Ever wondered what the Reshape tool does in Illustrator? Or have you maybe tried it and couldn’t figured out what it could be used for? Wonder no more! In this episode, I explain exactly what the Reshape tool does and explore possible real world examples for its use. In the process, we also learned a bit about creating Actions in Illustrator.
Hey Mordy, missing your episodes, great tips, my question is about mixing Pantone colors. Is there an easy way to do it in Ai the same way I can do it in ID? Thanks.
AnonymousCheck out the episode “Illustrator for Packaging Workflows” — I cover the technique of using multiple fills on a single object to achieve this effect.
Why is that when I edit an AI vector with the Pencil tool, I get excellent results mixed with baffling horrible results.. And yes, I've played with the pencil's fidelity, etc settings. Awkkkk! Help! What am I doing wrong? Is there another fast way to tweak AI vectors? Many thnx!
You might want to take a look in the show archives and watch the one called “Sketching in Illustrator” — in addition to covering the iPad app called Adobe Ideas, the session covers the behaviors of the Pencil tool.
I actually just finished recording a new title for Lynda.com called “Drawing Without the Pen Tool” which should give you everything you need to know about this topic.
Hi Mordy,
Love your work. I would like to know the best way to fit pixel images into frames in Illustrator? I really like the rectangle frame tool in InDesign where you can do all sorts of adjustments to fill/content frame proportionally or fit content to frame etc..I'm having problems cropping my pictures to fit into a frame in Illustrator. Any suggestions would be fab..
Cheers,
Ben
Love your work. I would like to know the best way to fit pixel images into frames in Illustrator? I really like the rectangle frame tool in InDesign where you can do all sorts of adjustments to fill/content frame proportionally or fit content to frame etc..I'm having problems cropping my pictures to fit into a frame in Illustrator. Any suggestions would be fab..
Cheers,
Ben
AnonymousHey there Ben — you should look in the show archives for the episode that covers working with Masks. Sadly, Illustrator doesn’t share the same automatic filling settings that InDesign has — but anything that Illustrator can do is covered in that episode. - Mordy
This is almost not worth asking, but it's driving me crazy - how can I dock the appearance palette and keep the vertical dimension small? Hunting to the lower part of the screen in order to use the trash icon, for example - is a pain. Ideas? Thanks!
AnonymousYou’ll have to dock other panels beneath it. A panel dock forces all panels to expand to fill the entire screen vertically — UNLESS the panel can’t scale vertically (i.e the Strokes panel). Since the Appearance panel does stretch vertically, it will expand to fill the entire dock. Placing other panels in the same dock beneath the Appearance panel will keep the panel from stretching. - Mordy
hen with M coming back?
AnonymousA new season of Fridays with Mordy begins Friday, October 28, 2011. See you then!
Is there any way to customize the default swatches?
AnonymousSure. Look in the show archives and watch the one named “Making Illustrator Yours” - Mordy
Learn about Type on a Path, Gradient Mesh, Character Styles, and more. In this session I answer questions from the audience, ranging from adding stroke attributes to Type on Path objects, achieving better control over Gradient Mesh objects, and using the Lasso selection tool. I also discuss key differences between Character and Paragraph styles across Illustrator and InDesign, and draw comparisons from web design and CSS as well.
Live show aired June 6, 2011.
Learn some great design and production tips for package workflows and design in general. Learn how to use Symbols to manage imposed artwork. Learn how to simulate mixed-ink colors and get better results with spot colors. Learn how to use the Appearance panel to create a virtually endless array of starbursts and design embellishments — with nothing more than text.
Original show aired May 27, 2011
