We already know that there are several different ways to get any particular project done. To build a house, for example, you could use wood or bricks. Either way, you'll have a house, but one might be better than the other. The same applies to computer files--especially Illustrator documents. There might be several ways to "build" your document, but there is always a smart way, and a not-so-smart way. This chapter guides you in the right direction when creating your artwork in Illustrator. A great computer designer knows not only good design techniques but good production techniques as well, such as:
If I told you that if you ate a large cheese pizza every day, you would live a long life, you would do it, right? And if I told you that by saving your files frequently, you can be assured that you will not lose data, you would do that too, right?
Saving your files is the most important part of working with computers. A computer will crash when you least expect it to (and it most certainly will crash when you expect it to), so save often. You might also want to use the Save As command to save documents as you create them, allowing you the luxury of quickly going back to any stage of your project as it was developed. You can name each file with version numbers, such as Pizza 1.1, Pizza 1.2, and so on, so you can quickly identify when each file was created.
Naming your file is more important than most people think. It's very important that you keep your files organized and that you name them so that you can quickly identify what each file is. On the Macintosh you were always able to create long filenames, and now you can in Windows 95, too. Take advantage of it. I remember when I used to name files "Bob's thingy" and "Logo with blue type." That's nice for being creative and all, but in two months when Bob needs his advertisement reprinted, you won't in a million years remember that you called it "thingy."
Also, if you're working in an environment with other designers and share your files with them, it's even more important to name your files so that other people can quickly identify and find them. If you have several versions of a logo, for example, you can name them like this: Apple Logo.B&W, Apple Logo.Process, and Apple Logo.Spot. Also, when you finish a job, you might even want to identify it like so: Apple Stationery.Final.
Illustrator has a few tricks up its sleeve when it comes to making selections. Under the Edit menu there is a Select submenu that contains a few additional commands for making selections. Click an object, for example, and choose Select Same Fill. Illustrator then selects all objects in your document that have the same fill as the one you originally selected. The same applies for Select Same Stroke as well.
For even more selection tools, see Extensis VectorTools and ILLOM Toolkit in the "Using Third Party Plug-ins" section, later in this chapter.
We learned that you can hide and lock artwork to make things easier when working on portions of your artwork, but this feature has one small problem. Although you can hide and lock items one at a time, you can only show or unlock all items at once. This means if you want to unlock just one item, you have to unlock everything, then select the items you want to remain locked, and lock them again.
To make things a bit easier, if you want to unlock just one item, unlock everything,
then Shift-click the item you want to unlock and then select Object
Lock again. This saves you the time
of having to reselect everything again.
You'll never find a mess on my computer. What you will find is an organized group of files. Even more importantly, each file in itself is "clean" and streamlined.
Allow me to explain. When you create a file, edit it, make revisions, and make revisions again, the file could contain many things that are not necessary in the final version. There may, for example, be times when you would leave some text loose in the document, such as notes for yourself or maybe a company's address. Or maybe you created a lot of guides. By deleting these after a file is complete, you are not only making the file smaller in size (saving precious disk space), but you are also creating a cleaner file that will print faster and have less of a chance of becoming corrupt.
Another important part of cleaning your files is deleting unnecessary anchor points. Many times, when you use the Autotrace tool (or even when importing files from Streamline), your Bézier paths contain extraneous anchor points. Of course, the more points there are in a document, the larger the file size, and the longer it takes to print.
Unfortunately, this is one thing in Illustrator that really needs some attention. Macromedia FreeHand has a simplify function that automatically removes points and smooths a selected path, and it would be a nice feature if Illustrator did this as well. Some people have FreeHand just for this purpose--they import the art into FreeHand to simplify it, and then bring it back into Illustrator to add the finishing touches.
One thing that Illustrator does have is a command called Cleanup (see Figure 21.1),
which can be found by selecting ObjectPathCleanup. This handy little janitorial function
will gladly delete stray points (single anchor points with no paths), unpainted objects,
and empty text paths. If only you had this when your mom told you to clean your room!
The Cleanup dialog box.
Not everything is created in Illustrator (although I'm sure Adobe would just love for that to happen), and many times we must scan logos and art sketches and then recreate them in Illustrator. True, there is the Autotrace tool, and even applications such as Streamline that were made to do this kind of thing, but more often than not, they produce less than desirable results. The best way to get logos and sketches into clean, good-looking vector art is to draw them from scratch yourself.
Relax, it's a lot easier than you might think. Illustrator has the tools to get you through. Let's take this one step at a time, shall we?
Locking the template layer.
Setting up guides to aid in tracing the logo.
Using rectangles here greatly reduces the time to re-create the logo.
Illustrator 7 has tremendous support for plug-ins--additions or extensions to Illustrator that add features, tools, and functionality. In fact, many parts of Illustrator are actually plug-ins themselves, such as the Layers palette. Adobe did this to make it easy to make modifications to the program and to keep Illustrator's core as clean as possible.
Of course, the most obvious advantage of the ability to have plug-ins is that other companies (or even ordinary people like yourself) can create plug-ins for Illustrator. Here I have listed plug-in packages from several vendors and have written short descriptions outlining their features.
