Now that Illustrator CS3 and the rest of the Adobe CS3 apps have been announced, I'm taking some time off and taking the family out to Southern California for the Passover holiday. Since the wife, the kids, and the beach (in that order) will be my priority, I'll be stepping away from the blog for two weeks. When I return mid-April, we'll talk more about CS3, and hopefully we'll have some nice surprises as well.
As a side note, Opening Day is this Sunday, with the Mets facing the Cardinals. It's a whole new year. Lets Go Mets!
A blog about Adobe Illustrator and design in general
March 30, 2007
March 27, 2007
Yay! Illustrator CS3 revealed!
The long wait is over! Illustrator CS3 -- and a massive list of other Adobe CS3 applications -- are all out in the open.
Want to find out about the new features in Illustrator CS3? Watch the latest episode of the Real World Illustrator podcast!
Want to find out about the new features in InDesign CS3? Head over to InDesign Secrets. Well, I guess it isn't much of a secret anymore, is it? :)
Of course, there's plenty to read at Adobe.com as well.
There's obviously tons to talk about, so leave comments here letting me know what specifically you want to know most about, and we'll talk...
Want to find out about the new features in Illustrator CS3? Watch the latest episode of the Real World Illustrator podcast!
Want to find out about the new features in InDesign CS3? Head over to InDesign Secrets. Well, I guess it isn't much of a secret anymore, is it? :)
Of course, there's plenty to read at Adobe.com as well.
There's obviously tons to talk about, so leave comments here letting me know what specifically you want to know most about, and we'll talk...
Real World Illustrator Podcast - Illustrator CS3 Overview
Jason is ALIVE! An overview of the new features in Adobe Illustrator CS3. Live Color, Color Guide, Vector Eraser tool, Crop Area tool, Flash CS3 integration, native Intel-Mac support, new user interface, new document profiles, deviceN support, etc.
- Video Podcast
Illustrator CS3 features cool experimental technology
There are two features present in Illustrator CS3 which are actually experimental projects from Adobe Labs. In fact, the first time you opt to use these features (which are located in a new special Adobe Labs submenu), you’re presented with a dialog reminding you that the technology is only experimental (read: beta). The best part of these two features is that they can extend Illustrator’s reach out onto the web.
A hook into Adobe’s kuler
The first feature is a kuler panel that allows you to see RSS-feeds from kuler directly from within Illustrator. Not only can you search kuler and get live results, you can instantly convert a kuler palette of colors into one of Illustrator CS3’s new color groups within the Swatches panel.
A new way to get help
Finding help while you’re using Illustrator (or any application for that matter) has always been a challenge. The new knowhow panel in Illustrator CS3 is context sensitive and provides helpful feedback for the tool or function you’re currently using as you work in Illustrator. You can get a list of all shortcuts that can be used with your selected tool…
...and you can also use knowhow to search Adobe’s help for how to use the tool, and even better, you can search the web for tutorials or articles that talk about that tool. That’s right! You can choose a tool in Illustrator, click on a link in the knowhow panel, and be directed to resources – like the Real World Illustrator blog!
As this is an Adobe Labs project, you can be sure we’ll be seeing other apps getting this functionality in future versions.
A hook into Adobe’s kuler
The first feature is a kuler panel that allows you to see RSS-feeds from kuler directly from within Illustrator. Not only can you search kuler and get live results, you can instantly convert a kuler palette of colors into one of Illustrator CS3’s new color groups within the Swatches panel.
A new way to get help
Finding help while you’re using Illustrator (or any application for that matter) has always been a challenge. The new knowhow panel in Illustrator CS3 is context sensitive and provides helpful feedback for the tool or function you’re currently using as you work in Illustrator. You can get a list of all shortcuts that can be used with your selected tool…
...and you can also use knowhow to search Adobe’s help for how to use the tool, and even better, you can search the web for tutorials or articles that talk about that tool. That’s right! You can choose a tool in Illustrator, click on a link in the knowhow panel, and be directed to resources – like the Real World Illustrator blog!
