Just switched from CorelDRAW to Adobe Illustrator -

[lukasdesign]

Hi everybody,

I'm quite new to Illustrator, as I was always using CorelDraw, but my new employer just bought the CS3 Creative Suite and I don't wanna cause him further expenses.
So far I go well along with my new "best friend" Ilustrator but a couple of things are really bothering me, probably because of a wrong workflow.

Aligning: how is it possible to center objects without moving both of them? Do I really need a plugin for that???

selecting objects. in Corel I have the possibilty to select in two ways by "drawing" a selection rectangle. I can choose to select only objects entirely with the rectangle or by hitting ALT everything that is partly and entirely inside my selection. Very handy, as I don't like that AI selects all the time everything that touches the selction.

thank you very much,

Lukas

[TORCH511]

Aligning: With the Direct Selection Tool (Black Arrow) Click on one object, Shift+Click another object. Release the Shift key and click on the object you want to align to (must be already selected), then use either the icons on the Control Palette (The bar at the top that changes) or the Align Palette to align the objects.

Selecting objects: Yes, that feature was nice in Corel, however you can use the selection lasso to achieve the same results. Illustrator also has tools like the Wand Selection Tool which will select like objects. The little known about and used Group Selection Tool is also powerful and useful. Using the various tools requires you to change your thinking but once you get used to it I think you will no longer miss the Alt+Selection feature in Corel.

[dmitrii]

hi

what is CSR Creative Suite?:rolleyes:

[lukasdesign]

aligning is fine now!

Regarding the selection modes: In fact I'm not missing the alt+selection but the possibilty to select only what is entirly within my selection marquee!
All this selection tools are fine, but when the screen is really crowded (i'm doing watch dials with minute tracks, small seconds...) the best thing was in Corel that is was selecting just what I really wanted.

But as you said: new programs mean new way of thinking.

there is another thing that I would like to know:

is there a way to add the complete Object transformation panel to right windows panel so that I can choose the "copy function" for rotating etc?
or can I at least modify the tools panel on my left and pull out and add the rotate and the mirror tools?

well that's it I guess...for the rest I'm getting used to it, remians the problem that I have to convert all my *.cdr X3 files to *.ai. I guess there is no batch tool out there?

[TORCH511]

Not quite sure what you are asking? The Palettes are pretty much set, and while you can customize the order/size of the palettes, you can not change the their contents (not without some serious programming skills).

What you can do is map keyboard shortcuts, commonly called hotkeys to just about any command in Illustrator (See Edit>Keyboard Shortcuts). I do not even keep the Tools Palette (left side) open anymore.

The Rotate and Reflect (flip) tools do "tear off" meaning you can open a small palette that has just those two tools. Click and hold over the rotate tool, the tearoff will open, release over the small right pointing triangle to "tear off".