Adobe Illustrator Advanced (2023): Paths and Tracing

Name: Adobe Illustrator Advanced (2023): Paths and Tracing
Author: Stephen Steinbach

Explore paths and tracing functions in Adobe Illustrator 2023

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Course: On-Demand

Hello, my name is Stephen Steinbach, and in these lessons, we're going to be looking at the path and tracing tools for Adobe Illustrator 2023. Let's get started. To begin, we're going to look at the Pathfinder tool. So with the black arrow tool, if I select over multiple objects here, we can see that we have a Pathfinder here. You also have additional options here. You can also find the Pathfinder tool up in Windows Pathfinder. So let's begin by making a new document. And I'm using web large. So here I'm going to just grab a shape and let's change the fill color blue. And I'm just going to create a couple of shapes here and going to increase the stroke a little bit, and I'll use the Alt key to duplicate some shapes here. Okay, so it's important to know the stacking order here so we can see that this one is in front and this one is in back. So here's a pathfinder tool. Let's select the objects that want to be affected. And let's look at the options here. So the first one is unite, and that will just merge them all together. Very similar to the shape builder tool. The second one is minus front. And if I have this one's in front, and this one here, those two are selected. Let me move this down. And if I do minus the front, you can see here that it's minus the front. With this being the front, there's another one down here is minus back, and that does the opposite. So you can see again, minus front. Now, this also works if you have multiple objects. So if I was to select this one here. Everything in front will be minus here. So if I do that, it'll just be this one. And again, if I do this one, it will just be this shape here. The third option is intersect. And what that does is it will you can see here that whatever intersecting here will be saved. And the opposite of that is the exclude tool. So that would get rid of the center part there. Now, all of these functions can be easily done with the shape builder tool. So just to show you that again, if you use a shape builder tool, you can merge all of these together quickly. Or you can subtract as well by hitting the alt key. So the shape builder tool is a newer tool than the Pathfinder tool, but there are some things that the Pathfinder tool can do that the shape builder tool cannot do. Let me undo all that. And let's look at some of these options. So there's a very useful one down here, which is the divide. And let me select them all here. And you can see that wherever these blue lines are, that's going to be divided. So if I click on divide, you can see here that it actually divided them up. You have to ungroup to see that. So if you right click and go to ungroup, and then you can see here that these are now sectioned in pieces. So that's a good way to separate objects. Okay, so the next one is trim, and it's kind of like divide, but it's a little bit different. It does a few things here. If I hit the trim button. You see it just divided it wherever they were overlapping. And if I ungroup this here, you can see it just divided it wherever they were overlapping. Okay, so a couple of others here. So this works, by the way, there's two different modes for this. So if the line is in the center. So if I have a stroke with making sure that the stroke is in the center like this, then the trims going to act a little bit differently here. So if I alt and do that. And now if I trim, it's going to get rid of the stroke. So if you want to keep the stroke. If you do a trim, what you'll want to do is make sure that the stroke is set to inside or outside. Now that if you trim that, it'll keep the line. Now merge is very similar to unite in a lot of ways. So if I select these two here, and I merge them together, it gets rid of the stroke. The stroke is in the center here. And it also works this way. So if I have this as a different color. If I change these to, let's say green. And if I selected these here and I merge these, that's going to merge the colors together here. And we'll go to merge. And you can see here that if I now, if I select that in ungroup. If I select this object, you can see it cut it out. And one of the note about the unite, whatever color is on top will be the color that is united. So if I select all these and click on unite, you can see that turns blue, whereas if I had this a different color. As this green color. With the selected now, if I click on unite, it'll turn that green color, whatever shape is on top. And there are two more options worth mentioning in the Pathfinder tool. And the first one is the crop tool. And what the crop tool does is it takes whatever shape is on top. And it will delete the shape at the end and it will crop whatever is overlapping here. So if I select all these here, you can see that it's going to crop all these shapes within this circle. And we'll click on the crop tool and the lines have gone away. And the fill colors have been cropped into the shape. And finally, you have the outline Pathfinder. And what this does is whatever is intersecting here and whatever fill color is here, it will divide it as an outline and it will delete the fill. So here we can click outline and we don't see anything yet because we have to come over here to the stroke size and we will increase that stroke size. And now you can see that it's divided here to the color of the line. And as well as if I select this and ungroup it, you can see here that these shapes have been separated. So this is very similar to the divide but the divide will keep the stroke color here as black as the outline. So here the difference would be if I did this and went to the divide here. And then if I selected all these and took off the fill. You can see that it's kind of the same but it's not adding the color for the stroke. In the next lesson, I want to show you the image trace tool advanced settings. Thanks for watching.

Advanced Provider : Stephen Steinbach 9 Lessons · 34m in English

Course Description

For graphic designers, learning how to use Illustrator’s advanced tool settings is an essential skill. In these lessons, you’ll learn how to merge and split multiple objects using the Pathfinder tool to create complex shapes from various simple shapes. You’ll also learn how to vectorize images using the Trace Image tool and discover different settings to get various vector effects. We’ll discuss how professional designers use offset paths, and how to generate interesting effects with this tool. Finally, you will learn the importance of compound paths, as well as how to paint unfilled and open paths. This course will give you a professional overview on paths and image tracing.

In this course, you will discover the advanced settings of Adobe Illustrator’s Pathfinder tool. We’ll cover how to merge and split multiple objects to create complex shapes. You will also continue using the advanced settings of the Trace Image tool and learn to work with compound paths. By the end of this course, you will be able to create more complex shapes using advanced tools settings.

What You'll Learn

Merge and split multiple objects with the Pathfinder tool to create complex shapes from simple shapes
Vectorize images using the Trace Image tool and adjust settings for different vector effects
Apply offset paths to generate professional design effects
Work with compound paths and understand how they function
Paint unfilled and open paths
Use additional path tools including the Path Erase, Join, and Linking tools

Key Takeaways

The Pathfinder tool's advanced settings let you merge and split multiple objects to build complex shapes from various simple shapes.
The Trace Image tool vectorizes images, with different settings producing various vector effects.
Offset paths are used by professional designers to generate interesting design effects.
Compound paths are important for working with shapes, and the course covers how they work along with painting unfilled and open paths.
By the end of the course, learners can create more complex shapes using Illustrator's advanced tool settings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is this course for?

It is for graphic designers, as learning Illustrator's advanced tool settings is described as an essential skill for them.

What does this course cover?

It covers the advanced settings of Adobe Illustrator's Pathfinder tool for merging and splitting objects, vectorizing images with the Trace Image tool, offset paths, compound paths, and painting unfilled and open paths.

What will I be able to do after completing this course?

You will be able to create more complex shapes using Illustrator's advanced tool settings, and the course gives a professional overview on paths and image tracing.

What topics do the lessons include?

Lessons include Advanced Pathfinder, Advanced Image Trace, Scales Strokes, Compound Paths, Offset Paths, Painting Unfilled and Open Paths, the Path Erase Tool, the Join Tool, and Linking.

What skills does this course relate to?

It relates to graphic design, merging data, and tool management.