5 Adobe Illustrator Tips and Tools You May Not Know About

1. Creating 3D Images and Mapping Artwork

Yes, you can create 3D objects in Adobe Illustrator! You can use any one of three, 3D effects (Effect > 3D) that include: Extrude and Bevel, Revolve, and Rotate. In the example below, I created the body of the iPod using the Extrude and Bevel effect and a simple rounded rectangle. Fortunately, Adobe Illustrator added a Map Artwork feature inside all of its 3D effects, so you can easily add artwork to different surfaces of your 3D object.

2. Appearance Panel

The Appearance panel is very powerful, but often overlooked. When you have an object selected, as I do in the example below, the Appearance panel will display the different attributes of that path or shape. Using this panel, you can add multiple fills and strokes, as well as turn on/off different attributes of an object. In addition, you can add different Live Effects as well as control the opacity and blend modes all from this panel.

3. Adding Lines Between Lines (Blend Tool)

The blend tool can create some pretty amazing effects. Located on the tool bar (also under Object > Blend), the Blend tool can create different transitions based on the options you set. You can blend between two colors, two shapes, two lines, along a path, etc… In the example below, I created an interesting effect by blending two lines, using Specified Steps under the spacing options.

4. Transparency

Use the transparency panel inside Adobe Illustrator to add visual interest to your artwork. There are several different blending modes you can try out—you will notice a change wherever objects overlap. In the example below, I used the blending mode Multiply to create a new effect. Multiply simply works by “multiplying” the overlapping colors to create a new color.

5. Variable Width Tool

Introduced in Adobe CS5, the Variable Width Tool changed the way we draw in Adobe Illustrator in many ways. This tool allows you to change the width of your stroke at any anchor point along a path. As you can see in the example below, I adjusted the width at different anchor points to create a more visually interesting line. It’s so easy to use!

To get a free 30 day trial of Illustrator CC:

1. Go to: https://creative.adobe.com/products/illustrator
2. Click “Download Trial”

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