Converting Text to Single Stroke in Illustrator

To create outlines from text in Illustrator is the most common things to do when you deliver ready to print vector file. But what about to convert text to a single working stroke in Adobe Illustrator?

Recently I did a little experiment in LottieFile to animate an SVG file using a particular animation style which only animate the line paths or strokes of text and illustration element. It will not working if I just create outlines from a text, so here's a video tutorial that will explain of how to turn fonts or text into single line paths in Illustrator CC. 

There are few other techniques explained in an old forum thread in Graphic Design Stack Exchange of how to convert text to single stroke in Illustrator, but I think a few of them still relevant and worth to try.

Last thing, here's the final result of my experiment:

The decorative lineart frame is part of my design item on CreativeMarket: 25 Multipurpose Squary Lineart Font used: Grand Hotel

Create Dust Gold Effect in Illustrator

Do you know that you can add dust texture for a shape that has gold gradient? 
Our client requested to add this dusty gold effect in a set of decorative element. So here’s how we do it:

Prepare the shape

Add any shape that you have. We quick draw a line and several dots using Paintbrush tool then Expand Appearance it to convert the line to shape.

Draw a shape

Add gold gradient

Open your swatch library: Open Swatch Library > Gradients > Metals.
Here we use the minimal gold linear type gradient, after we altered a bit the default radial gold gradient effect in Adobe Illustrator.

Apply gold gradient to the shape

Apply texture effect

Go to Effect > Texture > Grain and then experiment with the settings

Dusty texture gold effect from ‘Grain’ texture

Then you will have ‘Grain’ texture applied on your gold shape. It’s fairly easy!

You can add this effect to the Graphic Style and save it in Graphic Style Library for future usage.

This dusty texture gold effect can also directly be applied to a line using Paintbrush or Pencil tool.

Simplify Paths in Illustrator

Live Trace in Illustrator can have complex settings. The traced object often gets lots of anchor points and the jagged edges even you thought you have did your best to use the Tracing Preset. Here's a quick tips that I want to share with you. Read More







After your vector object is traced, just go to Object > Path > Simplify and set the values of the Curve Precision and Angle Threshold.

You can also compare the simplified vector object with the original one by clicking the Show Original checkbox in Options. You'll see the outline of the original object vector surrounding or in linear layer with the simplified object vector, just to make you easier to further edit some of the anchor paths.  

Click to get bigger preview

 

Create a Shutter Shape in Illustrator

In Illustrator CS5, there is a new tool named Shape Builder tool. It helps you to get rid a whole lot of unnecessary vector parts by holding down the Option/Alt key and hover over the parts that needs to be removed.

Veerle Pieters, a graphic and web designer living in Belgium, wrote a step by step Illustrator tutorial to create a shutter shape and will show you how easy implementing this new Shape Builder tool.

Visit the Tutorial


Read More

Related Post:

• How to Make Two Perfect Points Alignment in Illustrator
• How to Convert Illustrator shapes to Photoshop shapes
• How to Vectorize a Sketch with Transparent Layer Technique in Illustrator
• How to create Vector Photoshop Brush
• How to Create a Ribbon Using Blend Effect in Illustrator
• How to create Swirly Curls in Illustrator

How to Make Two Perfect Points Alignment in Illustrator

When you combine two vector shapes in Illustrator, sometimes the points of the shapes are not perfectly aligned. This will make your combined shapes look a bit bent or uneven at the perimeter.
This useful tutorial will finally reveal the secret to create clean curve using 'Path Average' feature in Illustrator.

Today's Illustrator quick tip was written by Jay Hilgert, a graphic and web designer, font designer, software developer (Brush Pilot™), and the founder of BittBox.

Visit the Tutorial


Related Post:

• How to Convert Illustrator shapes to Photoshop shapes
• How to Vectorize a Sketch with Transparent Layer Technique in Illustrator
• How to create Vector Photoshop Brush
• 5 Fantasy Floral Photoshop Brushes
• How to Create a Ribbon Using Blend Effect in Illustrator
• How to create Swirly Curls in Illustrator

How to Vectorize a Sketch with Transparent Layer Technique in Illustrator

There are many kind of techniques to vectorize a sketch. For complex illustration, you can use tracing technique, or live tracing which are quite complicated in process. You'd probably have to spend longer time in inking your illustration before you scan it and continue the digital process. If your sketched design is simple, symmetrical and appears with enormous geometrical shapes, you can just rely on vector shapes tool (Rectangle Tool, Ellipse Tool, etc.) to get it done.

