Category: Illustrator

Kaleidoscope effect in Illustrator

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Illustrator

The main design was created in Illustrator CS6 but earlier versions, at least to CS4, have the functionality to create this. 

Triangle ‘Template’

1. I started by using the Polygon tool in Illustrator to create a triangle. Mine was 90mm high x 31.3mm wide. I used trig so that I could calculate an angle of 20° (the Sine of 10° times 90 – gives half the width of the base ) at its apex so could rotate it later without overlapping.

2. Lock the layer. The triangle will be subsequently deleted but you will use it as a template to ‘contain’ all the graphic elements you want to include in your design.

3. Create a new layer.

4. Draw, import, etc, graphics to ‘fill’ your triangle , starting at the top and reducing the size of the elements as you proceed down the template. I used Caslon Ornaments (True Type free font – just Google it and you will find it easily).

Modifying Font Characters and Glyphs (Optional)

5. To further modify and decorate installed fonts, characters and glyphs, go to Type>Glyphs and go through your installed fonts for pretty dingbats (like me! Lol!) or other Wingdings, etc, to see if there are other ready to use elements for your design.

Switch to the Direct Selection tool (black arrow) and go to the drop-down menu: Type>Create Outlines.

6. Go to the Object menu and select ‘Compound Path>Release. You might need to go to the Swatch palette and change the Stroke to, say, 0.25 and remove the fill colour as they sometimes end up filled as a solid block of colour.

Once released, the separate elements of the graphic can be coloured individually – filled with a gradient or solid colour, stroke colour can be changed,etc. When you’re done, group them (Object>Group).

7. I created a centred vertical line of elements  – remember to select them and use the Align command to centre them vertically. Select then Object>Group.

8. Fill the template up with more graphics – just do either the left or the right of your centred line of elements. Taper and reduce the size of the elements as you fill up the triangle shape. Get a number of them to touch the triangle outline to preserve some definiton of the triangle shape.

Back to the kaleidosope-design

9. Select and group these side elements (ie, de-select or omit the central ones). Group then Copy them (Command >C).

10. Paste the elements (Command V) then go to Object>Transform>Reflect>Vertical.

11. Align the right and left sides of the design to the top or bottom (makes no odds which end).  Make sure that you position the copied elements so that they touch the opposite side of the triangle.

12. Group right and left sides. Now select the right, left and vertically-centred elements. While all are selected, click on the vertical group (so that everything aligns in relation to this)  then select Align>Vertical Centre (icon). Group the three sets together.

13. You can delete the layer with the triangle on if you wish. It has served its purpose and is no longer needed.

14. Select your ‘triangle’ of graphic elements. Go to Effect>Distort & Transform>Transform.

A dialogue box with various settings will display:

a. Scale (Horizontally & Vertically) 90%

b. In the Number of copies, enter 17 (results in 18, the 17 copies plus original).

c. Rotate>Angle: Enter 20°

d. On the small square with 9 black spots, click the bottom-middle spot.

Hit: Ok

15. You need to go to Object>Expand and Ungroup if you want to tweak your design in any way.

That’s it. You can play with Bevel & Embossing or different lighting effects under the filters etc. Change the background colour. Make multiple copies of the ‘fractal and mirror or reflect them, scale them.  It’s up to you and your imagination but this is how to create a basic kaleidoscope effect in Illustrator. You could always copy into Photoshop and use the PS tools if you’re more familiar with them.

Hope you enjoyed the tutorial.

Make any font look ‘hand rendered’ in Illustrator

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Illustrator

This tutorial is about how to turn a font into a hand-rendered effect font and how to fill selected elements within the font with colour or gradients. 

1. Open a new document in Illustrator. The size is up to you.

2. Type in some text using any font you like. I can’t remember which font I used here – I think it may have been Circus or Cast Iron.

3. With your text selected, go to the Swatch palette and remove the fill and stroke.

4. With the text (now invisible) still selected, go to: Window>Appearance and click the little group of horizontal lines on the right to display a drop-down menu. Select Add New Fill.

5. You’ll see a small block of colour – leave the default colour black, keep it selected and go to Effect>Stylize>Scribble and apply the following settings:

  • Angle: 45°
  • Path Overlap: 0 px
  • Variation: 2 px
  • Stroke Width: 1 px
  • Curviness: 0%
  • Variation: 50%
  • Spacing: 2 px
  • Spacing Variation: 1.5 px

6. Appearance Panel> Add New Stroke and give the text a 2 px stroke.

7. With the Stroke still selected, go to Effect>Distort & Transform>Roughen and apply the settings below:

  • Size: 0.5%
  • Size, select the Relative check button
  • Set the Detail level to 30 Points: click on the Smooth checkbox

Click OK and the scribble effect is created.

8. Select the black arrow selection tool (V) go to Type>Create Outlines

9. With the text still selected (now displaying as outlined with many nodes) go to Object>Ungroup and keep repeating this until the option to Ungroup is greyed out.

10.  With the Selection Tool (V), select elements within your text and fill with any colour or gradient you like from your Swatches or Gradient palettes. 

To apply the Scribble effect to other fonts without having to repeat this process, save your ‘scribble’ by opening a New Graphic Style in the Graphic Styles panel and giving it a name. To use it again, create your new text, select it and click on your *name scribble* from the Graphic Styles library.

Security seal Illustrator tutorial

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Illustrator

*** Image originally posted in my previous blog: The Singing Tree ***

Follow the link for the tutorial:

http://vector.tutsplus.com/tutorials/designing/create-a-security-seal-in-illustrator-using-guilloche-patterns/.

Written by Alberto Kaiser Sosa, it’s clearly explained with lots and lots of screen grabs on the way.

The only problem I had with creating my version was that I couldn’t reduce the line weight of vertical or horizontal lines below 1 pt.

Apparently, if you have ‘align to pixel grid’ switched on, fractional strokes (as in half and quarter points) cannot be aligned to a pixel grid so the application will automatically round the line weight up to the smallest value that it CAN align: 1 pt.

Turn off the ‘align to pixel grid ‘ – there’s a check box on the bottom of the New Document dialogue – uncheck it and it’s sorted.

Use circles for Non-Trig Trigonometry

by Irish Bees Don't Do Mondays, posted in Illustrator

There is a German word ‘Sitzfleisch’ that describes the ability to endure or persist in a task (literally translates to ‘sits flesh’ meaning the ability to sit at something for lengthy periods). I could think of no better word to describe the persistence and endurance of somebody I recently witnessed trying to rotate a triangle so that it would sit squarely on a box.

I had, coincidentally, created a little box that had the same issue in its design but took moments to resolve. It is based upon mathematical principles but involves no actual maths – just circles. Don’t be put off by the use of a few mathematical terms – they’re easy ones – just radius and diameter and I use no math, as such (multiply something by 2 ).

Once you get the principles you’ll find angles easy to calculate.

Here’s a quick tutorial – takes more words to explain than to actually do it.

 

non-trig-trigDownload