Jason Hoppe Adobe Certified Expert & Adobe Certified Trainer - Jason Hoppe

Plaid Fabric

7/15/2019

Create some cool plaid with the grid and the simple Transform effect. Use the Recolor artwork to get any color plaid you can imagine.

Create a grid under Preferences. Set the Gridline every: to 100 mm and set the Subdivisions to 10. Under the View Menu choose Snap to Grid and also choose Show Grid.

Each Gridline will be a darker gray, the subdivisions are a lighter gray. I refer to each darker gray sections as units. Draw a rectangle 9 units wide, 1 unit high. The rectangle will snap to the grid with the Snap to Grid turned on.

One the next set of units below, create one of color then one unit of black, repeat this for a total of 9 units.

Select the first tow rows created and duplicate it so there are 7 rows total.

Draw a 10 point line on the grid from corner to corner. Round cap the ends in the Stroke panel. Duplicate the line.

Select the line and choose Effects> Distort & Transform> Transform. Set the Horizontal offset to -10 mm. Set the number of copies to 100. Click OK. This will take the single line, duplicate it 100 times to the left, skipping every other sub-unit.

Move the Transformed set into position over the check board. This is an effect so the one line is simply transformed 100 times 10 mm each time. This makes it much easier to select one line instead of 100 if a change is needed.

To edit the Transform effect, open the Appearance panel and click on the Transform link.

With the duplicate line, choose Effects> Distort & Transform> Transform. Set the Vertical offset to -10 mm. Set the number of copies to 80. Click OK. This will take the single line, duplicate it 100 times skipping every sub-unit.

Move the vertical Transformed set into position over the checker board squares.

Duplicate the transformed lines, both vertical and horizontal covering all the black squares.

Create a smaller line the size of one subunit.

Turn off the Snap to Grid. Move the line so the center of the line is directly in the center of one unit.

Select the line and choose Effects> Distort & Transform> Transform. Set the Horizontal offset to -10 mm. Set the number of copies to 100. Click OK.

Move the line into the vertical center of the first row.

Duplicate the row vertically 1 unit down. Set the first row of lines to white, the second row of lines to red.

Repeat the rows, white, red, white, red, white, red, white.

Repeat the transform with the vertical lines. Set the Vertical offset to -10 mm. Set the number of copies to 80. Click OK.

Repeat the columns, red, white, red, white, red, white, red, white, red.

Select all the shapes and Group them. Object>Group.

Turn the Snap to Grid on under the View Menu. Draw a rectangle 9 units wide, 7 units high. Click on the Draw Inside mode at the bottom of the Tool Bar. Cut the Grouped art, paste it into the Rectangle. Click on the Draw Normal mode when done.

Nice Plaid, but how about some other colors?

Select the artwork and choose Edit>Recolor Artwork. Click on the Edit tab at the top of the Recolor Artwork panel. Click on the link icon to the lower right of the color wheel, linking the colors together.

Move the colors handles around he wheel to actively change all the colors in the plaid.

Try several different color renditions quickly with the Recolor artwork.

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Eye Dropper Icon

7/7/2019

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Create this eye dropper icon with a few gradients and the easiest droplet you have made. Add a few highlights an done.

Start with a rectangle. Add a heavy stroke.

Select the lower two corners with Direct Selection tool. Pull the corner widgets into the center to round the end.

OPITON + CLICK on the corner widget target (twice) to cycle through the different corner options until you get to a point.

Draw another rectangle over the end for the eye dropper tip.

Select both shapes and use the Pathfinder Unite mode to make them one shape.

Draw a square for the top part of the eyedropper.

OPITON + CLICK on the corner widget target (twice) to cycle through the different corner options until you get to a point.

Start with a rectangle. Add a heavy stroke. Select the upper two corners with Direct Selection tool. Pull the corner widgets into the center to round the end.

Select both shapes and use the Pathfinder Unite mode to make them one shape.

Open the gradient panel and create a gradient from blue to dark blue. Double click on the color stops and choose the color.

Add this gradient to the stroke and the fill of the upper part of the eye dropper.

Select the lower section, fill it with a light blue. Choose Path>Offset Path. Set it to -4 and click OK.

Add a fill to the new offset shape, remove the stroke.

Apply a gradient to the fill offset path. Set the gradient angle at -45°.

Assemble the shapes into the eye dropper.

Draw a rectangle and rotate it 45° over the green fill. Select the green fill and rotated rectangle, Choose the Pathfinder Minus front mode.

Add lines to the eye dropper. Round the ends on the stroke panel. Set the line opacity to 30%.

To create the drop, create a circle.

Use the Direct Selection tool to select the top point and move it up. In the Properties panel , convert the point from a rounded point to a corner point.

Use the arc tool to to draw a highlight noodle. Round the ends in the stroke panel.

Set the line opacity to 25%.

Rotate the eye dropper tool to a 45° angle. Add the droplet and you are done!

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The Blend Tool has a Spine!

6/23/2019

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If you have ever used the blend tool to blend objects or create a slip shadow, did you know you can control the spine along which it blends? You can even replace the spine with another line or object! Check it out, it's quite interesting.

Start with text or any shape. I used a letter to show this example.

Outline the type. Choose Type>Create Outlines. Fill it with a color and set this one aside for use a few steps later.

Duplicate the shape and add a fill color. Duplicate the shape again and add a different fill color.

Select both shapes and choose Object>Blend>Blend Options. From the Spacing options menu, choose Smooth Color. This just sets the options.

To make the objects blend together, choose Object> Blend> Make. This will blend the shapes/colors together. Notice how the darker color is behind and blends to the front, lighter color.

