I’m sure everyone knows who Chris Spooner is, but if you don’t recognize the name you will probably recognize his work and tutorials. Chris writes Illustrator and Photoshop tutorials as well as other creative topics on Blog.Spoongraphics.co.uk. In addition, Chris runs Line 25, a creative web design site. Chris was kind enough to give us a little industry insight and let us know why he would like to use the Pathfinders tools in everyday life!

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I love using Illustrator’s Width Profiles (CS5 and up) but I hate accidentally deleting the custom widths I’ve created. There’s no great way to save custom profiles like you do when saving other custom libraries like brushes, swatches, and graphic styles. The best way I’ve found to save them is by applying the custom profile to an object and saving a graphic style. From there you can save a custom graphic style library.

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

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Alex Mathers is an illustrator and graphic designer from London currently living Tokyo. In addition, he runs a site for freelancers called Red Lemon Club and a contemporary visual arts blog called Ape on the Moon. Alex creates wonderfully engaging geographic illustrations peppered with details demanding a closer look. Read on to learn why Alex loves the Smooth tool!

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Thanks to John Wundes, I learned Matthew Erickson created an awesome Artboard/Layers exporter script called MultiExporter. The script handles exporting of selected layers, artboards, or a combo of both into PNG, JPG, PDF, and EPS formats. This script is a little more extensive than other exporting scripts and worth checking out!

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This post is part of a weekly series showcasing inspirational vector art. Although the series showcases vector art, some work might just be vector inspired, not created completely with vector art. If you have any art suggestions, feel free to comment! For more vector art inspiration, check out the Vectips Flickr Group.

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When the Shape Builder tool came out in CS5, it wasn’t really on my radar. I have a set of actions and keyboard shortcuts setup for the different Shape Modes from the Pathfinders panel. I didn’t really need a new tool to replace my workflow. After using it more and more, I’m coming around to thinking it’s a pretty powerful tool and I really like to use it as a Paint Bucket.

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