Adobe Illustrator Help Using Help Using Help | Contents | Index Back 1 Using Help About online Help Adobe Systems, Inc. provides complete documentation in the Adobe PDF Help system. The Help system includes information on all the tools, commands, and features for both Windows and Mac OS. The PDF format is designed for easy navigation online, and support for third-party screen readers compatible with Windows. The Help can also be printed as a desktop reference. Navigating in Help The Help will open in an Acrobat window with the bookmark pane open. If the bookmark pane is not open choose Window > Bookmarks. You can also navigate using the navigation bar, the index, or search the document. At the top and bottom of each page is a navigation bar. Click Using Help to return to this introduction. Clicking Contents, or Index will take you to that section. The Next Page and the Previous Page arrows let you move through the pages sequentially. Click Back to return to the last page you viewed. You can also use the navigation arrows in the Acrobat toolbar. Using bookmarks, the table of contents, the index, and Find The contents of Help are shown as bookmarks in the bookmark pane. To view subtopics, click the plus sign next to a bookmark. Each bookmark is a hyperlink to the associated section of the Help document. To go to the information, click its bookmark. As the information is displayed in the document pane, its bookmark is highlighted. You can turn highlighting on or off by selecting the Highlight Current Bookmark option from the bookmark pane menu. To find a topic using the table of contents: 1 Click Contents in the navigation bar at the top or bottom of any page. 2 Click a topic on the Contents page to move to the first page of that topic. 3 In the bookmark pane, expand the topic to see its subtopics. To find a topic using the index: 1 Click Index in the navigation bar at the top or bottom of any page. 2 Click the appropriate letter at the top of the page. You can also expand the Index bookmark, and click the letter in the bookmark pane. 3 Locate your entry, and click the page number link to view the information. 4 To view multiple entries, click Back to return to the same place in the index. Using Help | Contents | Index Back 1 Adobe Illustrator Help Using Help Using Help | Contents | Index Back 2 To find a topic using the Find command: 1 Choose Edit > Find. 2 Enter a word or a phrase in the text box, and click OK. Acrobat will search the document, starting from the current page, and display the first occurrence of the word or phrase you are searching for. 3 To find the next occurrence, choose Edit > Find Again. Printing the Help file Although the Help has been optimized for on-screen viewing, you can print pages you select, or the entire file. To print, choose Print from the File menu, or click the printer icon in the Acrobat toolbar. Using Help | Contents | Index Back 2 Adobe Illustrator Help Contents Using Help | Contents | Index Back 3 Contents Looking at the Work Area 4 Setting Up Artwork in Illustrator 25 Drawing 47 Working with Objects 91 Transforming and Distorting Shapes 113 Applying Color 152 Producing Consistent Color 174 Using Transparency, Gradients, and Patterns 191 Using Layers 215 Using Appearance Attributes, Styles, and Effects 228 Working with Bitmap Images 237 Using Type 249 Creating Templates for Data-Driven Graphics 284 Preparing Graphics for the Web 291 Saving and Exporting 319 Printing 331 Producing Color Separations 344 Automating Tasks 363 Using Graphs 374 Macintosh Shortcuts 394 Windows Shortcuts 398 Legal Notices 402 Using Help | Contents | Index Back 3 Adobe Illustrator Help Looking at the Work Area Using Help | Contents | Index Back 4 Looking at the Work Area Using the tools The first time you start Illustrator, the toolbox appears on the left side of the screen. The tools in the toolbox let you create, select, and manipulate objects in Illustrator. When you select most tools, the mouse pointer matches the tool’s icon. For example, choosing the paintbrush tool changes the pointer to a paintbrush. You can also change a tool pointer to a precision pointer, such as a cross hair , for greater precision when aligning or working with detailed artwork. To move the toolbox: Drag the toolbox by the top bar. To show or hide the toolbox: To show or hide the toolbox, choose Window > Tools. When the toolbox is showing, a check mark appears before the name. To display hidden tools on-screen: 1 Press a tool in the toolbox that has hidden tools underneath it. (Tools that have hidden tools are identified by a triangle in the lower right corner.) 