As this is an Adobe Labs project, you can be sure we’ll be seeing other apps getting this functionality in future versions.
March 26, 2007
New kuler Upgrade and Dashboard Widget
kuler, Adobe's Flash-based RIA (Rich Internet Application), received an upgrade today. Not only is it faster and more responsive, you can now subscribe to RSS feeds for Popular, Highest Rated, and Newest colors. Why are RSS subscriptions so exciting for kuler? Because Adobe has also released a Kuler Dashboard Widget for Mac OS X users.
Of course, it would totally cool if I could also subscribe to that RSS feed directly from within Illustrator, wouldn't it? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........
The best part of the new kuler update is that they've added tutorials on how to use it. So if you haven't already done so, head over to the new kuler now...
... and then check back here much later tonight with a beverage of your choice in hand and a pad and paper to take notes... :)
Of course, it would totally cool if I could also subscribe to that RSS feed directly from within Illustrator, wouldn't it? Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm........
The best part of the new kuler update is that they've added tutorials on how to use it. So if you haven't already done so, head over to the new kuler now...
... and then check back here much later tonight with a beverage of your choice in hand and a pad and paper to take notes... :)
March 25, 2007
Combining Graph Types
I got a call from my good friend Sandee Cohen (aka vectorbabe) late Friday and our conversation revolved around the topic of graphs in Illustrator. At one point, Sandee had mentioned that she was working with a client who often compared two sets of data using two different graph types -- the result looked as if you had overlayed one graph directly upon another. This can be done in Excel, but Sandee wondered if that could be done in Illustrator as well. My response was "Yes! Illustrator can do that..." and rather than describe to Sandee how it's done, I promised her I'd post it up here on my blog so that everyone else can benefit from it as well...
It's that time of year, and I'm deciding who to draft for my baseball fantasy team. So of course, I've got baseball stats on my mind. And I wondered if it might be interesting to compare the number of home runs a player hits over the course of many seasons to the number of strikeouts that players has had over the same period of time. It might be interesting to see if there's a trend (for example, as home runs go up, do strikeouts also go up, etc.).
So here are the steps I took to create a chart that compared this data -- using Illustrator's Graph tool.
1. I needed some data on a player, and I picked an easy target -- Barry Bonds. After all, he's been playing for 20 years, has plenty of home runs, and isn't known to strike out very often. It's amazing what you can find on the internet. With the help of Google, not ten seconds passed before I accessed the career stats for Barry -- and I quickly entered the information into an Excel spreadsheet. I should note that using Excel isn't necessary -- I could input data directly into Illustrator, but I added it to Excel for a variety of reasons. First, I'd like to use this data later and it would be nice to have the file handy. Second, most people get data sent to them in Excel format, so this tutorial would be more "complete" this way. And third, I wanted to point out something important about how you format data that will be used in Illustrator.
I wanted to list all the years Barry has been playing, which runs from 1986 through 2006. But Illustrator looks at the numbers 1986, 1987, etc. as actual data numbers, not years. If you want a number to be perceived as a value in Illustrator (and not a data point), you must enclose that number in quotation marks, as you can see below.
2. I copied the data from Excel and then switched to Illustrator, and created a new document.
3. I selected the Column Graph tool and dragged out a wide rectangle. This action defined the area for the graph and brought up the Graph Data window. I then chose Edit > Paste to bring the data from Excel into my graph's data window, which looked like this:
Again, it's important to emphasize that I had to place quotation marks around the years, or Illustrator would have charted those numbers as data points.
4. I applied the data to my graph by clicking on the checkmark icon in the Graph Data window (upper right corner). I then closed the Graph Data window. My resulting graph appeared as so:
I know, the graph doesn't look very charming, and because there are so many years, the labels across the bottom of the graph are all overlapping each other. Don't worry -- we'll make everything look fabulous soon enough. Which by the way, is one of the reasons why it's NEVER a good idea to have a client sit with you while you work (I can just hear them saying "but I don't WANT the chart to be colored gray...").
