out. This can be achieved with the tabs. Select the tabs and drag the right-justified Tab onto the ruler.

Step 19

You can drag it to the position you want. In our case, we want to place it to the far right of the text box. You can also assign a direct number into the X space (20p10).

Step 20

Place an underscore into the Leader space.

Step 21

Click on the Indent and Spacing tab and make sure nothing is set there. By default, the alignment should be set to left.

Step 22

Now select the text box and click once on the created Paragraph Style. This will change the text to the according settings.

Step 23

To add the underscore lines, click with the Type Tool (T) after the name and hit the tabs key on your keyboard. Voila, your line of underscores gets added! Repeat this with each line.

Step 24

You can ad different tabs or extra tabs by opening the Tabs Palette (Command + Shift + T). Place your tab (left or right or even centered tab) and assign the Leader.

Step 25

This way you can have two underscored lines for the Province (State) and Postal Code (Zip Code).

Step 26

This is what your coupon could look like.

Step 27

Let’s add a dashed cut line to it. Create a rectangle with the rectangle Tool (M) and set the Stroke to Dashed, 1pt. Place it around the text and visual elements.

Step 28

Create another small text box and set the font to Wingdings. Set the text box to white. Now open up the Glyphs Palette again, then find the scissors symbol. Enter it into the text box.

Step 29

With the text box still selected, set the alignment to center.

Step 30

Place the scissor text box on top of the dashed line.

Step 31

Make sure you save you document. Now export it as a Adobe PDF. In the pop-up window, set up the Marks and Bleeds. Then export your document. This will create a two page PDF.

Step 32

This is what the pdf should look like. You can see the crop marks.

Conclusion

You could now print it on your home printer as a double sided print and cut it out. I hope you enjoyed this basic beginner level InDesign tutorial.

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Final Image Preview

Below is the final image we will be working towards. Want access to the full Vector Source files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Vector Plus for just 9$ a month.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator CS3
• Difficulty: Easy
• Estimated Completion Time: 30 minutes

Step 1

Open your approved label design in Illustrator, in this tut I use snack label as an example, which is shown below.

Step 2

Group the objects (Command + G), select it, then apply Envelope Distort > Make with Mesh. When the dialog box appears set 4 in the rows and columns fields. No need to use too many rows and columns because we’re going to add them later.

Step 3

Before we add more rows and columns we have to decide the final shape for the pack first. Use a little bit of your imagination to do it, photo references would be much better. Select the anchor point with the Gradient Mesh Tool (U) or Direct Selection Tool (A) to re-shape the mesh, as you picture it in your mind or as the reference dictates. Add rows or columns as needed.

Step 4

After you’re happy with the result, copy the object and release the Gradient Mesh within the copied one. We are going to use this Mesh to shade the distorted label.

Delete the copied label and fill the mesh with 10% black. Later we will apply black and white colors to it.

Step 5

Now put the Mesh right above the label, then adjust its size and shape. Make sure you fit it into the label. Set the Mesh to Multiply.

Step 6

The Multiply mode makes the white color disappear and shows the black color. Fill the anchor points with the colors as you want the shade on the pack to look like.

Step 7

Now to create some highlights on it. Use the Pen Tool (P) to make needed shapes, fill them with white and set various opacity amounts. Also, place them where you think they should belong.

This is the final look shown below.

Step 8

Now create a drop shadow from two ellipses (fill black for the small one and white for the large) by applying Object > Blend > Make, as shown below. Adjust the shape so it looks natural. To have it blend to the background smoothly change the color and opacity for each object within the blend as shown. Last is to set the drop shadow blending mode to Multiply.

Conclusion

Add a background and we’re done. So next time your clients want to see their label designs applied in 3D, you can show them a quick look in just about 30 minutes or so.

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In this tutorial, we will explore the process of taking your design from the screen to the shirt. Specifically, we’ll address one of the biggest headaches for a designer – separating your design for print. The steps in this tutorial will show you how to keep your clients looking good, and your screen-printers sane.