In this this quick tip tutorial, I'll show you how to vectorize shapes based on a sketch with the help of layer opacity in Illustrator. I think it would work for any complex illustration, but today's tutorial is a bit different. This is because vectorizing always take intensive uses of Pen Tool so it's going to be better if  you see a short visual demonstration in a video for that. To get better view, I suggest you to see the videos tutorial in full screen mode.

Read More

Since I design logos quite often, this quick technique helps me a lot and I guess everyone can use it without hassle. Start to create new layer after you lock your sketch graphic layer. Then start to add vector shape with Ellipse or Rectangle Tool. Adjust the layer opacity to get transparent effect. Set it in your desired value, I'm convenient to have it in 15% layer opacity. In this way, you can freely drag the anchor's path handle with the reference of your locked layer sketch and have full visual control in this vectorizing process.




After you're done with one vector shape in its correlated layer, lock this layer and repeat the step for another part of the sketch that you wish to vectorize. Pathfinder Tool is handy enough to help you modify more than one vector shapes into single shape or any kinds of shapes that you wish to see.

Below is a quick demo that visually explains how to subtract two vector shapes area using 'Minus Front' pathfinder tool in Illustrator.

I hope you find this Illustrator tutorial useful and kindly share this thank you!

UPDATE:
The result from this quick vectorizing process is a new logo, which I call Apetive.












Related Post:

• Free Folder Menu Tabs
• How to create Vector Photoshop Brush
• 5 Fantasy Floral Photoshop Brushes
• How to Create a Ribbon Using Blend Effect in Illustrator
• How to create Swirly Curls in Illustrator

7 Design Related Video Tutorials

»» If you've missed so many resourceful articles or probably want to learn better about designing tips and tricks, then perhaps these video tutorials will help you ;)

Without further talks.. shall we see the round ups of 7 Design Video Tutorials:



Video Screencasts #47: CSS Shorthand

Read More

PhotoshopUser TV Episode 164




“Educating Clients to Say Yes” Presentation




Quick Tip #5 - Converting Anchor Points In Illustrator




jQuery for Absolute Beginners: Video Series




How to Create Glowing Elegant Lines




'KILLER' PHP Video Tutorials for Web Designers

»» Corel Draw Tutorials - Part 7

In this post we will discuss some of the Corel Draw Techniques, which will be very useful for all the Corel Draw beginners.

1. Designing 360 Degrees
"We need a circle with a 6 inch radius and we want marks around the edge of the circle at 1 degree increments that are labeled." Here's how it's done in CorelDRAW 9. Also shows you how to give it a 3D appearance with the EZ Metrics add-on.

2. Creating Complex Shapes
Learn how to combine basic shapes to create more complex shapes in CorelDraw 7 and up.

3. From CorelDRAW to the Web
Detailed information on converting your CorelDRAW illustrations to GIF images for the Web. Based on version 8.

4. Getting Rid of That Darned White Box
How to remove the rectangular background from bitmap images you'll be importing into CorelDRAW.

5. Removing the Background
How to remove the backgrounds from images in CorelDRAW and Photo-Paint for versions 5 and beyond.

6. Using a Matte Color In Transparent GIFs
"Using a matte color for a background will help blend the edges of anti-aliased objects when making transparent GIFs."

7. Web Export
Exporting from CorelDraw for the Web using Corel 4, 5 or 6.

»» Corel Draw Tutorials - Part 3

Here in this post we will see about some Corel Draw Tutorials....

1. Creating a Cracked Text Effect
This tutorial will demonstrate how you can create a Cracked Text effect. They used Corel DRAW! 8.0 for Windows for this technique. Some things may be done differently with other versions.

2. Creating Distressed Text
Distressed text can take on many shapes and sizes, obviously. However, most of the distressed text effects one sees are usually either various texture effects to text in bitmap applications or they're fonts that are already distressed.

3. Making a car look in motion
This effect is really nice, just check it out....

4. Gold Text Effect
Gold effect is superb, especially that shining effect...

»» Corel Draw Tutorials - Part 2

1. Deflate Soccer Ball
If you haven't already done so, you may want to read up on my soccer ball tutorial first. Once you have created your soccer ball you'll learn how to deflate it with this tutorial!

2. Add Perspective Shapes
Let us try Add Perspective command on shapes.

3. Monitor
CorelDraw this tutorial explains about, how making monitor with CorelDraw.

4. 3D Buttons
This tutorial will show you how to create 3D buttons in Corel DRAW! I used Corel DRAW! 7.0 for Windows. Some things may be done differently with other versions.

