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Illustrator Help


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Please use this thread for any and all help you might need with Illustrator. If you have a question, please scan through this thread to see if your question has been answered before.

If you have a cool tip or tutorial for Illustrator, post it here as well!

If you are requesting help, please provide the software version (Illustrator CS, 10, etc.) and if you are on a mac or a pc. (this helps with discribing short cuts)

Could a mod please pin this thread?

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I hope this doesnt take long for people to notice,because this is something that's bugging me now.

My problem with Illustrator(this happened on 10 and now that I have CS it does it here too) is things "moving around".

I may zoom in to do something @ 400% and all my lines are clean and perfectly aligned,but then I'll go back to 100% and the image is crooked....maybe some of the lines have shifted left or right slightly or up or down.This is imcredibly frustrating.I thought maybe creating a seperate layer may eliminate this problem

BUT if I can just layer the image WITHOUT creating additional layers I prefer to do so.I'm hoping there is a solution to this and it's not one of those bugs that pisses everyone off.

Again if I was not clear enough I can try to describe further.

My example is the Washington Nationals numbers.I can zoom to do the gold bevels over the number and make sure they are nice and straight and match-up perfectly with the red outline.BUT when I go to reduce it back to 100% there can be some blue coming through the edges between the red.If I go to 99% sometimes it lines up right,BUT if there are other images layered in the same way they may then be shifted slightly then and this is becoming very frustrating and limiting to some of the things I want to do.When I first got AI10 I did not have this problem and I'm wondering if it may not be my comp.I use a Dell,Win XP.

Any help to the problem would be awesome.

Thanks!!

98Falcons.png

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I've experienced this problem in different zooms before. Typically if you are zoomed way in, and everything lines up properly, the lines are lined up. Another way to make sure they are lined up would be to use the align tool or view the image in outlines instead of preview mode.

I think its similar to photoshop. If you are at certain zoom levels (for me it seems 33%, and 67%) the image looks bad, really pixelated. But if you view it from 50% or 100%, it looks fine.

I'm betting its got something to do with the preview itself. I wouldn't sweat it too much unless when you zoom out, and then zoom back in the lines have indeed shifted.

Just run a test print before you print to your finished material.

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Sometimes the monitor plays tricks on you. I've seen lines that appear straight when viewed up close, but not straight when zooming out. The best way to see if it looks right is to print it out, or print out an enlargement of the area that's affected. If it prints fine, then it's ok. If not, then you have to tweak it a bit.

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I have had it happen before as well, and I concluded that it is a "glitch" of sorts in the preview mode. The rule of thumb is if you made it straight/lined up/perfect, then it will always stay that way until you modify it, regardless of how it looks in preview.

Instead of printing it to make sure everthing is crisp and smooth, though, it is more economical to preview the "save for web" option. It gives you a raster preview, but it shows how things line up very well, especially if you use the handy "image size" tab on the right to make it bigger.

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In regards to the Path Type tool question that I posted last week - the answer was half of what I was looking for. I think the first article that joel_fiasco posted addressed my 2nd question, but the image links on the article were broken so I couldn't really follow what the author was saying. (Plus it was from 1999 and written for a Mac user.)

How can you change the text with the Path Type tool so that the TOP of the letters follow the path, rather than the bottom of the letters following the path? I need to have two phrases following a circle path, with the first phrase on the top of the circle and the second phrase on the bottom of the circle, but I don't want the second phrase to appear upside-down. Thanks!

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Baseline shift. As long as your text is still active (not outlines), go to the type palette and look for the baseline shift field (I think it's the lower left, it has a lower case A above an arrow pointing up). Use a negative number to lower the text, and a positive number to elevate it.

Another way to do it if you have text on the top and bottom of a circle is this way: lower the text on the top of the circle, but raise the text on the bottom. Visually they should look like they were types on the same circle.

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In regards to the Path Type tool question that I posted last week - the answer was half of what I was looking for.  I think the first article that joel_fiasco posted addressed my 2nd question, but the image links on the article were broken so I couldn't really follow what the author was saying.  (Plus it was from 1999 and written for a Mac user.)

How can you change the text with the Path Type tool so that the TOP of the letters follow the path, rather than the bottom of the letters following the path?  I need to have two phrases following a circle path, with the first phrase on the top of the circle and the second phrase on the bottom of the circle, but I don't want the second phrase to appear upside-down.  Thanks!

I'd posted this tutorial in another thread, so here it is again.

(Assuming you're working in Illustrator)

You actually create the top and bottom text segments as two separate objects, and combine them later. Here's how:

1. Type the upper text on a circle object using the Text on Path tool.

2. Duplicate this object.

3. On the duplicate text object, with the text tool, highlight the text completely. Retype the text to what you want the bottom half to read. Click and drag the text cursor "I-beam" toward the inside of the circle using the solid selection arrow. Your text will flip inside. The selection can be a bit touchy, so keep trying.

4. Drag the cursor around the circle to align the text at the bottom.

5. In the Baseline Shift box of the Character palette, type in a negative number to move your bottom text below the circle. That amount depends on your font size, it's trial and error. Start with a negative number a few points less than the font size and you'll be close.

6. Align your two circle text objects together at the circles' centerpoints. Group 'em.

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3. On the duplicate text object, with the text tool, highlight the text completely. Retype the text to what you want the bottom half to read. Click and drag the text cursor "I-beam" toward the inside of the circle using the solid selection arrow. Your text will flip inside. The selection can be a bit touchy, so keep trying.

I think I'm lost at this step... do you mean the Direct Selection Tool (white arrow?) Everytime I try to do it with this, it just moves the text the same way that the black arrow would.

Also, just to further clarify what I'm trying to do is the same effect as "REPRESENTATIVES" in this logo... I've already gotten the "U.S. HOUSE OF" part down:

houseal.jpg

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No, use the black arrow tool. Click and drag the text cursor toward the inside of the circle, not around the perimeter. The text will "flip" to the inside of the circle.

I just fired up the CS2 version of Illustrator to make sure it works the same as v10 and earlier... the cursor is now a vertical "stick" instead of the old "I-beam", but it works the same.

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K simple question fellas... is there anyway to change a brush stroke into a normal vectore image... basically im doing this ting for a comapny done with like a brush stroke motif but im sick of resizing it and having to change the stroke density... is there a way to do this and if so how.. plain strokes i just outline them and im set... that doesnt work for this...

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Expand apperence also works just FYI.

This thread is working out amazing! I'm not expert but I have a good handle on illustrator, and I was always clueless with text on a path (I guess this happens when your college program sucks and you teach yourself by doing). Pixelboy your suggestions were a real help!

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and for those who missed the discussion about linking text blocks (needing text to flow from one text block to another, usually for medians or around images), the term is "linking type blocks".

can be acheived by:

draw text block, alt+drag (w/ selection tool) to make the linked text block, add text.

or

draw text block(s), select each and under Type>Blocks>Link.

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For some reason, I am no longer able to view an "outer glow" effect after assessing it to a layer. In previous files in which I have used outer glow, I can still view the effect in the layer that it was used. However, if I try to edit the outer glow layer, it will go away.

Is it possible I could have changed a setting?

I hope this does not sound too confusing.

Any help is appreciated.

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