Final Image Preview

Below is the final image, and separated layers, we will be working towards. Want access to the full Vector Source files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Vector Plus for just 9$ a month.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator CS4
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: 3 hours

Step 1

To begin, open a new document in Illustrator 15 inches tall by 12 inches wide. 15 inches by 12 inches is often the largest available screen-size when screen-printing. At this point we don’t need to worry about setting the bleeds, we will be setting those using guides in the next step.

Step 2

With our newly created document, activate the rulers using Command + R and drag in 4 guides (click on the rulers themselves and drag onto art board) each 0.5 inches in from the outer-most edge.

Note: If your rulers are not displaying in inches, simply right-click on the ruler and select inches as shown below.

Step 3

For this shirt design I needed a reference to draw an anatomically correct skull. Having no access to an X-ray machine, I was able to locate a free set of anatomical skull references offered by Jimiyo and GoMedia! Pay a visit to Go Media and download the skull pack. Once downloaded, open it up in Photoshop.

Begin by grabbing the Selection Tool and hold Command while clicking the skull that you would like to use (I am using the second skull to the left in the bottom row). Doing this highlights the layer containing the skull saving you the guesswork of having to figure out which skull is where in the layers palette.

Step 4

With your skull of choice and corresponding layer selected, Right-click the Eye Icon next to it in the layers palette. then select Show/Hide All Other Layers. Now you will see only your skull on screen. Press Command + A to select all, then Command + C to copy, then head back to your Illustrator file.

Step 5

With our Illustrator file now open, press Command + V to paste the skull onto the artboard. Once pasted, Rotate and Move the skull to the center of the artboard, or to an area of your liking.

In the layers palette double-click the name of the layer that contains your skull and rename it "bkgd" or "Background." Also, click the Dim Images To button, and leave it at 50 percent (refer to the image below to see the exact settings I have used). Next, we need to lock this layer using the Lock Checkbox located next to the Visibility icon in the Layers palette.

To begin creating the black outlines of the skull, first create another new layer by clicking the New Layer icon in the Layers palette. Now rename this layer "black_outlines.” Refer to the images of my layers palette below to see exactly what I’ve done so far.

Step 6

Before we begin creating our artwork, I would like to discus enabling a swatches global color property and how enabling this feature can be extremely useful when designing apparel.

First, let me show you how to enable this property and then I will explain what it does. When you open your new document, your swatch panel will come predefined with various colors. The first thing that you should do is delete all of these colors except for black, white, registration and transparency.

Next, you want to double-click the white color swatch. When you do this a dialogue box will appear. Check the Global box and hit OK. Complete this same process for the black color swatch as well.

To add new colors, click the add new swatch button (shown below) and create your color using the sliders, enable the global color properties and select OK.

Note: You will know that global color properties are enabled if a small white triangle appears in the lower-right corner of your individual color swatches.

The reason why it’s great to use the global color property is because it allows you to change any color on the fly without having to select individual elements in individual layers.

So, as long as you use a global color, then when your doing your artwork, by simply double-clicking a color swatch and changing its color value, that new color will globally replace the original color for both strokes and fills. Therefore, if a client were to suddenly decide they wanted a brown monster instead of a green monster, all you would need to do is modify your green colored swatches to be brown and your artwork would be updated. I will not be showing you how to recolor this artwork after we are finished, but I do want to leave you that option to change the colors as you see fit once you are done.

Step 7

To create this skull I used a Wacom tablet. If you don’t happen to own one don’t fret, you can still complete this tutorial. My suggestion is to refer to the Three-color Wolf Skull Tutorial, as I am going to employ a similar three-color method (base color, black outlines, and shadows).

For Wacom users, the next step is setting up our brushes. Begin by opening the brush palette, and selecting the drop down symbol located in the upper-right corner of the Brushes palette, then choose add new brush. Make this brush a calligraphic brush with the following settings:

• Set the diameter to 9 pts, then select Pressure from the drop down menu and make the variation 9 pts as well. This allows the brush to go from a 1 pt stroke to a 9 pt stroke based on the amount of pressure you apply to the tablet.
• Hit OK once you have entered the settings and select your new brush from the layers palette.

NOTE: As stated earlier, this tutorial is going to focus more on the end processes of reducing colors and separating artwork in preparation for screen-printing. I will likely, in the future, produce a more detailed design-process that I undergo to create a shirt’s artwork.

