Quick Tip: How to Create an X-ray Print

Quick Tip: How to Create an X-ray Print

on Mar 17th 2011 with 12 comments
Tutorial Details
  • Program: Adobe Illustrator CS3
  • Difficulty: Beginner
  • Estimated Completion Time: 15 min

Final Product What You'll Be Creating

In this tutorial you will learn to create a stylish x-ray print in just a few easy steps. It’s perfect for stylized typography or even an element for an illustration. Let’s begin!

Step 1

Create a new 256 by 256px document

Step 2

Select the Rectangle Tool (M) and click the art-board. Set the dimensions to 256px and 256px. Align the rectangle to the middle of the art-board both vertical and horizontal dimensions.

Step 3

With the rectangle selected go to Effect > Warp > Squeeze. Select Horizontal and set the Bend to 10%.

Step 4

Go to Object > Expand Appearance. Set the object’s height to 256px.

Step 5

Create a rectangle using the Rectangle Tool (M). Rotate it about 45 degrees. Select the squeezed object and the rectangle (holding Shift), open the Pathfinder panel and click Divide.

Step 6

Press Command + Shift + G and delete the part of the rectangle that does not intersect with the squeezed object. Select Convert Anchor Point Tool (Shift + C) and click each Anchor point of the triangle. Select Direct Selection Tool (A) and move the top right corner of the triangle to the bottom left.

Step 7

Make a copy of the triangle and up-size it a little bit. Intersect it with the copy of the squeezed object using Pathfinder panel. Send it Backward – Command + Left Square Bracket.

Step 8

Create a copy of the black swatch, double click it and check the Global check-box. Select the squeezed object and color it with a radial gradient. Pantone DS 213-2 C (Blue) for the left Gradient Slider (Opacity – 80%), Black for the right Gradient Slider. Add another Black Gradient Slider, set its Opacity to 90%, Location to 74.85%, on the Color Panel – 95%. Set the angle of the gradient to -45%. Select Gradient Tool (G) and move the right Gradient Slider to the bottom right corner of the squeezed object.

Step 9

Color the top triangle with a gradient fill: Blue for the left Gradient Slider (Location – 0%, Opacity – 80%, Color – 26%), Blue for the middle Gradient Slider (Location – 35%, Opacity – 80%, Color – 80%), Black for the middle Gradient Slider (Location – 100%, Opacity – 90%, Color – 70%). Select Gradient Tool (G) and adjust the angle of the gradient. Color the lower triangle with a gradient fill: Blue for the left Gradient Slider (Location – 0%, Opacity – 80%, Color – 50%), Black for the right Gradient Slider (Location – 100%, Opacity – 90%, Color – 100%). Set the gradient’s angle to -90 degrees.

Step 10

Create a 2 copis of squeezed object, make one of them slight bigger and intersect it with another. Set the resulting object’s gradient fill to Linear with following sliders: Black (Location – 0%, Opacity – 100%, Color – 100%), Blue (Location – 20%, Opacity – 80%, Color – 70%), Blue (Location – 80%, Opacity – 80%, Color – 70%), Black (Location – 100%, Opacity – 100%, Color – 100%),

Step 11

Select Text Tool (T) and type "AI" using Bone Regular font (size 180pt). You can download the font here. Set it’s color to Blue – Color 70%. Go to Effect > Stylize > Inner Glow. Set Mode to "Sreen", color – white, Opacity – 100%, Blur – 7px, check "Edge".

Conclusion

Finally create a copy of the text object. Press Shift + X and set the color of the stroke to white. Set stroke Weight to 2pt using Stroke panel. Go to Effect > Stylize > Outer Glow. Set Mode to "Normal", color – white, Opacity – 100%, Blur – 4px.
This is it!

Andrei Verner is grebenru on Graphicriver
 
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I'm a freelance graphic designer from Moscow, Russia. I love vector and psychedelic art. My other passion is traveling. Check out my vector, psychedelic and travel blog andreiverner.com  

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Discussion 12 Comments

  1. Odyssey says:
    March 17, 2011 at 6:25 pm

    Nice quick tip. This is going to be really handy! Thanks.

    Reply
  2. Bob Jones says:
    March 18, 2011 at 11:03 am

    Nice tut mate,
    but was kind of hoping for a way to make the bones from scratch
    still nice tut, and a great number of uses.

    Reply
    • Andrei Verner says:
      March 21, 2011 at 2:48 am
      Author

      Thank you!

      Well, first I’ve been thinking of making a tutorial on human skeleton, but it turned out to be sooo huge! I’ve stopped after making half of it :) I think I’d return to it soon. Hope the guys from vectortuts will publish it.

      Reply
  3. Ike Saunders says:
    March 19, 2011 at 7:14 am

    “Copis” at Step 10, also, in the future, I’d be grateful for some UI pictures for the Gradient editing steps, I got a bit lost trying to find the dialogue options for each variable.

    Reply
  4. Zachary St. Amant says:
    March 21, 2011 at 11:45 pm

    I am extremely lost! First, when I select both objects in Ai CS5 and use the divide effect and then start deleting the small square, whne I erase the 3 corners I still see the corner of the warped square. What am I doing wrong? Also, in step 8, what black am I supposed to make a copy of?
    Thanks in advanced, I am a newbie in the CS world and I am looking to learn these programs to diversify myself.

    Reply
  5. daria says:
    March 24, 2011 at 12:34 am

    Thanks for good tuts. It’d be more understandable if you use pictures in some steps.

    Reply
  6. Teddy says:
    April 19, 2011 at 9:21 pm

    GR8 TUT How do i find the pantone colors from illustrator… my colors look preety washed out…

    Reply
    • LoungeKat says:
      April 20, 2011 at 4:18 am
      Staff

      Pantone Swatches are loaded via the swatch pallet fly out menu on the top right. You can also switch your artwork to RGB mode, which will allow you to use the brighter RGB colours. You can do this by going to Edit > Color Settings.

      Reply
      • Teddy says:
        April 20, 2011 at 9:13 am

        thanks!

        there are literally thousands of swatches in the pantone panel… how do i get the specific one that he has asked?

  7. Gillian says:
    February 14, 2012 at 6:28 pm

    i am having the same problems as previous people had – which pantone? what does blue – 70% mean?!

    i skipped over making the background, as when it said to divide the squares, my big square disappeared and i was left with a little triangle. then it said to make a copy of the triangle, make it bigger, and intersect the 2 triangles, i was left with the smaller triangle, so i was left wondering why i had to make a copy and intersect them.
    so i gave up and moved on to just filling it with the gradient. oh my, even that didn’t make sense!! use pantone colour blah. i have no idea how to find pantone colours (sometimes they are there, sometimes they are not) and again, blue 70%?! is this a colour in the swatches?!

    not sure why we had to make a copy of the black and make it global, as it’s not said if we use this, or if it was just an added extra…

    in my opinion, this is in no way a beginner tutorial. i am not an AI beginner, but i am so lost with this tutorial, and it makes me feel stupid…

    the other tutorials i have used have step by step pictures, like someone above also mentioned.

    so no, this isn’t a ‘great tut’ at all!! i don’t comment on these, but felt i had to, as this just does not seem up to vectortuts usual standards…

    Reply

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