First of all thank you so very much for posting these tutorials! I just found your channel, and I realize this is several years old, but let me say OMG.... I have had AI for a few years now, but I do not use it much. I am a crafter and got into design because of that. Cricut and Silhouette Design programs have always been a hassle for me, so I tried AI. I used it a lot at first, but then stopped this past year so I am rusty. I say that to say I never saw any tutorials that showed how to do what this video showed and I am having a horrible time cleaning up an image of words LUCKY MAMA and I am like HEYYYYYYYY I can think of A MILLION projects I wish I had known about these tools! I am so excited to have found your channel. Going to watch more now. Thank you!
You're welcome - I'm so glad the videos are helping!! If you're struggling with anything else, we do have a free Facebook group where you can include images of your problem along with your question: facebook.com/groups/adobeillustratorusershelp
I always use the pencil tool but never knew about the option key/smooth tool shortcut (in fact I forgot the tool even existed). This is going to be such a big help :)
I appreciate the useful information without the silly fluff that others offer. This channel looks like a great place to brush up on skills and learn new ones. THANKS!!!
maybe not the greatest art, but it is a great demonstration of Pencil & Smoothing tools! I work in Illustrator for like 10 years, and pretty much never used pencil smooth tool... I mean I tried it and it always seemed kinda useless. But your demo showed it is quite useful, thanks! 👍
@@GDHT I was a designer in printing house, but mostly did technical stuff, never did illustrations myself. Recently I discovered Astute plugins for Illustrator and figured out it can be actually fun to draw and sketch in vectors! Have you seen their Dynamic Sketch plugin? It's like combo of Pencil and Brush on steroids. 😄 With pressure and pulled string stroke smoothing it is super nice.
Amazing! Thanks! I usually either use the pen tool and take some time to smooth out the design manually or the paint brush tool, at a preliminary stage, which doesn’t connect paths so well.
Awesome tutorial Anne, thank you! A quick comment about 5:50... I believe the Cmd-E shortcut is set to toggle GPU performance by default in Illustrator, not to expand objects. However, I love your idea of using Cmd-E to expand objects since that's something I do all the time. Definitely going to remember that one. Thanks!
I just checked and on my version of Illustrator (CC 2019), CMD E is the default for Expand. I do have a custom shortcut for Expand Appearance (Shift CMD E). Are you on an older version of Illustrator? Maybe it's a somewhat recent change.
I love your tut's. I'm using some old WMF (Windows meta file) they open in Ai but are covered in anchor points, is there a way to smooth these in 'bulk' other than using the Smooth Tool? Thx
Thank you! Yes - you can go to Object > Path > Simplify and mess with the settings. I also have a video for that if you're interested: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-4shGQQDX-Ac.html
The blue line just helps you see what you've drawn - when you release, it goes away. Just make sure you have a stroke color. For pressure sensitivity, you have to have a Wacom tablet or other tool that supports it (a mouse won't work).
hey im doing the exact same thing on 1:30 with my pencil tool I creat outlines and than draw with the pencil tool to make a nice curly shape but it doesn't connect the shape to the letter. and yes Im starting and finishing on the path. i would love some help.
Is your letter is outlined (not live text)? Other than that, open your Pencil tool options, and check the bottom option. Make sure it's selected, and the 'Within' part is about 6-7 pixels. Let me know if that doesn't fix it.
@@GDHT its better' now it becomes one compact path ' but it still doesnt look like yours, i can see both paths' not as on path. i mean i see the line of the letter and the line i added
Hello, I just noticed your channel. Good content. Do you think it is too late for an adult 50+ to start a new career as a graphic designer? Your opinion is greatly valued.
Hi there, thank you!! No, I don't think it's too late, but I do think it will be a little harder - some places have bias towards the younger crowd - they also like hiring people they think they can pay less. It's not cool, but it's (somewhat) reality. Thankfully there are plenty of places that value a more mature workforce.
Hmmm that's weird. You can go to Object > Expand too. It sounds like you might need to reset your preferences, but just know that resets your whole Illustrator setup.
@@kwaku_2023 that keyboard shortcut comes standard in Illustrator, but it could be you changed it at some point, or sometimes Preferences get out of whack (a reset will fix them).
It's under the Pencil tool. But your toolbar might also just not be showing it. Click the 3 dots at the bottom of the toolbar, go to the upper right of the flyout, click those 3 dots, and click Reset.
There could be two issues. First you might not have had the original object selected. Second, in Pencil Tool options, make sure the "Edit Selected Paths" is within about 6 pixels or so.