Select the shapes and you will see a connector line (a spine) that connects the two shapes and creates the blend.

Choose Object>Blend Options and choose Reverse Spine Front to Back to control the start and stop order.

This reverses the Front to Back order making the Blend look like it is going from dark to light.

Go to Outline mode under the View menu to see the two object that blend together and the spine connecting them together.

To edit the spine, use the Curvature Tool to click on a point of the Spine and move the point.

Go to View>Preview to switch from Outline mode to Preview mode and see the Blend results. (The original shape I copied and set aside I moved on top of the start of the blend to see the shape better, it is not part of the blend.)

Use the Curvature Tool to change the spine curve or change the start and stop points.

Any editing of the spin will be reflected in the blend of the objects

If you want to change out the spine, draw a new line of or closed shape. The spine will be invisible so no need to make it a color.

Select the new line or shape and select the blended object and choose Object>Blend> Replace Spine and the new blend will blend along the new spine.

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Halftones in Illustrator, with a twist

6/16/2019

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Creating a halftone in Illustrator takes a few steps and the effects are quite cool. This takes a halftone effect, the Image Trace panel and the 3D effect to create these super cool looking vector creations.

Start with a circle.

Open the Gradient panel under the Window Menu.

Click on the fill icon and select the radial fill from the 3 gradient options.

Double click on the black dot on the gradient slider and set the black to 80% black.

Radial gradient from white on the edge to 80% black in the middle.

Under the Effect Menu, choose Pixelate, Color Halftone. Set the Max radius to a higher number to get larger dots. Set each channel to the same angle, here I set it at 45°.

This is the result.

To edit the halftone dot size, double click on the Color Halftone Effect in the Appearance Panel.

Select the halftone pattern and choose Object>Expand to turn the effect into an image.

Open the Image Trace panel from the Window Menu. Set the mode to Black and White, threshold to the middle, Paths at HIGH, Corners at LESS, Noise at 1, Uncheck Snap Curves to Lines, Check Ignore White.

To turn the image into actual shapes after the Image Trace you have to Expand the shape. Choose Expand from the Control bar or Expand from the Properties Panel.

Select the newly expanded shape and drag it into the Symbols Panel and add it as a Dynamic Symbol for later use.

Create a circle to make it into a sphere.

Use the Direct Selection Tool to click on the left side and delete it, leaving a half circle

Choose Effect, 3D, Revolve. This will take the half circle and revolve it into a sphere. Click on the Map Art… Button.

To map the halftone to the sphere, choose from the Symbol dropdown menu and choose the Sphere symbol that we just added. The only type of artwork that can be mapped has to be a Symbol.

Move the symbol to the area in white which is the area you see on the sphere. Gray areas are the ones we don't see on the sphere. Scale the symbol up or down to fit. Click on the Invisible geometry button to make the sphere invisible. Click OK

This is how the symbol of the halftone looks when mapped to the invisible sphere.

To make a line into a halftone, create a line.

In the gradient panel, click on the stroke icon the click on the linear gradient.

There are 3 types of gradient strokes, the first one sets the stroke from one end to another.

The 3rd option sets the stroke to on the width of the stroke. To create a side to side gradient, add a color stop to the gradient bar, then double click on the color to set it to white.

Shown here is a stroke gradient from side to side with the colors going from white to black to white.

Add a color halftone to the line to create the halftone effect. The darker the colors, the larger the dots will be. Where the gradient fades to white it will create smaller dots.

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Curled banner

6/2/2019

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Creating a curled banner is easy, but it creates several open paths. The Join Tool works great for joining shapes but trying to create complex closed shapes is not as easy. Here is a quick trick with the Shape Builder Tool can create closed shapes from complex open paths.

Start with a circle, no fill, heavy stroke.

Duplicate the circle so the edges touch.

Move the one circle down while keeping it in line.

Select the bottom of the top circle with the Direct Selection Tool and delete it. Do the same with the top half of the bottom circle.

With the Direct Selection Tool select the inner open ends of the circles.

Join the ends together by choosing Object>Path>Join.

Duplicate the lines.

Join the ends together by choosing Object>Path>Join. Do this twice to join both open ends.

Use the Direct Selection tool to remove the 1/4 circle from the top and the 1/4 circle and line from the bottom.

This is what it will look like.

Draw lines to close the shape in the 3 indicated areas.

Use the Direct Selection tool and select each intersection and join them together. Do each one of the three steps.

Select the shape and make it narrower to create a banner

Rotate the banner. Add circles filled with the same green color as the stroke, add a white stroke around the circles, place them along the line.

If you move the parts of the banner, you will see that they are not closed paths. Even the top section looks like it is closed (on the left side) but it is not! The open ends are hiding behind the lines (shown by the red circles).

If you try to fill the areas with color, the paths are not closed. Filling open shapes creates weird tangents.

What you want to create, are 3 closed shapes. Each one being independent of the other shapes.

To make closed shapes out of each object, select the banner, then choose the Shape Builder Tool (SHIFT + M) from the Tool Bar. Click on each shape you want to create (the mesh will appear on each shape you click on),

Each section you click on with the Shape Builder Tool will make it into a closed shape. Now each object is a closed shape. (I took it apart to show each shape).

Add color to any of the closed shapes. Done!

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Design Points n PixelS

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Plaid Fabric

Eye Dropper Icon

The Blend Tool has a Spine!

Halftones in Illustrator, with a twist

Curled banner

Archives

Design Points n PixelS

BLOG ​SIGN UP

Plaid Fabric

Eye Dropper Icon

The Blend Tool has a Spine!

Halftones in Illustrator, with a twist

Curled banner

Archives

BLOG
SIGN UP