Step 8

Select the “black_outlines” layer and then select CS4’s new Blob Brush. Set the fill color to black and remove the stroke if a stroke color has been applied.

Note: If you are not using CS4 and cannot use the Blob Brush, don’t worry. Use the normal brush with the Stroke color set to black and remove the fill color if a fill color has been applied.

In the first image below, I demonstrate how I create my strokes. Note the light pressure at the beginning of the line and the heavy pressure at the end. Using this method of variations in pressure, trace around the key elements of the skull that require a crisp black line. Using the same method, begin to shade-in the darkest areas of the image for depth. The two images below will help you get a better understanding of what I mean.

Step 9

Continue the process outlined in Step 7 until you are happy with your black outlines. Now comes an important technique to ensure edges remain sharp and neat. Select the Eraser Tool (Shift + E) and pick the brush we previously created to make our black outlines.

Reverse the stroke direction and begin to erase from the most heavily shaded areas to the least shaded areas using the variation in pressure technique (refer to the images below to see exactly what I mean). Notice that the lines are much more crisp and detailed after applying this method.

Step 10

Here are the final black outlines of the skull image. I have also added a thin mustache and eyebrows to give the skull expression.

Step 11

Lock the “black_outlines” layer and create a new layer (see Step 5) below it to use for our white base color. I have named mine "white."

Step 12

Now create another new layer above the “white” layer and name it "shadows." Using a light blue, or light color of your choice, begin to fill and outline the areas in and around the black outlines with the variation in pressure method used earlier. Knowing where and where not to put shadows takes time to learn. Even I can’t claim to be a master at it. Nonetheless, it’s a skill worth practicing.

Step 13

To give the skull some character, I added in Wayfairer sunglasses on a new layer, using the same method as before to create the glasses’ outlines.

Step 14

Continuing with the method described above I added the skull’s hands. The image of my layers palette shows how I have ordered each object. The different colors and shades that I have used all permit global coloring, which can be seen in the image of my swatch palette.

Step 15

You can continue adding elements to the design as you see fit. For this design I’ve added the text, "SKULLS" (the font is Neutraface 2 display, with a triple stroke applied through the appearance palette) and a number of balloon hearts acting as both background and foreground elements.

Step 16

With the artwork finished, we need to make a duplicate version of it for future editing and any changes that may need to be made. To do this, first create a new layer (see Step 5). I have titled my layer "9_color_version.”

With the duplicate layer created, highlight all of the layers in the layers palette except the “bkgd” layer and newly created “9_color_version” layer. With all the layers selected, excluding “bkgd” and “9_color_version,” click on any of the selected layers while holding Alt and dragging the selected layers to your newly created “9_color_version layer.” You will know it is working if a small + symbol appears next to your cursor as you drag the layers.

To finish up lock and hide (see Step 5) your new “9_color_version” layer for later use if need be. For Vector Plus members this will mean that the source AI file will open with a warning indicating a font is missing, though there is a final layer that has the type Outlined.

Step 17

You have now reached the point where you need to consider your production costs versus your sales. For example, if this shirt was for a lucrative client, such as a high profile band, or a large apparel company, your higher grossing sales will allow you to utilize more colors in your design.

However staying below eight colors is generally a good practice to follow. This is because there are simply not enough screen-printing shops capable of handling more than eight screens. And those that can will often charge you liberally for their specialized services. So, for the sake of your own sanity and your printer’s, keep your designs to eight colors or less and remember less is more – restrictions can often lead to great design breakthroughs. Using these limits and researching different printing techniques and effects will help to maximize your shirt’s monetary and visual value.

TIP: For more information on printing techniques check out Go Media’s Designers’ guide to the apparel printing industry and t-shirtforums.com for the latest in screen-printing techniques.

A good idea at this point is to create a version of your design limited to four colors. This way, you’re able to present clients with two separate options with one being more cost effective. When choosing which colors to omit from your design, keep in mind that both black and white also count as a color. Therefore, if your design incorporates black and/or white you are limited to picking only two additional colors.

One way to go about choosing your colors is by figuring out which occur the most in your design. In the case of the skull design, pink and blue, in addition to black and white, occur most often. Therefore the next step will be to modify this design to only include blue, pink, black, and white.