5. OK, so the first order of business is to use a different type of chart to show the different sets of data. I like the column format for the number of strikeouts, but it would be totally cool if I could display the home runs as a line graph, so it would be easier to track them. Using the Group Selection tool, I clicked TWICE on the rectangle next to the word Home Runs in the LEGEND of the chart.
6. At this point, all of the values for the Home Runs in my chart are selected. I then double-clicked on the Graph tool in the Tools palette (toolbar, toolbox, whatever you call it). This action brings up the Graph Type dialog box.
7. Since I wanted to display the Home Runs as a line, I selected the Line option in the Graph Type dialog, and clicked OK. The chart now updated to display the Home Runs as a line graph, while keeping the Strikouts as a column graph. The result looked like this:
8. Now that the data and the graph types were complete, I was able to make the graph look "pretty". I used colors to differentiate the years that Barry was on the Pirates (yellow bars) and on the Giants (orange bars), I adjusted the type to look nice, changed the color of the line, and added a drop shadow to the line as well. The final graph looked like this:
Looking at the final chart, one can quickly see that as of 1999, Barry has had significantly fewer strikeouts compared to his hitting more home runs. I would argue that the number of walks have also increased during those years, which would have an effect on that, and maybe adding walks to the graph would help visualize that as well -- consider that homework for my dedicated readers...
So there you have it -- a single chart with different graph types displaying different data points. If you need to edit the data, you can simply edit that one chart, and everything will update nicely. Even the formatting will remain intact, as the final graph was never ungrouped.
Thanks for the request Sandee!
It's that time of year, and I'm deciding who to draft for my baseball fantasy team. So of course, I've got baseball stats on my mind. And I wondered if it might be interesting to compare the number of home runs a player hits over the course of many seasons to the number of strikeouts that players has had over the same period of time. It might be interesting to see if there's a trend (for example, as home runs go up, do strikeouts also go up, etc.).
So here are the steps I took to create a chart that compared this data -- using Illustrator's Graph tool.
1. I needed some data on a player, and I picked an easy target -- Barry Bonds. After all, he's been playing for 20 years, has plenty of home runs, and isn't known to strike out very often. It's amazing what you can find on the internet. With the help of Google, not ten seconds passed before I accessed the career stats for Barry -- and I quickly entered the information into an Excel spreadsheet. I should note that using Excel isn't necessary -- I could input data directly into Illustrator, but I added it to Excel for a variety of reasons. First, I'd like to use this data later and it would be nice to have the file handy. Second, most people get data sent to them in Excel format, so this tutorial would be more "complete" this way. And third, I wanted to point out something important about how you format data that will be used in Illustrator.
I wanted to list all the years Barry has been playing, which runs from 1986 through 2006. But Illustrator looks at the numbers 1986, 1987, etc. as actual data numbers, not years. If you want a number to be perceived as a value in Illustrator (and not a data point), you must enclose that number in quotation marks, as you can see below.
2. I copied the data from Excel and then switched to Illustrator, and created a new document.
3. I selected the Column Graph tool and dragged out a wide rectangle. This action defined the area for the graph and brought up the Graph Data window. I then chose Edit > Paste to bring the data from Excel into my graph's data window, which looked like this:
Again, it's important to emphasize that I had to place quotation marks around the years, or Illustrator would have charted those numbers as data points.
4. I applied the data to my graph by clicking on the checkmark icon in the Graph Data window (upper right corner). I then closed the Graph Data window. My resulting graph appeared as so:
I know, the graph doesn't look very charming, and because there are so many years, the labels across the bottom of the graph are all overlapping each other. Don't worry -- we'll make everything look fabulous soon enough. Which by the way, is one of the reasons why it's NEVER a good idea to have a client sit with you while you work (I can just hear them saying "but I don't WANT the chart to be colored gray...").
5. OK, so the first order of business is to use a different type of chart to show the different sets of data. I like the column format for the number of strikeouts, but it would be totally cool if I could display the home runs as a line graph, so it would be easier to track them. Using the Group Selection tool, I clicked TWICE on the rectangle next to the word Home Runs in the LEGEND of the chart.
