Phantasm CS Actions
The page provides a diverse collection of Adobe Illustrator Actions made available exclusively to Phantasm CS range customers. The Actions are standard Adobe Illustrator CS3 and above types (Adobe Illustrator CS is of an older format and no longer supported for Phantasm CS range Actions) utilizing the color-control Filter and live Effect tools found in the Phantasm CS range of plugins.
Actions can both provide workflow-boosting solutions, by allowing pre-defined sequences to be replayed at the click of a button, and allow for more complex creative effects through the multiple application of pre-defined live Effects — the Neon Sign Action, below, being a good example of this. It is also possible to create an Action sequence to fully reconstruct complete artwork as demonstrated by the Butterfly Action below.
Please note that some of these Actions apply a number of complex transformations and pre-defined Styles and may therefore be time-consuming and processor/memory intensive to apply.
Using Actions
This page does not aim to provide full instructions of how to use Illustrator's Actions (Adobe's Illustrator CS4 online help section may be found here...). However, to load the Action files provided on this page, ensure the Actions palette/panel is open (). From the palette/panel pull-down menu, select (see 1 below) and locate the .aia Actions file. Once installed into the palette/panel, to play, highlight the Action and click on the button (see 2 below).
Some of the Actions also make use of pre-defined Styles. Where necessary, these are supplied in associated Illustrator documents. If using such Actions in other Illustrator documents, first ensure you have copied all necessary Styles over prior to playing the Action.
Hints
A few hints are provided here to help you also make Actions taking full advantage of the Phantasm CS range:
- You can't automatically apply live Effects with Actions. Instead you can make use of the Phantasm CS range's equivalent Filters. Alternatively, you can create a Style based on one or more live Effects; when a Style is applied, this is recorded by an Action referencing the Style's name. This latter technique is employed in a few Actions below, including 3D Cubes, in conjunction with the command to further manipulate the result.
- Not all commands appear to be picked up in an Actions recording. It is, however, possible to force almost any command to be added to an Action by using the palette/panel's pull-down menu tool . See Adobe's online help page for more information.
- To duplicate artwork in order to apply a second overlaying effect, choose followed by .
- There is no need to attempt to record a perfect Action in one go; simply stop the recording when you wish and then re-commence when you're ready.
Don't forget to click on the indicated sample images to view larger scale versions!
3D Cubes
Create a vector 3D Cube structure based on any artwork including vectors and bitmaps. Using Phantasm CS Designer and Studio's Halftone tool (based on a pre-defined Style in the template document), the Action prepares for the basis of the cubes and then creates the final result stage by stage.
Three different lighting angle Actions are provided. These Actions work equally well in CMYK and RGB documents.
Usage
Ensure you have the Style "3D Cubes" in the Styles palette/panel (present in the template document provided) and select the artwork you wish to convert. Play one of the three 3D Cube Actions. The initial warning can be continued and the Action finishes the task.
Note: if you want a more detailed cube structure, either first scale your original artwork up or modify the Halftone Effect's DPI setting in the Style supplied.
Requirements
- Adobe Illustrator CS3 or above
- Phantasm CS Designer, Phantasm CS Studio or Phantasm CS Publisher
Butterfly
An extensive sequence demonstrating a variety of tools, including those from the Phantasm CS range, being controlled by Illustrator's Actions system.
The stylised Butterfly is created from a blank artboard with the use of several Styles, which are called upon by the Action sequence. This combination of Actions and Styles can prove to be very powerful and adds extra flexibility of being able to call up live Effects via the Actions system (not normally possible without requiring user intervention).
Usage
Load the "template" Illustrator (.ai) file which contains the necessary Styles. Load the associated Illustrator Actions file (.aia) via the Actions palette/panel. Select the Butterfly Action and press play...
Requirements
- Adobe Illustrator CS3 or above
- Phantasm CS Designer, Phantasm CS Studio or Phantasm CS Publisher
Color Variations
Create a set of color variations based on your selected artwork. A grid of 9 color variants - with the original in the centre - is created automatically to help every designer consider all color options.
Usage
Select the artwork you wish to see color variations of and then play the "Color variations" action.
Note that as the variations are applied with a Phantasm CS Filter (not a live Effect), you may need to first expand some artwork types, such as Symbols, before changes will take place.