»» CSS Techniques - Part 2

1. CSS Tabs
Here we'll look at using CSS to build a tabbed display. One where the user can click on individual tabs to view different content within the same space.

2. Dock Menu
Check this Dock Menu, it is really cool and I used it in one of my college project website.

3. Star Rating using CSS
Here is the original CSS star rater in all of its goodness.


4. PNG Overlay
Another way to add flare to images (rounds the corners and adds a border and drop shadow).

»» Corel Draw Tutorials - Part 1

In this series we will see some useful tutorials for the Corel Draw...

1. Weld Effect in Corel Draw

2. Working out animations in Corel Draw will be really a nice experience, right? Just check out here to know how to do it..

3. Here check this out, to know about the creation of 3D text effect using Corel Draw...

»» Useful Tips for Effective Web Design

Here are some essential web design tips that every web site should follow. Design your web site by following these tips and I guarantee that visitors will have a great first impression of your site.

1. Fast Loading web site designs - This is the number 1 tip that every web designer should follow. You might design a web site that looks fantastic but few people are going to see it if it takes a long time to load. Your designs should be optimized for the web and should not take more than 15 seconds to load. Remember, you might have a great design but very few people are going to see it if it takes a long time to load.
2. Clear Navigation - Once a visitor has come to your site you need to make them go through your site. To do this you need to have clear navigation. Make sure all your important links are at prominent places. Preferably right on top - that's usually where a visitor first looks. Make use of menus on the right and the left. Try to link to as many pages of your site. Let your information be accessible from all parts of the site. You never know what a visitor may be interested in. Try to also use the footer for your important links.
   
3. All Resolutions - Today, there are computers with all kinds of resolution. They range from 640 x 480 to 1024 x 768 and go even higher. Your job is to design your site for all these resolutions. The best way to do this is to design your site in terms of percentage and not pixels.
   
4. Browser Compatibility - Make sure your site is browser compatible. Your web site should look good in Netscape as well as in Internet Explorer. Don't stop designing your site as soon as you find that it looks great on IE. Usually Netscape gives some problems, especially when you try doing complicated HTML designs. But don't give up too soon, usually with patience these problems can be easily fixed.
   
5. Readable and professional looking fonts - Don't ask me how many times I've clicked out of a site just because the font is in Comic Sans and the color is a bright pink or green. Just by looking at the font you feel that the site is not a professional site. Don't use Comic Sans and other fancy fonts that may not be available on most computers. If the font you use is not available in a visitors computer the web site will use the default font of your computer which is much worse. So try to keep to common and professional web fonts. The fonts that I always stick to are Arial and Verdana.
   
6. Minimize the use of images - I believe that sometimes simple designs are the most effective for the web. Keep your site simple but neat. Don't clutter your page with big, bulky images that take ages to load. Instead use tables creatively and design eye - catching icons that will draw a visitor's attention to a particular section of your site. Tip - Visitors are usually more interested in content than in design.
   
7. Use of white space - Try not to clutter up your page with too many images, backgrounds and colorful fonts. Again use the Keep It Simple principle by minimizing the use of graphics and using a lot of white space. White space gives a sense of spaciousness and overall neatness to a site. Notice the white space in our site.
   
8. Check for broken links - Always check for broken links within a site before uploading it to your web server. In Dreamweaver you can check for broken links by right clicking on any file in the Site Files Window and then clicking on Check links - Entire Site. If you don't have this facility you need to upload your site and then check it using online tools like Net Mechanic.

»» Website Navigation Tips

Website navigation is the most important aspect to consider while designing a website. The primary aim for effective navigation is get your visitors to stay in you site and also for visitors to easily find what they are looking for easily and quickly. Designing effective navigation can also entice your visitors to try out the other things you offer on your site. In this article we will look at some of the basic guidelines you need to follow while designing the navigation of a website.

Effective Navigation Guidelines

While designing the navigation for your site keep the following points in mind:

• Organized Links
  Make sure your links are well organized according to the order of importance. Visitors should be easily able to find what they are looking for under different categories.
  E.g. All our main links are found on the top i.e. our services, products,portfolio, resources etc.Other interesting links are found on the right of the page. These are common and consistent throughout the site.
  Finally if the web page belongs to a guide E.g web design guide you will find the related links below the right menu and also at the bottom of the page.
  
  Note: Related links are very important as visitors coming to a particular page will probably be interested in more information you have under the same topic.
  
