1 Let there be light.

Light and color are rarely flat – why should your objects be? Adding a subtle gradient to a flat object will give it the illusion of depth and dimension.

–img-1

2 Determine a light source and be consistent.

The gradient on the main shape suggests that the lighting is coming from above and left. With that in mind, add shadows and highlights. Here, the black objects were duplicated twice (Copy>Paste in Back). A light yellow was applied to one set and nudged up and to the left for the highlight; the second set was given a darker yellow and nudged down and to the right for the shadow. Note that highlights and shadows are never solid white or gray – they should contain some color.

–img-2

–img-3

3 Do sweat the small stuff.

Pay attention to the smallest details. Even though you may not be able to see the shadows on the bolts at full size, your mind will perceive them.

–img-4

The same goes for the shadows on the post. Adding a little color to the gray and changing the values will give a more natural look to the shadows.

–img-5

You don’t have to go overboard or be flashy, but spending a little extra time will go a long way in bringing your illustrations to life.

–img-6

Creating a nighttime sky star-by-star would be a tedious task. Instead, you can make a quick and lovely star-filled sky with just a few clicks of the Symbol Sprayer tool.

1
Use the Ellipse tool to create a small white circle. Drag this circle onto the Symbols palette (Shift+F11). Your circle should now show up as a new symbol. Double-click on your new symbol and name it “Star 1″.
–img-1A
–img-1B
–img-1C
–img-1D

2
Now make a slightly smaller circle and drag it onto the Symbols palette. Name it “Star 2″. Create an even smaller circle and drag it onto the Symbols palette as well, naming it “Star 3″. You should now have three new symbols.
–img-2A
–img-2B

3
Double-click the Symbol Sprayer tool from the toolbar to open the Symbol Sprayer palette. For now, set the Diameter to 3 in., the Intensity to 8, and the Symbol Density to 5. Make sure all the options on the bottom are set to Average. There are many different options for the Symbol Sprayer, and you can experiment with these settings on your own to create unique effects later.
–img-3A
–img-3B

4
Click on Star 1 in the Symbols palette. Click-and-drag your cursor across your background, loosely but evenly covering it with the Star 1 symbols. To place an individual star, just click once. You can also create a couple “constellations” by grouping some of the star symbols close to each other. Repeat this step with Star 2 and Star 3 from the Symbols palette.
–img-4A
–img-4B

5
Select all your Star 1 symbols with the Selection tool. In the Transparency palette (Shift+F10), drag the slider bar till the Opacity is set at 25%. Now select all the Star 2 symbols, and set their transparency to 75%. Leave the Star 3 symbols at 100% opacity.
–img-5A
–img-5B

6
Make sure all your stars are selected. Go to Effects>Stylize>Outer Glow. Set the Mode to Normal, the Opacity to 100%, and the Blur to .05 in. Double-click on the color square in the corner of the Outer Glow palette, and set the color to white. As in Step Three, there is much room for experimentation at this stage, so feel free to play around with these settings to achieve your desired results.
–img-6A
–img-6B

And there you have it, the dazzling celestial heavens in a few easy steps!
–img-1

1Using the tool of your choice (Pen, Brush, or Pencil) draw the path to which you’d like your text to conform.

–img-1

2Select the Type tool. Click on your path, and you will get a blinking text insertion icon at the point on which you initially clicked. You can now type your text.

–img-2A
–img-2B

3Click on your new text with the Selection tool. You will notice there are three thin lines on your text: one in the front, one in the middle, and one at the end. Click-and-drag the line in the front to move your text back or forward along your path. Click-and-drag the line in the middle to change the mid-point of your text. Click-and-drag the line at the end to control the stopping point of your text.

–img-3A
–img-3B
–img-3C
–img-3D

4There are several more options for positioning the text on the path other than just adjusting where it begins or ends. With the text selected with the Selection tool, go to Type>Type on a Path>Type on a Path Options. In the Type on a Path Options menu, select Effect. You will be given five choices:

–img-4A
–img-4B

Rainbow (This is the default orientation of your text.)
–img-4C

Skew:
–img-4D

3D Ribbon:
–img-4E

Stair Step:
–img-4F

Gravity:
–img-4G

5You can also choose how your text is aligned along the path. In the Type on a Path Options menu, select Align to Path and you will get four choices:

Note: Once you expand the object you will no longer be able to distort the shape unless you place it inside another envelope object. When you are ready to expand the object, make a copy of that object and then expand. This way, you have a spare if you need to go back and change the distortion.

–img-5A

Ascender:
–img-5B

Descender:
–img-5C

Center:
–img-5D

Baseline (This is the default alignment of your text.)
–img-5E

6So far we’ve explored how to manipulate text on an open path, but you can apply these same principles to a closed path, like a circle. Start by selecting the Ellipse tool and drawing a circle.

–img-6

7Now this step is slightly different than what you did for the open path. Instead of selecting the plain Type tool like in Step Two, you need to select the Type on a Path tool (it looks like the letter “T” on a declining slope), then click on your circle and enter your text. Where on the circle you click will decide where the beginning and end points of your text will be.

–img-7A
–img-7B

8You can use the Type on a Path menu options for text on a closed path just as you could for text on an open path.

Rainbow (This is the default orientation of your text.)
–img-8A

Skew:
–img-8B

3D Ribbon:
–img-8C

Stair Step:
–img-8D

Gravity:
–img-8E

Ascender:
–img-8F

Descender:
–img-8G

Center:
–img-8H

Baseline (This is the default alignment of your text.)
–img-8I

Until next time. Enjoy!

Weaving letters in and out of each other is a very cool Illustrator effect. Although this can be done with any version of Illustrator, we’ll salute Adobe’s Creative Suite 2 by intertwining C, S and II. Follow along with this example: the Illustrator file has been saved as an Illustrator 8 file: Download the companion file here.
–img-0

1First, duplicate the “2″ layer by dragging it onto the Create New Layer icon at the bottom of the Layers palette. Name the new layer “Top 2″ by double-clicking it and renaming it. Next, select the Pen Tool (make sure the Foreground and Background are set to None) and draw a clipping path that outlines the parts of the II that need to move above the C.
–img-1

2Select the clipping path and target the II in the Top 2 layer by clicking its circle on the Layers palette. Go to Object>Clipping Mask>Make. Click-and-drag the Top 2 layer and slide it over the C layer.
–img-2

3Next, we’ll do the same with the S layer. Duplicate the layer, name it Top S, and create a clipping mask over the parts that need to go above the C. Select the clipping mask and target the Top S layer, and go to Object>Clipping Mask>Make.
–img-3

4Slide the Top S layer over the C layer, and you’re finished.
–img-4