6. At this point, all of the values for the Home Runs in my chart are selected. I then double-clicked on the Graph tool in the Tools palette (toolbar, toolbox, whatever you call it). This action brings up the Graph Type dialog box.
7. Since I wanted to display the Home Runs as a line, I selected the Line option in the Graph Type dialog, and clicked OK. The chart now updated to display the Home Runs as a line graph, while keeping the Strikouts as a column graph. The result looked like this:
8. Now that the data and the graph types were complete, I was able to make the graph look "pretty". I used colors to differentiate the years that Barry was on the Pirates (yellow bars) and on the Giants (orange bars), I adjusted the type to look nice, changed the color of the line, and added a drop shadow to the line as well. The final graph looked like this:
Looking at the final chart, one can quickly see that as of 1999, Barry has had significantly fewer strikeouts compared to his hitting more home runs. I would argue that the number of walks have also increased during those years, which would have an effect on that, and maybe adding walks to the graph would help visualize that as well -- consider that homework for my dedicated readers...
So there you have it -- a single chart with different graph types displaying different data points. If you need to edit the data, you can simply edit that one chart, and everything will update nicely. Even the formatting will remain intact, as the final graph was never ungrouped.
Thanks for the request Sandee!
March 20, 2007
7 days of waiting
Almost two years ago, April 4, 2005, Adobe announced Adobe Creative Suite 2. We learned of features like Vanishing Point in Photoshop, Snippets in InDesign, and Live Trace in Illustrator.
In our little design world that we live in, a lot has happened since then, including Apple's move to Intel-based hardware, Microsoft's release of Vista, and Adobe's acquisition of Macromedia.
Now, two years later, Adobe is about to pull the cover off of their newest offering: Creative Suite 3. With March 27 just seven days away, the wait is almost over. Almost...
In our little design world that we live in, a lot has happened since then, including Apple's move to Intel-based hardware, Microsoft's release of Vista, and Adobe's acquisition of Macromedia.
Now, two years later, Adobe is about to pull the cover off of their newest offering: Creative Suite 3. With March 27 just seven days away, the wait is almost over. Almost...
March 19, 2007
FreeHand Keyboard Shortcuts for Illustrator CS2
Most applications have the ability to redefine keyboard shortcuts. Meaning, if there's a certain feature that you use often, but there's no keyboard shortcut for it, you can very easily choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts (in AI, PS and ID for example), and assign one for that feature. In fact, if you scroll towards the bottom of the list of Menu Commands, you'll find that you can even assign keyboard shortcuts to some items that don't appear in menus at all.
And since it might be bad to mess up your keyboard shortcuts, you have the ability to save your own customized sets of keyboard shortcuts. In fact, InDesign ships with a keyboard shortcut set for QuarkXPress users. If you've just made the switch to InDesign and you are still used to all of the Quark shortcuts, you can switch to the keyboard shortcut set for Quark. This way, all of your familiar Quark shortcuts work in InDesign.
My personal opinion is that if you also use other Adobe apps, using a Quark set of shortcuts in InDesign isn't that much of a help in the long term. However, I do see value in the short term, when users first make the switch, to use familiar shortcuts as a "crutch" to prevent frustration and to help build familiarity in the new application. When I made the switch from Quark to InDesign, I used the Quark shortcuts for several days before I abandoned them for the (mostly) consistent set of shortcuts across all Adobe applications.
But I always did wonder why Adobe never supplied a FreeHand set of shortcuts for Illustrator. I made the switch from FreeHand to Illustrator way before Illustrator had the ability to assign custom keyboard shortcuts. But I know that at the time that I made the move, it would have helped to have that crutch to lean on.
So with that in mind, I've gone ahead and created a FreeHand MX set of shortcuts that you can load into Illustrator CS2. If you're a FreeHand user who recently made the transition to Illustrator (or if you're currently evaluating Illustrator CS2), feel free to download this file.
