Tips and Tricks, Tricks | April 7th, 2008 |

Sometimes you need to convert a Illustrator file to grayscale. This could be for a print ad, logo option, or even just to try something different. In Illustrator CS3 you have several options to easily change and edit any artwork to grayscale. There are a couple of simple options and a couple of options that give you more control of how the artwork will look.
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Tutorials | April 2nd, 2008 |

The Create Web 2.0 Stickers and Shiny Buttons tutorials have been very popular. With their popularity came many requests for reflections, another attribute synonymous with the Web 2.0 style. Creating these reflections is simple. With Vertical Flipping and Opacity Masks you can have a reflection in no time! Moreover, Opacity Masks are versatile, easy to edit, and not just for reflections. Continue Reading
Tips, Tips and Tricks | March 27th, 2008 |

The other week, I had a file that kept getting corrupted when I would send it to a printer. I couldn’t figure out what was wrong and spent forever sending emails, zipping files, examining outlines and so on. I came to realize, it was an obscure brush I was experimenting with early along in the project. I didn’t even use it in the final version! After that fiasco, I will always clean up my files!
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Tips, Tips and Tricks | March 18th, 2008 |

I like to work efficiently, so I get a little annoyed when something slows me down in Illustrator. Have you ever been cruising right along and accidently added a color to the Stroke of an object when you meant to add it to the Fill? Now you have to go back and do it all over again, wasting time. Luckily, there are a few useful keyboard shortcuts to help with Fills and Strokes.
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Tutorials | March 13th, 2008 |

In celebration of St. Patricks Day, I wanted to do a four-leaf clover tutorial. Some of you might not celebrate St. Patricks Day or have no use for a four-leaf clover, but still take a look at this tutorial. This tutorial combines some good techniques. You will Divide, Transform, and add Warping Effects. These techniques will help you quickly and easily create with Illustrator!
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Tips, Tips and Tricks | March 11th, 2008 |
Using shades of color are essential when I create glossy buttons and icons. In the Glossy Buttons and Web 2.0 Stickers tutorials, I used Cyan because it was easy to enter a percentage of Cyan, giving me quick shades. What if you need lighter and darker shades of a mixed color? An easy way is to hold down the Shift Key when you are dragging the sliders in the Color Panel!
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Tutorials | March 6th, 2008 |

It used to be a time consuming process to create a halftone. First, I would open a picture in Photoshop, convert it to grayscale, apply a halftone effect, open it up in illustrator, trace it, and if didn’t get messed up somewhere in the process, I would use the halftone in Illustrator. In Illustrator CS3 it is quite a bit easier to create halftones without leaving Illustrator.
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