Tips and tricks aimed at both customers of the Phantasm CS range as well as all Adobe Illustrator users.
4 Oct
2011
3 Comments
Vector artists often use raster images in their works as a reference. To create a color palette based on a raster image is always a laborious process; it is necessary to use the Eyedropper Tool and rely on your “sense of color” in order to feel whether that was the right pixel that you got with this tool. In this tutorial, I’m suggesting a method that will make this job automatic. Let’s get started!
29 Sep
2011
4 Comments
The VectorScribe plugin is oriented towards ensuring the creation of your vector masterpieces is easier, faster and more flexible. I hope you have already experienced it (if not, download a 7 day full trial now!).
Today’s article is devoted to the PathScribe tool using keyboard shortcuts. This information, along with the instructional product movies, will help you create vector artwork using the keyboard like a piano…
22 Sep
2011
3 Comments
The VectorScribe plugin is oriented towards ensuring the creation of your vector masterpieces is easier, faster and more flexible. I hope you have already experienced it (if not, download a 7 day full trial now!).
Today we launch a series of articles dealing with the operation of VectorScribe tools using keyboard shortcuts. This information, along with the instructional product movies, will help you create vector artwork using the keyboard like on a piano…
19 Sep
2011
1 Comment
The character style of VectorScribe Dynamic Measurements can be changed after the measurement has been converted into artwork. It is advised that you first read the previous quick tip How to Set the Character Style for the Dynamic Measure Tool to get the most out of this article.
7 Sep
2011
1 Comment
Using the Dynamic Measure Tool (VectorScribe Plugin), you can choose the font style, its size, and the width of the dimension line after having done previous settings. Let’s see how it’s done.
6 Sep
2011
2 Comments
The Astute Graphics Blog was introduced a year ago and has since gained over 100 articles including product announcements, tutorials, tips and tricks. And we are very privileged to attract a wide audience for which we thank you all!
However, as Astute Graphics continues to grow, there is a realisation that there is less and less time to devote to the writing of new material. Not only do we wish to cover our own products Phantasm CS and VectorScribe, but we’ve always had a desire to provide great original material for the wider vector design community.
Therefore it was time to recruit some help. And to ensure a very high level of quality, we aimed for one of today’s best vector tutorial writers — Iaroslav Lazunov!
17 May
2011
3 Comments
Everybody who is interested in furthering their Adobe Illustrator skills and knowledge should be aware of the extensive — and continually growing — Vector Tuts+ website. And if you do frequent this goldmine of mainly Illustrator tutorials, you’re bound to have come across the wonderful artwork of Iaroslav Lazunov. If you haven’t, just click here to take a peek at what Iaroslav is capable of teaching other Illustrator users to do.
Recently, the editor of Vector Tuts+ chose Iaroslav to create a special sponsored VectorScribe tutorial to coincide with the recent launch of this amazing Adobe Illustrator vector creation and editing toolset. And the result was the wonderful tutorial Create a Vector Chopper with Illustrator CS5 and VectorScribe, which was very well received.
Now, whilst continuing to contribute to the Vector Tuts+ website, Iaroslav has established his own website to help fellow Illustrator users called Vectorboom.
31 Mar
2011
No Comments
Creating artwork with a combination of Illustrator and Phantasm CS is very liberating when it comes to adjusting color. It’s possible to use Curves, Levels, Hue/Saturation, vector Halftones effects, and more, directly to vector artwork and images in the Illustrator document. And one of the most flexible methods is by using these tools as live Effects.
The benefits of live Effects may be seen in this video (also available by clicking here):
However, what happens if you send you artwork on to colleagues or customers who do not have the Phantasm CS plugin installed? Or what happens if you have been using Phantasm CS live Effects in your artwork within the 7 day trial period and then the trial license expires? This article discusses these questions.
21 Sep
2010
2 Comments
In the previous article, the technique used to color control linked images directly within Illustrator was outlined. In this, the second in the pair of articles on this topic, a step-by-step guide is provided demonstrating the process on a real-world example. A movie is also provided at the end of this article, demonstrating the whole process in action.
Note that the embedded image linking, Exposure and advanced Swap Channels tools used within this tutorial are found exclusively in Phantasm CS Publisher. However, the principles of operation are relevant to all current editions of the Phantasm CS range.
20 Sep
2010
1 Comment
Being able to apply color adjustments directly to linked images within an Illustrator document is the most common request we receive. By default, the color adjustment tools such as Curves, Levels and Hue/Saturation found within the Phantasm CS range of Illustrator plugins only operate with embedded artwork. However, recent work has allowed a very simple method to evolve which extends this capability.
This article is in two parts: this article is an initial outline of the technique which is likely to suffice for many users.
The following article is a more comprehensive tutorial demonstrating this technique for a real-world example including exposure, swapping (mapping) channels and curves all being applied to a linked image. If you work with packaging or professional artwork destined for print, be sure to return here to read it as it may well be the most important set of articles within this blog yet!