Once you've downloaded and unzipped the file, drop the file into the following folder on your computer (the file is cross-platform):
Windows:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS2 Settings
Mac OS X:
username > Library > Preferences > Adobe Illustrator CS2 Settings
Then relaunch Illustrator, choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts and choose FreeHand MX from the Set pop-up menu.
And since it might be bad to mess up your keyboard shortcuts, you have the ability to save your own customized sets of keyboard shortcuts. In fact, InDesign ships with a keyboard shortcut set for QuarkXPress users. If you've just made the switch to InDesign and you are still used to all of the Quark shortcuts, you can switch to the keyboard shortcut set for Quark. This way, all of your familiar Quark shortcuts work in InDesign.
My personal opinion is that if you also use other Adobe apps, using a Quark set of shortcuts in InDesign isn't that much of a help in the long term. However, I do see value in the short term, when users first make the switch, to use familiar shortcuts as a "crutch" to prevent frustration and to help build familiarity in the new application. When I made the switch from Quark to InDesign, I used the Quark shortcuts for several days before I abandoned them for the (mostly) consistent set of shortcuts across all Adobe applications.
But I always did wonder why Adobe never supplied a FreeHand set of shortcuts for Illustrator. I made the switch from FreeHand to Illustrator way before Illustrator had the ability to assign custom keyboard shortcuts. But I know that at the time that I made the move, it would have helped to have that crutch to lean on.
So with that in mind, I've gone ahead and created a FreeHand MX set of shortcuts that you can load into Illustrator CS2. If you're a FreeHand user who recently made the transition to Illustrator (or if you're currently evaluating Illustrator CS2), feel free to download this file.
Once you've downloaded and unzipped the file, drop the file into the following folder on your computer (the file is cross-platform):
Windows:
C:\Documents and Settings\username\Application Data\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator CS2 Settings
Mac OS X:
username > Library > Preferences > Adobe Illustrator CS2 Settings
Then relaunch Illustrator, choose Edit > Keyboard Shortcuts and choose FreeHand MX from the Set pop-up menu.
March 13, 2007
Yay! Mac OS X v. 10.4.9 fixes nasty Illustrator CS2 issues
Apple released Mac OS X v. 10.4.9 today -- a free update to the Tiger OS.
If you're using Illustrator CS2 on an Intel-based Mac, you've no doubt experienced grief, much of which has been noted in the comments of this post.
If so, make sure you download and install 10.4.9. According to my own personal tests on an Intel-based MacBook Pro, upgrading to 10.4.9 fixes the Pathfinder crash issue and also makes all of my zeros appear correct (not as -0).
I have no idea if 10.4.9 introduce any other issues at this time. But at least we have something to keep us sane until CS3 comes rolling around...
If you're using Illustrator CS2 on an Intel-based Mac, you've no doubt experienced grief, much of which has been noted in the comments of this post.
If so, make sure you download and install 10.4.9. According to my own personal tests on an Intel-based MacBook Pro, upgrading to 10.4.9 fixes the Pathfinder crash issue and also makes all of my zeros appear correct (not as -0).
I have no idea if 10.4.9 introduce any other issues at this time. But at least we have something to keep us sane until CS3 comes rolling around...
ASK MORDY: In Pursuit of Snappyness
This question comes from Jacob Brunny:
Alot of times I create guides and will drag over boxes or whatever to fit to them and it looks good from like 100% or something like that, then when I zoom in closer I see that they are actually not right up to the guide but off by a small amount, it seems Illustrator never gets them perfect except if you are zoomed in alot?
SIGH. In reality, this has been a personal frustration of mine for many many many years. I touched on this issue here but the upshot is that Illustrator doesn't snap object geometry. Rather, Illustrator snaps cursor position.
Go ahead and try it. Draw a guide. Then draw a rectangle and fill it with a color. The click anywhere in the fill area of the rectangle (not on the path), and drag it towards the guide. The edge of the rectangle will not snap to the guide. Keep dragging until your cursor touches the guide -- and you'll see that the cursor itself does snap to the guide.
