Illustrator CS6 One-on-One: Intermediate

Discover how to take advantage of the next level of dynamic features in Illustrator CS6, such as patterns, complex gradients, and the Pathfinder operations, in the second installment of Deke McClelland's Illustrator CS6 One-on-One series.Join author and industry expert Deke McClelland as he teaches you how to take advantage of the next level of dynamic features in Adobe Illustrator CS6. This installment of his Illustrator CS6 One-on-One series starts by showing you how to effectively manage layers, clipping groups, and swatches, so that you can easily swap out colors and content. Deke then explains how to create customized strokes and patterns and build complex gradients with transparency and dynamic effects, and then apply these features to paths, groups, and editable text to create professional-quality artwork. He also highlights some of the most popular features in Illustrator: Live Paint and all ten of its Pathfinder operations. The final chapters show how to prepare your projects for print and save them for distribution on the web. Topics include: Creating layers, sublayers, and groups Lifting a color and creating a swatch Assigning colors to paths inside groups Adjusting the stacking order Using the Width tool to adjust line weight Masking a pattern inside a background Assigning and modifying a gradient fill Creating a radial gradient Drawing a linear spiral with the Polar Grid tool Adding a credible 3D cast shadow Contouring with the Blob Brush and Eraser Creating and painting an overlapping path Placing Photoshop images in Illustrator files Previewing and printing documents Optimizing documents for the web