If all these color restrictions seem daunting, remember that you can always use your shirt color as a color. For many printers, the holy grail of screen-printing is a bright design on a black shirt with no ink feel. Ink feel refers to the plastic-like feeling huge prints containing many colors give to a shirt when worn. My point being: if you can eliminate one color from your print by using the shirt color itself, DO IT. You shirt will look and feel better.

Go get a snack or a drink, it’s time to take a break and come back recharged and ready for more.

Step 18

To begin the re-coloring process, first create a new layer (see Step 5) titled "4_colored_version.” Highlight the artwork layers that you copied before (Step 15) and drag them into your newly created "4_colored_version" layer. We are simply using this new layer as a folder to house our artwork to keep the layers palette organized. See the images below for reference.

Step 19

We are now ready to start reducing our colors. To do this we are going to make use of the Magic Wand Tool. I personally overlooked this tool until discovering this technique, and to be honest, I don’t know how I was designing without it. The Magic Wand Tool samples the color of whatever object is clicked and then highlights all the other objects that use the same fill color.

You can now see the importance of watching your fill/stroke settings and why the Blob Brush Tool was used. The Blob Brush changes every brush stroke into its own individual filled object. As you overlap these objects with a similar color they continue to merge together creating, you guessed it, a blob containing only a fill color. So, when using the Magic Wand Tool to modify colors, you don’t need to worry about having objects with the same stroke and fill color because none of your artwork has a stroke on it (minus the text of course, but we will cover that soon enough).

For those of you using the 3 color wolf skull method, here is what to do to expand your strokes and merge them into blobs:

• Select all your strokes of a particular color. (clicking the circle beside a layers name in the layers palette will work).
• Open the Object menu in the menu bar and select Expand.
• Make sure the Fill and Stroke boxes are checked and click OK.
• With your newly created objects selected, open the Pathfinder palette (Window > Pathfinder).
• Click the Merge button. This will make all of your overlapping objects into one object.

We have already chosen our colors, so its time to start experimenting. For me, it took me a little bit of time to figure out how to keep the balloon hearts without losing their look and feel. My eventual solution was to alternate the hearts’ color between blue and pink.

Next, create a new swatch folder by clicking the folder icon with the +& symbol beside it (located at the bottom of the Swatches palette). Name the new swatch folder "4_color_swatch". Now drag the 4 colors you will be using into the folder. Use the image below as a as reference.

Step 20

Now select the Magic Wand Tool and select the color you would like to change. In this case, I have selected the darkest blue used to color the heart balloons (Note in the image below that all other objects with the same dark blue fill color have been selected).

With these objects selected, a drop down menu for the fill and stroke color of the selected objects will appear in the control panel (located right below the menu bar). As demonstrated in my design, the dark blue color is in the fill drop down menu and the stroke drop down menu contains no color. Click the fill drop down menu and change this color to one of the four colors you have selected. In this case, I am changing the dark blue to pink.

Selecting with the Magic Wand Tool

Clicking on fill color drop down in control panel

Changing the fill color to one of my four colors

After color change has been made

Step 21

Use the Magic Wand Tool to continue re-coloring the rest of your work with the four colors you have selected. So to recap the process: select the object with the Magic Wand Tool, click the fill color drop down menu located in the control panel, then change the fill color to one of your four fill colors.

Note: in some circumstances the Magic Wand Tool method can be a bit finicky. One situation that can cause headaches is when it becomes necessary to change the color of a particular set of elements that have already been modified to one of your four chosen colors.

The Magic Wand Tool won’t be able to sense what objects have been modified and will begin selecting the object you want to modify plus all the other objects changed to that object’s color. The fix for this is good old Command + Z. Just back track until you’re able to change the desired object to your desired color.

Step 22

With the re-coloring complete, here is my four color version of the skull design.

Step 23

Break time again! You’re almost at the end, so do what you have to do, come back, settle in and lets finish up!

Step 24

It’s now time to separate our colors. I know what you’re thinking finally right? The first thing we need to do is create another one of those containment layers that we have been using to keep our layers palette organized. You know the drill, create a new layer and name this one "separations"(see Step 5) and place it above all the other layers, as shown below.

