Today I will be explaining some tips and tricks to using adobe illustrator. First, let me explain what adobe illustrator is and its many uses. adobe illustrator is a program used to create vector graphics for things such as advertising and creating graphics. It is one of the top tools used as a graphic designer. The program is based on vectors, meaning you can scale your content however big or small without losing resolution. Adobe illustrator is able to do this because it uses mathematics to scale your content rather than pixels. This is ideal for creating huge graphics that might have to go on a billboard or vehicle. Here are some simple tips to help you be efficient in illustrator.
1. Save your work!
By far, this is one of the most important things you should do in ANY program. Adobe has a great way to save your work automatically and can sometimes salvage your work if it crashes. You should also back up your projects to multiple devices and drives. Saving your stuff to the cloud is a great way to start your project off anywhere you can log into your cloud. Physical devices such as USB drives are a quick way to pull up your work without logging in (unless you password protect it).
2. Customize your layout and workspace.
To be the most efficient, you need to know where everything is and get rid of everything you don't use often. Adobe illustrator has default presets for the layout of its interface available to you. If this does not flow with you well, you can always customize the layout accordingly. For example, if you are strictly using illustrator to create logos you might want to get rid of some things you don't really use. You can drag, drop and place the individual windows you use frequently and save them in a preset for when you open up the program.
3. Keyboard Shortcuts.
Adobe has dozens of shortcuts to use to make your workflow quicker. Learning these shortcuts will save you time navigating through the program. You can always look up a cheat sheet online and maybe save it on your desktop or even use it as your wallpaper so it is always available. It takes practice, but remembering them will be worth it in the long run.
4. Packaging your projects.
Packaging your projects is a great way to keep your links and fonts organized. Packaging gathers all the data and materials used in your file and saves it in one folder along with a pdf version. These packages can be compressed and shared with anyone and you will not have to worry about missing links or fonts when they open it.
5. File Naming.
You may not think it's important now, but giving your projects a useful name will save you time looking for it later or remembering which one is the actual FINAL version. The creative field is a fast pace world and includes many revisions, deleting and restoring. Knowing what you did to each file without having to open them will save you from having a headache. For the bare minimum, at least name the title of the project and date it.
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