 MEASURE FROM WHERE YOU WANT By default, the rulers display with the top left of the page set to zero for the horizontal ruler, while the vertical ruler displays zero at the bottom left of the page. To change the ruler origin, click on the top-left corner of the rulers and drag to wherever you want to set zero.
ANGLED GRID You can show a non-printing grid by using View>Show Grid, or by pressing Command-’ (PC: Control-’). Once the grid is showing, there’s no rule that says it must be perfectly horizontal—why not angle the grid to help you create angled objects? Just go to the Preferences dialog by pressing Command-K (PC: Control-K) and change the Constrain Angle field from zero degrees to whatever angle you want your grid to follow. Once you’re done, put it back to zero. |
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Illustrator CS
Quick Tips
Archive
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Illustrator CS Tutorials |
 In this tutorial, Jeff Witchel discusses using Live Trace to turn a scanned “brush stroke” into a vector Art Brush.
This Video tutorial requires Flash player |
 Terry White shows how to use Live Paint in Adobe Illustrator CS2 to fill your traces with color.
This Video tutorial requires Flash player |
 Terry White demonstrates how to use Adobe Illustrator CS2 to turn pixel based images in scalable vectors by using Live Trace.
This Video tutorial requires Flash player |
 Illustrator’s Art Brush is truly a multiple use tool. Sure you can choose from calligraphic or hand-drawn brush effects, but don’t stop there. Found under Window>Brush Libraries (or from the Brushes palette’s flyout menu) are Arrows, Artistic, Decorative, and Border brush styles, too. Illustrator also lets you create your own brush and save it with the other brush presets. |
 Mixing vector and photo is one of the hottest trends in the illustration industry today. We’ve seen this effect used in national ad campaigns from Anheuser-Busch to Hawaiian Tropic. In this tutorial, we’ll take a look at how to create this effect in Illustrator. Before you begin, keep in mind that you can download the Illustrator source fi le used in this column. |
 Illustrator CS’s 3D Effect is a powerful tool for creating three-dimensional objects—but it doesn’t give you a true 3D environment that lets your objects interact with each other. So what do you do if you want a vase with rings floating around it or intersecting wedding bands? With some careful grouping and layer arrangements, you can coax Illustrator into simulating a real 3D world. |
 In this exercise, you’re going to create a leaf using the Mesh tool. I must first warn you that this exercise isn’t for the faint of heart. The Mesh tool is one of Illustrator’s most powerful tools—along with that power comes complexity. However, I’ll break each step down for you to make it as easy to follow along as possible. Good luck! |
 In Illustrator you can create two objects and blend them together and Illustrator will do all of the work of interpolating how the “in-between” objects fit together. However, it arranges them in a straight line. This straight line is called a spine. The default spine has one point for each object in the blend. When you only use two objects, there are only two points. |
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