Adobe Illustrator Tips - Part 4

In this blog post we will be covering another 5 adobe illustrator tips. Whether you're crafting logos, illustrations, or intricate designs, I hope that these tips will be of value. 

Tip 1: Wrap text in custom shape 

If you wish to wrap text in a custom shape ensure the shape is above the text and then object -> envelope distort -> make with top object. 

Tip 2: Pick colours from gradients 

If you wish to pick a colour from a gradient then press shift while using the eyedropper. 

If you wish to use a gradient as such use can do so using only the eyedropper tool. However ensure the appearance option is checked in the eyedropper setting (both pick up and apply setting) by double clicking it. As otherwise the eyedropper will only paste the gradient as it is ignoring other appearance properties like angle and aspect ratio. 

Tip 3: Apply gradients to a group of shapes 

If you have a group of shapes and apply gradients, the gradient is applied individually to each shape. However there are cases wherein we want the gradient to be applied to the group and not to the individual shapes present, in such a case select the group and go to path finder -> click the three horizontal lines -> make compound shape.

Tip 4: Create a colour palette from an image 

If you wish to extract colours from an image and form a colour palette with it you can go to  

object -> create object mosaic (you can set the number of tiles you want, I have set the width to be 6 and the height to be 4). 

The final colour palette I derived using the above method is as follows, 

Tip 5: Create custom toolbar

If you wish to create a custom toolbar with the options you use often and for easy access you can do so by clicking the three dots at the end of the toolbar -> click the three horizontal lines in the top right corner -> new toolbar. 

If you wish to remove a custom toolbar you can follow the same steps as before but instead of clicking the new toolbar option click manage toolbars then select the toolbar you want to remove and click the bin icon. 

You can also go to window -> toolbars to create and manage new ones.  

With this we come to the end of adobe illustrator tips part 4. If you are interested in checking the other parts you can do so by clicking on the corresponding links as follows, part 1, part 2, and part 3

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