Step 25

This step is a little bit different from the way we previously copied our artwork from layer to layer. This time we don’t want our artwork to be separated out by color and object. Rather, we want everything contained in one single layer. To do this, click the circle target button; next to the "4_color_version" layer in the layers palette. When done, your artwork should resemble mine in the screen shot below, with all the individual objects selected on the artboard, not simply the layers in the layers palette.

Step 26

With all of your elements selected, click and drag the selected art square that has now appeared beside the circle we clicked previously. Now hold down alt while doing this and a + symbol should appear next to your cursor. Drag this square into the “separations” layer and release. You should now see the outlined objects (shows that they were selected) appearing all the same color, rather than the rainbow appearance they had before.

In the layers palette you should now have copied all the objects from the "4_color_version" layer into the single layer called "separations.” Lock and hide (see Step 5) the "4_color_version" layer just as we did for the "9_color_version” (see the screenshot below for a better understanding).

Step 27

If you have added in your own text, it’s time to expand it so we can include it in our separations. To do this, select your text and open the Type menu in the menu bar, then select Create Outlines. Next, select the Object menu from the menu bar and select Expand Appearance.

Finally, go to the object menu again and select Expand. When the dialogue appears, make sure the fill and stroke are both checked and hit OK. Your text is now ready for separating.

Step 28

With all of our objects still selected in our “separations” layer open up the Pathfinder. (If not open, go to Window in the menu bar and click Pathfinder to open it).

Now we are going to divide all of our elements. To do this, click the Divide button located in the second row of buttons, furthest to the left. This operation might take some time depending on computer speed and your design’s complexity. Once divided, it will appear exactly the same as it did before. Don’t worry, this is exactly what we’re after.

The process of dividing looks at all of the objects held in a layer and divides them all up into something akin to a puzzle piece. Except, each color has its own designated piece that lies in conjunction with the edges of the other objects around it. I know it sounds confusing but let me explain why dividing is awesome.

By dividing, colors and objects that would have been underneath other objects have been replaced by the uppermost color and object. This is because we’ve layered everything to be overlapping where we wanted it to be overlapping. Still not getting it? Move on to the next steps and you’ll understand what I mean.

Step 29

Within our “separations” layer, we’re going to create four new layers – a black, white, blue, and pink layer, or whatever four colors you’ve chosen. Refer to the screenshot of my layers palette to see what I mean.

I Stress: These four new layers need to be inside your “separations” layer!

Step 30

Using the Magic Wand Tool, we are now going to click one of our chosen colors. In this case, I chose black. After clicking on black, all the other black fills will be selected from our divided artwork. With these black fills now highlighted, select Merge in the pathfinder palette (see Step 27 to locate the pathfinder palette). This joins together any overlapping elements and removes the choppiness you may have noticed in the inner part of the skull’s mouth. See the three images below that highlight this step.

Select black with the Magic Wand Tool

Merge the newly selected blacks

Step 31

Once you’ve finished merging your black elements, keep them highlighted. Inside the “separations” layer look for a black square that appears next to the layer titled "<GROUP>". Click and drag this square to the layer titled "black" to place our newly merged black objects into the “black” layer. Lock and hide this layer (as in Step five).

Step 32

Repeat Steps 29 and 30 until all the other colors, including white, are on one of the individual color layers that we created earlier. Below are screenshots of me completing these steps for the rest of my colors.

Step 33

After completing the previous steps you should be left with five layers in your “separation” layer. These include your four color layers and the "group" layer. Now go ahead and delete the "group" layer, as it’s no longer needed. The “group” layer only contains left over paths created when we divided our artwork for separation.

The first image below displays how these left over paths appear. The second image shows your completed separations all layered and ready for print.

Conclusion

There you have it. You’ve created a cost effective and costly version of your artwork and have now learned the process of dividing, magic wand selecting, merging and layering final separations. This system of separating, outlined in this tutorial, will work on designs with any number of colors. The only caveats to this system revolve around gradients and transparencies.