Requirements
- Adobe Illustrator CS3 or above
- Phantasm CS Designer, Phantasm CS Studio or Phantasm CS Publisher
Export as Images
Using Phantasm CS Studio or Publisher's Edit Image tool which solves a missing link with Photoshop, this pair of Actions can be of great benefit to website designers and others. With a single click on the Actions palette/panel, all selected objects are rasterized to a user-defined setting (including transparencies/alpha channel) and automatically loaded into Photoshop. The Action then tidies-up and reverts the artwork to the state at which it started.
Usage
"Export as individual images"
All selected objects are rasterized individually. Playing this Action will prompt you to specify the desired rasterizing settings (color mode, transparency, resolutions, etc.). OK'ing this sets the export in motion followed by final tidying to revert the artwork back to its original state.
"Export as single image"
All selected objects are rasterized as a single image. Playing this Action will prompt you to specify the desired rasterizing settings (color mode, transparency, resolutions, etc.). OK'ing this sets the export in motion followed by final tidying to revert the artwork back to its original state.
Requirements
- Adobe Illustrator CS3 or above
- Phantasm CS Studio or Phantasm CS Publisher
Neon Sign
Create wonderfully realistic neon signs with a mere click of this special Action set. Not only is the neon "glow" recreated based on standard editable text of simple closed paths, but also the wooden background and the start/ends of the neon tubes along with the mounting holes. Phantasm CS Designer and Studio's color adjustment tools provide the essential ingredients to make the color glow perfectly!
Variations of the Action include sets specifically designed for being applied to editable text, closed paths, as well as red, green and blue neon colors.
The template Illustrator file includes all the Styles necessary for the Action to be applied.
Usage
Select a line of editable text - for best effect increase the spacing between the characters to allow for the neon tubes! Play a "[Color] neon text" Action. Ensure the points stated in the warning message are covered and continue with the Action. The resultant graphic is made of four duplicate copies of the original (due to the complexity of the Styles applied) which you may wish to group together.
When being applied to paths, ensure you work with a closed path for best effect. Then choose one of the "[Color] neon path" Actions...
Requirements
- Adobe Illustrator CS3 or above
- Phantasm CS Designer, Phantasm CS Studio or Phantasm CS Publisher
Overprint Corrections
Four essential and common overprint corrections that are essential for artwork destined for the print press.
Each correction action has a copy (with the phrase "ALL:" at the start of the Action name) with the added function of unlocking all Layers first, so that all artwork across the document can be accessed and corrected.
Usage
"Rich>black text + overprint"
Selects all objects and converts all editable text defined as rich black (a near-black color constructed from several ink levels, instead of just black leading to possible registration issues) to pure black (100% Black ink).
"Remove white overprint"
Selects all objects which are then checked for white fills/strokes/text/images. Any set to overprint (which would make the object "vanish") is corrected by changing to knock-out.
"Only black tints overprint"
Selects all objects and removes any overprint settings. Then all pure black tints are set to overprint.
"Only black text overprint"
Selects all objects and removes any overprint settings. Then all editable text defined with pure black tints are set to overprint.
Requirements
- Adobe Illustrator CS3 or above
- Phantasm CS Designer, Phantasm CS Studio or Phantasm CS Publisher
Print Mis-alignment
Simulating print press ink mis-alignment (mis-registration), these two Actions can both be used for graphical effect and also an approximate simulation of artwork where mis-alignment may be a critical factor.
The two Actions provided use different tools to achieve the end effect. The "Quick" version is suitable for Phantasm CS and above, whereas the "Full" version (which does take longer to produce) is designed for Phantasm CS Designer and Phantasm CS Studio.
Note: neither Action is 100% comprehensive in terms of dealing with all object types, etc., however, the "Full" version does correctly mis-align most artwork. Also, further limitations are imposed when using Adobe Illustrator CS2 as it is unable to convert all objects to CMYK (OK the warning message if it appears). With both Actions, for truer results, you may wish to first rasterize the artwork, but naturally you would lose any vector aspect of it in doing so.
Usage
"Quick print mis-alignment"
Select the artwork you wish to mis-align and play the "Quick print mis-alignment" Action. As the result is constructed of four copies of the original artwork, note that complex objects in the original selection will take longer to render. (It is recommended that very complex artwork is first rasterized.)
"Full print mis-alignment"
As above noting that an extra initial step of flattening transparencies (to ensure a more accurate result) can be time and resource-consuming with artwork constructed with the use of many transparency effects.
Requirements
- Adobe Illustrator CS3 or above
- Phantasm CS Designer, Phantasm CS Studio or Phantasm CS Publisher
