Lately, I’ve been using my Sketch-Style Brushes in illustrations and tutorials. In, some of these illustrations, the brush strokes needed to be expanded to editable paths. When expanding, you also get a bunch of unfilled paths. To clean up, simply go Object > Path > Clean Up and check the Unpainted Objects check box. You can also use this feature to get rid of Empty Text Boxes and Stray Points!
It is easy to add metadata such as authors, descriptions, keywords, copyright info, and more to your Illustrator files. To add metadata, go File > File Info, to bring up the File Info dialog. You can save your metadata as a Metadata Template from the top right arrow button in the dialog. Moreover, Illustrator automatically adds certain information like fonts, swatches and color groups each time you save.
I have seen this tip around on a couple of blogs, but it is so helpful I had to repeat it. You can quickly change you document’s measurement units by Control-Cliking (mac) or Right-Clicking (pc) on the Ruler. I use this constantly when designing websites or working with a file from overseas (the United States is a little behind on the whole Metric system thing).
Selecting multiple objects in Illustrator is essential to productivity. Illustrator has some great selection features: Select Same, Select Object, Magic Wand, and so on. One selection feature that I always use is Save Selection. I usually save selections early on in a illustration to easily come back to them even though the stroke, fill, and other attributes have be modified.
I love working in Illustrator, but ever once and a while, I need to export a file to Photoshop. Illustrator gives you the ability to export to Photoshop while preserving important information. You can export Layers, Color Profiles, Resolution Specification, and Text Preservation. This is great for exporting website wireframes or sprucing up illustrations.
I am a Keyboard Shortcut junkie because Keyboard Shortcuts save a tremendous amount of time! The great thing about Illustrator CS3 is you can customize your shortcuts. Some of you probably know this already, but it’s worth mentioning for you that don’t. Now you can create shortcuts for Illustrator’s Tools and Menu Commands and set multiple profiles!
Creating type on a path is a great feature of Illustrator and is quite handy when sprucing up your typography or experimenting. Annoyingly, the Path Type object always seem to have inconsistent spacing and just doesn’t look right. Luckily, Illustrator has some Text On A Path Options! With these options, you can change the Effect, Alignment, Spacing, and Flip.
