Using Adobe Illustrator
Adobe Illustrator is a sophisticated graphics program capable of creating complex and attractive illustrations and type effects. We offer two levels of Adobe Illustrator, and if you've got questions from the Illustrator class you took with us, you can post them here.
2 Comments:
I am having trouble creating my patterns. Every time I try to change the colour it comes with a coloured box. Would you be able to document for me the steps to create a crosshatch pattern that can be used where there is no box outline and the diagonally lines match up? Right now, if I remove the box the lines don't match up. Thanks!
Debra
There are 2 main things to watch for in the crosshatch patterns you are trying to create/modify:
1. When you change the colors of an existing pattern, you need to then separately select the "box" (the rectangle shape, referred to as the "bounding box") and set its fill and stroke both to be "None".
2. When you change any line patterns of the crosshatch, you must make sure that the lines cross the bounding box at matching spots on the top and bottom, and on the left and right.
Detailed steps to create custom crosshatches:
a. For ease in creating and aligning the crosshatch elements, turn on the grids and snap-to-grids: from the View menu, select "Show Grid" and "Snap to Grid".
b. Zoom in for a close view. Use the rectangle tool to draw a square which will be your "bounding box", the frame which defines your pattern size. Set the fill to "None" and the stroke to 1 pt width in a contrasting color so you can see it in following steps. (see diag. 1, I use red in my example.)
c. Draw crosshatch lines crossing the bounding box. Set the desired line thickness and stroke as you create the lines (or select existing crosshatch lines, and set their stroke thickness and color). I used 1 pt cyan strokes for my sample below (see diagram 2a).
The points where the lines cross the top of the bounding box must match up with points on the bottom. The same is true for left side and right side crossing points. (see diag. 2b)
d. Select ONLY the bounding box, and set its stroke and fill to "None", so it will be invisible.
e. Use the main Selection tool to select all the crosshatch lines and the bounding box: by dragging to create a selection marquee that encloses those elements (see diagram 3)
f. Use the Edit menu command "Define Pattern..." to add your new crosshatch to the Swatches palette.
g. Give it a name and it is ready to use! Select an object, make sure you have activated the Fill attribute, and select your crosshatch from the Swatches palette.
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