So where you click on an object makes a difference on how that object snaps. If you click on an anchor, it appears that anchor snaps to another anchor when you drag it, but remember that it's the cursor position, not the anchor. Since when you zoom in really close, it's easier to mouse down on the anchor or the area you're looking to snap, it appears as though Illustrator is more accurate when you're zoomed in that close.
In InDesign, object boundaries DO snap to guides. You can grab a picture frame anywhere and drag it -- and you'll see the boundary of the frame snap to guides.
Because a typical Illustrator document contains many more objects than an InDesign one does, one might think that having objects snap in Illustrator might not be wanted. But at the same time, I'm not happy with the current implementation either. So instead, we struggle with this every day.
Alot of times I create guides and will drag over boxes or whatever to fit to them and it looks good from like 100% or something like that, then when I zoom in closer I see that they are actually not right up to the guide but off by a small amount, it seems Illustrator never gets them perfect except if you are zoomed in alot?
SIGH. In reality, this has been a personal frustration of mine for many many many years. I touched on this issue here but the upshot is that Illustrator doesn't snap object geometry. Rather, Illustrator snaps cursor position.
Go ahead and try it. Draw a guide. Then draw a rectangle and fill it with a color. The click anywhere in the fill area of the rectangle (not on the path), and drag it towards the guide. The edge of the rectangle will not snap to the guide. Keep dragging until your cursor touches the guide -- and you'll see that the cursor itself does snap to the guide.
So where you click on an object makes a difference on how that object snaps. If you click on an anchor, it appears that anchor snaps to another anchor when you drag it, but remember that it's the cursor position, not the anchor. Since when you zoom in really close, it's easier to mouse down on the anchor or the area you're looking to snap, it appears as though Illustrator is more accurate when you're zoomed in that close.
In InDesign, object boundaries DO snap to guides. You can grab a picture frame anywhere and drag it -- and you'll see the boundary of the frame snap to guides.
Because a typical Illustrator document contains many more objects than an InDesign one does, one might think that having objects snap in Illustrator might not be wanted. But at the same time, I'm not happy with the current implementation either. So instead, we struggle with this every day.
March 8, 2007
Adobe extends Photoshop
Well, it seems the announcements are coming fast and furious these days -- as we march closer and closer to the March 27th Creative Suite 3 launch date.
First, Adobe has offered this link where you'll be able to watch the webcast of the announcement in New York. I've been invited to attend the event in person, so I'll try to wave to all of you watching online :)
Second, Adobe has announced that they will be releasing two versions of Photoshop: Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended. The Photoshop CS3 product will pretty much be the version you've already seen since the beta was released late last year. The Extended version will basically add features that are needed specifically in the area of 3D, Video, and Science and Engineering/Analysis. More detail can be found at these links:
- John Nack's blog
- More info from Adobe
- Adobe Press Release
First, Adobe has offered this link where you'll be able to watch the webcast of the announcement in New York. I've been invited to attend the event in person, so I'll try to wave to all of you watching online :)
Second, Adobe has announced that they will be releasing two versions of Photoshop: Photoshop CS3 and Photoshop CS3 Extended. The Photoshop CS3 product will pretty much be the version you've already seen since the beta was released late last year. The Extended version will basically add features that are needed specifically in the area of 3D, Video, and Science and Engineering/Analysis. More detail can be found at these links:
- John Nack's blog
- More info from Adobe
- Adobe Press Release
March 7, 2007
To anti-alias or not to anti-alias? That is the (blurry) question...
I found this question posted on the Illustrator World forums and thought it would be cool to share a tip along with some helpful information.
I have an image with a brown rectangle for the background, a lake on top of that, and then some text. I would like the rectangle to have anti-aliasing turned off and keep anti-aliasing turned on for the text. The issue is, when I post the rectangle up on a website with a brown background, the rectangle's border has some anti-aliasing to it, creating a white border around the image.
I understand I can turn off anti-aliasing for the entire document by unchecking Anti-Aliased Artwork in general preferences, but this also turns it off for the text.