2 When the toolbar of hidden tools appears, hold down the mouse button and drag to the arrow at the end of the toolbar. The toolbar detaches from the toolbox. To close a detached toolbar: Click the close box. To change the pointer to a precision pointer: Do one of the following: • While the tool is selected, press Caps Lock on the keyboard. • Choose Edit > Preferences > General (Windows and Mac OS 9) or Illustrator > Preferences > General (Mac OS X), select Use Precise Cursors, and click OK. Using palettes Adobe Illustrator includes a number of palettes to help you monitor and modify your work. By default, these palettes appear stacked together in several groups. You can also dock palettes so that you can move them together. Showing and hiding palettes You can display and hide palettes as you work. Using Help | Contents | Index Back 4 Adobe Illustrator Help Looking at the Work Area Using Help | Contents | Index Back 5 To show or hide a palette: Do one of the following: • Choose Window > (window name). A check mark appears before a window that is currently open. • Press Tab to hide or show all palettes and the toolbox. • Press Shift+Tab to hide or show all palettes except for the toolbox. Changing the palette display You can rearrange your palettes to make better use of your work area by using the following techniques: • To make a palette appear at the front of its group, click the palette’s tab. • To move an entire palette group, drag its title bar. • To rearrange or separate a palette group, drag a palette’s tab. Dragging a palette outside of an existing group creates a new palette window. • To move a palette to another group, drag the palette’s tab to that group. • To dock palettes so that you can move them together, drag a palette’s tab to the bottom of another palette. • To move an entire docked palette group, drag its title bar. • To display a palette menu, position the pointer on the triangle in the upper right corner of the palette and hold down the mouse button. • To change the size of a resizable palette, drag the lower right corner of the palette (Windows) or drag the size box at the lower right corner of the palette (Mac OS). Note: A few palettes, such as the Color palette, cannot be resized by dragging. • To collapse a group to the palette titles only, click the minimize/maximize box (Windows) or click the zoom box (Mac OS). You can still open the palette menu from a collapsed palette. • To cycle through the available sizes for a palette—the default size, size with hidden options showing, size as resized by dragging, and palette titles only—double-click the palette’s tab. For maximum performance, hide all palettes except those that are necessary for your work. Using Help | Contents | Index Back 5 Adobe Illustrator Help Looking at the Work Area Using Help | Contents | Index Back 6 Toolbox overview (1 of 5) The selection tool The direct-selection The group- The magic wand (V) selects entire tool (A) selects selection tool tool (Y) selects objects. points or path selects objects and objects of similar segments within groups within attributes. objects. groups. The direct-select The lasso tool The pen tool (P) The add-anchor- lasso tool (Q) selects selects entire draws straight and point tool (+) adds points or path objects. curved lines to create anchor points to segments within objects. paths. objects. The delete-anchor- The convert- The type tool (T) The area type tool point tool (-) deletes anchor-point tool creates individual changes closed anchor points from (Shift+C) changes type and type paths to type paths. smooth points to containers and lets containers and lets corner points and you enter and edit you enter and edit vice versa. type. type within them. Using Help | Contents | Index Back 6 Adobe Illustrator Help Looking at the Work Area Using Help | Contents | Index Back 7 The path-type tool The vertical type The vertical area- The vertical path- changes paths to tool creates vertical type tool changes type tool changes type paths, and lets type and vertical closed paths to paths to vertical type you enter and edit type containers and vertical type paths and lets you type on them. lets you enter and containers and lets enter and edit type edit vertical type. you enter and edit on them. type within them. Toolbox overview (2 of 5) The line segment The arc tool draws The spiral tool The rectangular tool (\) draws individual concave or draws clockwise and grid tool draws individual straight convex curve counterclockwise rectangular grids. line segments. segments. spirals. The polar grid tool The rectangle The rounded- The ellipse tool (L) draws circular chart tool (M) draws rectangle tool draws circles and grids.