Extensis VectorTools is probably the best collection of plug-ins on the market. A perfect mix of production-oriented and special effects plug-ins, VectorTools is a collection no serious illustrator should be without. VectorTools includes a magic wand selection tool for selecting multiple objects with similar attributes, and it also gives you the ability to edit colors using curves, just as in Photoshop. You can also turn 2D art into 3D art, set up object style sheets, and more!
Extensis Corporation http://www.extensis.com
KPT Vector Effects is part of the famous Kai's Power Tools suite of plug-ins and applications. Although its interface is just a tad different, KPT Vector Effects offers quick ways to create cool effects in Illustrator, including embossing, soft shadows, 3D, envelope distortion, and more.
MetaCreations http://www.metacreations.com
CADtools is a great collection of over 34 drafting and dimensioning plug-ins. Even if you don't do drafting work, these plug-ins can really be useful. A good example is the Arc Tool, which enables you to draw arcs easily--a lot better than drawing whole circles and then deleting the parts you don't need.
Hot Door, Inc. http://www.hotdoor.com
If you are a cartographer or work a lot with maps, MAPublisher is for you. A suite of plug-ins, MAPublisher enables you to work with Geographic Information System (GIS) data directly in Illustrator. It also offers support for DXF files.
Avenza Software http://www.avenza.com
Vertigo is a company that makes 3D tools for use on powerful Silicon Graphics workstations. Recently, they began making plug-ins for use on Power Macintosh computers with Photoshop and Illustrator. 3D Words enables you to create true three-dimensional text and paths right in Illustrator.
Vertigo Software http://www.vertigo3d.com
Toolbox 1 is a wonderful collection of plug-ins that add some really great (and really cool) features to Illustrator. First of all, a Lasso tool lets you marquee select objects by drawing a path--just as in Photoshop. There's also search and replace for objects (so you can search for red stars and change them to yellow circles, for example) and text style sheets. Plug-ins for time tracking and enhanced transformations round out this excellent package.
ILLOM Development AB http://www.illom.se
If you are sending your file out to a service bureau for film output or separations, you want to make sure that it prints right--the first time. Keeping your files clean, as mentioned earlier, is the first step in your quest for perfect film. Streamlining your files allows them to print faster (some service bureaus charge for processor time) and more reliably. Messy files have a tendency to crash or hang a RIP, the software that interprets files so they can be output on an imagesetter.
In order for anyone to print your file, they will need whatever typefaces you used as well as copies of any linked (placed) images. In many cases, you can avoid the typeface problem by converting your text to outlines. In fact, it's usually a good idea to convert your text to outlines whenever saving logos or mastheads that will be used repeatedly--you might forget about the typeface, thinking it's just a picture, when working in QuarkXPress or PageMaker.
To quickly check which fonts and linked images are in a particular file, choose Document Info from the File menu. Here Illustrator gives you an exhaustive list of your file's details and attributes, including linked and embedded images, as well as fonts used. You can save this information as a text file that you can then send to your service bureau. This might help them work on your file faster and more efficiently.
This is an important precaution. As you know, when scaling objects in Illustrator, you have the option to scale strokes as well as the rest of the object. If your art or logo has strokes of a specific weight, and then somebody scales the image without scaling the strokes, you might have a slight problem on your hands. By using the Convert Stroke to Path function, you eliminate the possibility of such a nightmare.
There are two features in Illustrator that can really add a special touch to your document: blends and Ink Pen fills. These are also the two features in Illustrator that cause the most printing problems. Both the Blend tool and the Ink Pen filter create hundreds of objects to achieve their unique appearance, which can really tax even the latest RIPs. When using the Blend tool, you have an option to specify how many steps the blend should be. If you are creating a small blend that only covers a short distance, 40 objects may be sufficient, and very rarely will you need to create a blend with 255 objects (which is the default setting). As for the Ink Pen filter, use it on smaller objects if possible, or try to avoid using it excessively.
We already know that you can place a raster image in Illustrator and have it linked to a file outside of your Illustrator document. If you've worked in QuarkXPress or PageMaker, you should already be familiar with this concept. You should also be familiar with the ability to update your linked images to reflect changes made to them after they're placed in an Illustrator file--a command missing from Illustrator. But fret not my dear friend; I'll tell you how to do it. There are two workarounds you can use to update linked images in Illustrator:
2. After you've updated your raster image in your favorite raster application (such as Photoshop), save it with the exact same name. Then return to Illustrator. Save and close your document, and then reopen it. Your images are then updated automatically.
This hour we learned a whole lot of tips and techniques on how to be more efficient when working with Illustrator files. We learned how important it is to save files with easily recognizable names, and we learned how clean files can save us a lot of aggravation. Plus we learned all about some really cool plug-ins available for Illustrator, as well as how to re-create scanned art. After this chapter, you have what it takes to add the title "production artist" to your business card.
Plug-in--An extension or function that is added externally to the program.
RIP--Raster Image Processor. Software and/or hardware that bridges between a computer and an imagesetter.
Stray Point--A single anchor point that stands alone, with no path associated with it.
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