Adobe Illustrator Techniques That Will Make Your Life Easier

Let's face it, we all want to be able to create something amazing, but not spend a bajillion hours in the process. Illustrator has some really cool features that aren't so noticeable to the newcomer. Here are some shortcuts and techniques that are sure to win you over.

1. CTRL + D

Confession time. Once I found out this amazing shortcut key, I have never stopped using it since. It is definitely my favorite!

Basically, CTRL + D repeats the last step that you took. So, for example, if you created a shape and then copied it to the right, CTRL + D would then repeat you copying and moving your shape. You'd have to copy and move the shape at the same time of course. Here's an example:

 

Still not convinced this is cool enough for you? Ever wondered how to make a complex shape fit around a perfect circle? CTRL + D is a really great method for this. In the future I will make a tutorial on how to do the perfect circle, but for now, here is a shape that has been put into a perfect circle using the CTRL + D shortcut.

2. The Arrow Keys and CTRL Key

If you are looking to make your own custom starburst shape or you need that perfect swirl, then what you need are the arrow keys and the good ol' CTRL key on your keyboard. (And sometimes some chocolates to munch on can give you a little boost.)

First, grab the star tool and begin drawing your star, but don't let go of the mouse button! While you are drawing the shape, hit either the up arrow or the down arrow on your keyboard. The up arrow will increase the amount of points your star has. The down arrow will decrease the amount of points your star has.

Once you have the amount of points you want, you can now hold down the CTRL key on the keyboard and move your mouse closer to the center of your shape or farther away from the center. Doing so will either make your points more pointy or less pointy.

NOW you can let go of your mouse button. You'll need to make sure you are holding it the entire time you are making these adjustments.

You can do this same thing with the Spiral Tool, except instead of creating points, you are creating more spirals.

3. New Pattern Brush

You are probably like....New Pattern Brush? How in the world is that going to help me? Well, if you know Illustrator well then you will know that a new brush can change the way your strokes look.

Let's visualize this. You've drawn out a complicated shape with the pencil tool.

Of course it's pretty boring as is and you want it to look like a chain or maybe a rope. How in the heck are you doing to do that without it taking a month to do? This is where the New Brush comes in handy. Listen carefully!

Draw out the pattern that you would like to use for your stroke. Here's mine:

Select your pattern and create a New Brush. The New Brush icon is under the Brushes window. Select "New Pattern Brush" and hit OK.

The Pattern Brush Options will open up. You don't need to touch anything other than the Fit area. Make sure "Approximate path" is selected so that your pattern doesn't look all weird after you have created it. You can test the others out if you'd like to see what happens.

Hit OK. You're almost done! You should notice your pattern is now in the Brushes window. Select your stroked shape and then click on the pattern you'd like to replace the stroke with. Here's mine!

4. MadPattern Templates

Okay, so this isn't so much of a technique as it is a huge help to those of you who want to create some amazing seamless patterns.

MadPattern Templates are templates made specifically for Illustrator to make it easy for you to create your own seamless patterns. Go to www.madpattern.com and download the templates. They're free!

There are instructions inside each template on what to do. If anyone would like me to write a visual tutorial on this, I'd be happy to. But I'm not feeling too much motivation right now unless it's really wanted or needed. (Yeah, we can all be a little lazy sometimes, right?)

I really hope these 4 techniques help make your Illustrator experience much easier.

Creating Zig-Zag Borders in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator

Want some Zig with that Zag?

Creating zig-zag borders in Photoshop isn't as hard as you would think! Just invite your friendly neighbor Illustrator to join in on the fun and it's super cinchy.

Extra Tip: Sometimes some good ol' Trololol will help make the zig-zag design process even quicker. ;)

Step 1: Create multiple triangle shapes side by side

Load up Illustrator and, using the Polygon Tool, draw a simple triangle in any color of your choice. Simply click once on the artboard and choose 3 sides or begin drawing your polygon shape and use the down arrow on your keyboard to give it less sides.

Copy your shape by holding down the ALT key and dragging your shape to either the left or right. If you have Smart Guides turned on, it will make it easier to line your shape up without much effort.

Now press and hold CTRL + D until you have as many triangles as you want. CTRL + D will duplicate the last step you made in Illustrator. If you don't want your zig-zag to be as pronounced, you can select all of your triangles and shrink them vertically.

Step 2: Copy your zig-zag and paste into Photoshop as a shape

Select all of the triangles in Illustrator and copy them to your clipboard. Pressing CTRL + C is the easiest and quickest way to copy the shape to your clipboard.

Open Photoshop and paste the zig-zag as a Shape. After your shape is pasted, you can even make it into a custom shape and use it over and over again in the future.*

*Custom shapes will be covered in a future tutorial.

Step 3: Create a rectangle shape below the zig-zag shape & align the shapes

Using the Rectangle Tool, draw a rectangle and make sure it is below your zig-zag shape so that you can see it. Select both the rectangle layer and the zig-zag layer and align the bottom of both shapes to each other.

Step 4: Create the desired zig-zag border using a layer mask

Go ahead and hide your zig-zag layer by click on the eye icon and turning it off.

Select the rectangle shape layer. Click the Add Layer Mask icon. You should now see a white box on your rectangle layer. Make sure it's selected.

While your mask is selected, hold down the CTRL key on your keyboard and click the vector mask thumbnail (the box next to the words Shape 1 on my example). This will create marching ants in the shape of your zig-zag.

Make sure black is your current background color. Once you have confirmed this, press the Delete key on your keyboard. You may now deselect the zig-zag by pressing CTRL + D or going to Select > Deselect in your menu.

Zig-zags are a growing trend in design right now and can give your design movement. Have fun with it!