  
• Clear and Prominent
  Once you have decided on your navigation links, you need to think of the best place to put them. Navigation should be clear and consistent. Try to design your navigation on the top or on the left as these are the first places our eyes go to. Also locate the primary links high enough on the page so that they are visible without scrolling. Navigation images should be seamlessly integrated into the site design. Avoid putting navigation links at the bottom of the page as visitors will need to scroll right down to see the links. If you like you could put the important links at the top AND bottom of the page just to make sure your visitors don't miss the link.
  
  
• Consistent
  Navigation should be clear and consistent. The important links of your website should be on every page, in the same location, and in the same sequence. Don't confuse your visitors by putting your navigation links in different places in different pages.
  
  
• Easy to understand
  Make your links easy to understand and to the point. Usually you won't have enough place to have long links so make use of the space wisely. Visitors need to know where they will go on clicking on a particular link, so make sure your links are understandable or nobody is going to click on your links, which will defeat the purpose of designing a good navigation system.
  
  
• DHTML Menus
  If you have a large number of links under categories and sub-categories you could use navigation menus to organize your links. There are many cut 'n' paste scripts available on the Net that you could use to create great navigation systems.
  

Keeping these basic points in mind you can go ahead and design an effective navigation system for your site. Another good idea would be to use eye-catching visuals and small chunks of information to draw visitors to click on a link.

»» Creating Fading Light Vectors in Fireworks - Part 3

Continuation of Part 2......

Step 10

Be creative and apply this effects with different colors, combinations, and forms. The secret is to make the forms and then change colors. Continue to create groups with 3 or more parts, and use the Twist and Fade Effect. You can also modify the color using Hue/Saturation.

After you created the dynamic parts of this design with the Twist and Fade effect, adjust the inside. Put some groups within others, use your imagination and invent.

Step 11

Let's add the details now. Create one white circle, as in the image below. Select the circle, and go to Filters > Blur > Gaussian Blur. Then configure as show in the image below or as you prefer.

Step 12

Select the result and go to Modify> Flatten Selection. Duplicate it and make a free transformation with the Scale Tool (Q).

Step 13

Select all the parts and go to Commands > Creative > Twist and fade

Tip: When you use the Twist and Fade effect get another group with 3 or more elements, and again use the same effect. Make sure to do it again with another small group. This way you'll have many parts. Also, you'll be able to put it in different places with various sizes.

Step 14

Now it's simple, get all the parts and make combinations over the image. Be creative and combine the shapes and colors dynamically.

Tip: Use your imagination, create another group of 3 vectors, select it, and do the effect Twist and Fade repeatedly until you're satisfied with the result.

Conclusion

Apply more colors and elements, use the opacity if you like. Change the colors with Hue/Saturation. Then apply the Twist and fade effect again.

Tip: This is a simple effect, but the secret is how you apply it. So use your creativity and be happy!

I hope that you all enjoy this a lot. Try this out....

»» Creating Fading Light Vectors in Fireworks - Part 2

Continuation of Part 1.....

Step 5

Create a circle vector and do the same actions as in the previous step. Then change to Linear with the same color and configurations. Then go to Modify > Flatten Selection. Copy the result 3 or more times, and make a free transformation with the Scale Tool (Q).

Step 6

Now for the secret, you don't need to do one vector for each color you'll use. It's just to change the color with Hue/Saturation. Go to Filters > Adjust Color/Hue/Saturation. Then configuring the effect, as in the image below, or as you prefer.

Tip: Use different colors and discover different applications for this same effect. Use your creativity and imagination.

Step 7

Ok, you've changed the color of the circle. Let's do it with all the vectors now. It's the same, only change the color configurations of the Hue/Saturation effect. Look at the final image of this step. You'll have all the vectors with different colors, but don't forget to leave one of these shapes with the white color.

Step 8

Get each kind of form you've created, and make 3 or more copies. Then make free transformations with the Scale Tool (Q). Select all the parts and go to Commands > Creative > Twist and fade. Apply the configurations as in the image below, or as you prefer.

Tip: Don't worry if your results are different, as this is a random way to generate forms. It's hard to do the same twice.

Step 9

All right, select all the vectors you've created. Then make different combinations of different groups with various sizes and colors. Then select all the parts and go to Commands > Creative >Twist and fade.

Tip: Use your imagination, create another group of 3 vectors, select it, and do the effect Twist and Fade multiple times until you're satisfied with the results.

To be continued in Part 3.....