Nonetheless, don’t hesitate to call a local screen-printer to ask how to set-up elements such as transparencies and gradients. Keep in mind, that if you’re using an established screen-printing company it will often be the case that they have a separator on staff, or use new, high-end separation software. It does look good on you as a designer to prepare files for print, as it will gain you the respect of both your clients and the companies who will be printing your work. Oh, and don’t forget, you can always recolor your separations using the global color swatch!

Thanks for reading this tutorial; it’s my first with hopefully more to come. I encourage you to leave your comments and criticisms to help educate me on exactly how you all want to learn.

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For this tutorial, I’m going to start from scratch and go through the process of creating a graphic illustration intended to become a stencil, designing bridges into the illustration so it can be cut out with out losing any structure, And generally creating a design that works well as a large graphic image.

Final Stencil Preview

Below is the final stencil we will be working towards. Want access to the full Vector Source files and downloadable copies of every tutorial, including this one? Join Vector Plus for just 9$ a month.

Tutorial Details

• Program: Adobe Illustrator
• Version: CS4
• Difficulty: Intermediate
• Estimated Completion Time: 2 hours

Step 1 – Choosing a Good Subject

Clarity is a very important part of stencil art. Choosing a subject with a strong well-defined silhouette makes all the difference. For this tutorial I’m going to create a stylized image of the WW2 atomic (fat man) bomb.

Step 2 – Reference Photo

I started by getting a reference photo from Wikipedia.

Step 3 – Quick Orthographics

From this image I created a quick set of orthographics. I
needed a side view and a front view.

Step 4 – SSR

Using the method I discussed in the SSR tutorial, I scaled, sheared, and rotated my orthographics into isometric. I could make the stencil in perspective, but the setup would be more complicated, and I really like the results in isomeric.

Step 5 – Line Up

I use the side view of the bomb to line up the ellipses and created the wireframe of the bomb. Building the stabilizer fins can be a bit tricky, but if you use an ellipse for reference, you can keep them the same size and in line.

Step 6 – Clean Up the Shapes

I started connecting and cleaning up the shapes. Removing the hidden lines and building up an outline.

Step 7 – Thick Outlines

Now that the image is created the next focus is line quality. A big thick outline will give the stencil a clear visual impact and make your life a lot easier when it comes time to cut out the shapes.

Step 8 – Bridges and Islands

This is where a normal illustration becomes a stencil. Since you are cutting out the outlines, any open space that is not connected to the rest of the paper will fall out when you finish cutting (these are
called islands). So to keep your inner structure you have to design in some
bridges to give the inner elements structure. The tricky part about designing in bridges is to keep them as unobtrusive as possible. You don’t want to ruin your silhouette by having a big break in it for no reason. So the best places to make bridges is at the connection points, at corners, or at overlaps.

To start this process select your illustration and go to Object > Expand. Expand both the fill and stroke. This will turn your lines into shapes so it’s much easier to cut them apart and join them together. You
can’t go back to lines after you’ve expanded everything to shapes so before you start be sure to make a copy of your illustration on a separate layer and lock it.

Below is the line work in outline view.

Below is the line work in outline view after being expanded.

After expanding your lines use the Scissors and Pen Tools to clean up, then adjust the new shapes and build in bridges.

Below is the final image in outline view.

Step 9 – Print it, Cut it Out

You can make stencils out of lots of different materials. The thicker and stronger the material the longer your stencil will last, but the harder it will be to cut out. There are materials you can buy at art stores specifically for making stencils.

Step 10 – Spray it

To get a nice clean images start by spraying the back of your image with a light dusting of spray adhesive. This will keep all parts of the image tight to the wall and hopefully stop any paint from getting in under the edges of your stencil.

There are lots of different ways to spray a stencil. Spray paint is the easiest but not always the best solution depending on the project. Airbrush works just as well, but with less fumes.

You can also print several copies of the same stencil and cut out different parts. Layering your paint with different stencils and different colors can lead to some really cool designs. A simple example of this would be to print off two copies of the stencil. The first cut out the entire images just leaving a silhouette of the bomb. The second stencil cut out
the line work. This way you can use the silhouette to lay down a base color, then the line work for details, or off set the line work for a cool effect.

The nice thing about stencils is if you make them out of
nice materials and take care of them, you can build up a library and use them for many projects.

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