Illustrator?

[flibodria_1]

Hey y'all! I'm new to this site and i've quickly discovered how little i know about photoshop, i guess i need to learn if i want to go into graphic design, huh? I was just wondering if anyone here uses Adobe Illustrator, i just bought it and i can't do much on it! i've bought a couple books, but you can't ask a book a question! Let me know!

[JoeD]

I have it, but I mostly use it to create vector objects that only contain the lines (no fills, tranparency or things like that). I then export these objects to Photoshop or my 3D software.

[Welles]

Hi flibodria_1,

A number of us use Illustrator as it goes hand in hand with Photoshop. For most of the participants on this board, PS is our primary focus. I just installed my Illustrator CS upgrade this last week (about time!) whereas I'll always have new Photoshop versions within a week or two of the release date.

If you do have questions about Illustrator, feel free to ask and I bet someone can help. As a brand new user, a good way to start figuring out how Illustrator images are created is to open up a number of .ai images and take them apart. If you are using CS, there are 1600 pieces of clip art in Illustrator format in the Goodies folder on the install CD.

The first and most important tool to learn is the pen tool. Practice it until you can draw and manipulate lines virtually without thinking. One hand on the mouse or pen (if you are using a pad) and one on the keyboard is the way to go. It is much simpler than it seems initially and a vital skill for any vector application. It's even an important skill for Photoshop but not as primary.

So, if you have a specific question, feel free to ask.

Cheers!