Is it possible to turn anti-aliasing off for the rectangle only? Right now my only solution is to copy the image to photoshop and crop the image inside the border. (I tried creating a clipping mask in illustrator, but the the anti-aliased border moves to wherever the clipping mask is).
First, the anti-aliased artwork setting in preferences applies only to how Illustrator displays graphic on your artboard in Preview mode. It doesn't effect how graphics are exported in Save for Web (or any other method). Although theoretically, you could disable anti-aliasing and take a screenshot of your artboard in Illustrator and then open the screenshot in Photoshop... but that would only be a useful method when you're being paid by the hour.
Secondly, there is indeed a way to turn off anti-aliasing on a per-object basis. Select your object and choose Effect > Rasterize. In the Rasterize dialog box, set anti-aliasing to none. Since the effect is a live effect, the object is still completely editable as vector art, yet it appears as though it has been rasterized without anti-aliasing. And it will export just as you see it on your screen (of course, you'll want to always use Pixel Preview mode when working with web graphics).
This tip is also especially useful for when you want text NOT to be anti-aliased. At small point sizes, and with certain typefaces, anti-aliased text appears too blurry to read. Rather than have text that no one can read, turning off anti-aliasing for such type objects will result in text that will remain editable in Illustrator (due to the live effect), but that will appear legible when viewed on the web.
I have an image with a brown rectangle for the background, a lake on top of that, and then some text. I would like the rectangle to have anti-aliasing turned off and keep anti-aliasing turned on for the text. The issue is, when I post the rectangle up on a website with a brown background, the rectangle's border has some anti-aliasing to it, creating a white border around the image.
I understand I can turn off anti-aliasing for the entire document by unchecking Anti-Aliased Artwork in general preferences, but this also turns it off for the text.
Is it possible to turn anti-aliasing off for the rectangle only? Right now my only solution is to copy the image to photoshop and crop the image inside the border. (I tried creating a clipping mask in illustrator, but the the anti-aliased border moves to wherever the clipping mask is).
First, the anti-aliased artwork setting in preferences applies only to how Illustrator displays graphic on your artboard in Preview mode. It doesn't effect how graphics are exported in Save for Web (or any other method). Although theoretically, you could disable anti-aliasing and take a screenshot of your artboard in Illustrator and then open the screenshot in Photoshop... but that would only be a useful method when you're being paid by the hour.
Secondly, there is indeed a way to turn off anti-aliasing on a per-object basis. Select your object and choose Effect > Rasterize. In the Rasterize dialog box, set anti-aliasing to none. Since the effect is a live effect, the object is still completely editable as vector art, yet it appears as though it has been rasterized without anti-aliasing. And it will export just as you see it on your screen (of course, you'll want to always use Pixel Preview mode when working with web graphics).
This tip is also especially useful for when you want text NOT to be anti-aliased. At small point sizes, and with certain typefaces, anti-aliased text appears too blurry to read. Rather than have text that no one can read, turning off anti-aliasing for such type objects will result in text that will remain editable in Illustrator (due to the live effect), but that will appear legible when viewed on the web.
March 5, 2007
What's in the Box?
Found this link this morning from Adobe UK.
UPDATE: Turns out that Adobe will be announcing Adobe Creative Suite 3 on March 27th, 2007! How exciting!
Of course, I can't wait to share lots of cool stuff with all of you (more than just about Illustrator too). Let's block off that afternoon, shall we? Oh, and I apologize in advance if my posts are scarce until then. I'm sure you'll all understand... and I'm sure I'll find a way to make it up to you ;)
UPDATE: Turns out that Adobe will be announcing Adobe Creative Suite 3 on March 27th, 2007! How exciting!
Of course, I can't wait to share lots of cool stuff with all of you (more than just about Illustrator too). Let's block off that afternoon, shall we? Oh, and I apologize in advance if my posts are scarce until then. I'm sure you'll all understand... and I'm sure I'll find a way to make it up to you ;)
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