13.1 Vocabulary & Tools

Some or all of this vocabulary may be new to you, for each module, I will provide this page to provide a reference for when you come across any new terms or tools.

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Illustrator Tools 

• live paint bucket tool (cheat sheet) 
• pen tool (link) 
• shape builder (link)
• Template Layer -  from American Graphics Institute  Links to an external site.Tutorial Links to an external site.-  Template layers are locked, nonprinting layers that you can use to manually trace images. Template layers can come in handy when you want to trace a raster image by hand or you want to create artwork from the scan of a mock-up design. Template layers are dimmed so that you can easily see any paths you draw over the layer. When that illustration is placed in a layout application, like InDesign or QuarkXPress, the template layer does not show or print.

 

Characteristics (Illustrator)

Fill and stroke are the two major characteristics defined for each path or shape in Illustrator. To change these characteristics, select the path you would like to define characteristics for, then using the Properties Window use the stroke and fill menus to set these characteristics. Remember that the stroke menu has the options for corners, dashes, line cap, arrows and stroke weight.