Illustrator CS4 Color Works

Illustrator C9CS4DPD Blitz Reference

Choosing a Color Mode

• Basic CMYK (Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Black) for taking illustration to a professional printer
• Basic RGB (Red, Green, Blue) for final destination is the Web, mobile device, video, color copier or desktop printer, or screen presentation
• Change the color mode whenever without losing information by choosing File->Document Color Mode

Using the Swatches Panel

• Accessing color from the Control panel is probably the easiest way
• Avoid mixed up colors and assigned the stroke color to the fill or vice versa
• Or open by choosing Window->Swatches
• The cross hair represents the Registration color
• Only use this swatch when creating custom crop marks or printer marks
• The diagonal line represents None - use this option for no fill or stroke

Applying Color to the Fill and Stroke
Illustrator objects are created from fills (the inside) and strokes (border or path)

Color Keyboard Shortcuts

• Switch the Fill or Stroke color box position [X]
• Inverse the Fill and the Stroke color boxes [Shift+X]
• Default (black stroke, white fill) [D]
• None [/]
• Last color used [<] Last gradient used [>]
• Color Picker [Double-click the Fill or Stroke color box]

Drag a color from the Swatches panel to the Fill or Stroke color box
Apply a fill color to an existing shape, drag the swatch directly to the shape
Select a swatch, hold down Alt+Shift+Ctrl and drag a color to a shape to apply that color to the stroke
Changing the Width and Type of a Stroke by clicking the Stroke hyperlink in the Control panel
Can’t adjust the alignment of a stroke on text unless change the text to outlines first
Choose Type->Create Outlines to enable the Align Stroke options
Add weight to it to enable selection

Using the Color Panel

• Hold down the Shift key while adjusting the color slider of any color and watch how all colors move to a relative position at the same time!
• The cube warns that the color selected isn’t one of the 216 nondithering, Web-safe colors, and the exclamation point warns that the color isn’t within the CMYK print gamut
• Click the cube or exclamation point symbols when shown to select the closest color in the Web safe or CMYK color gamut

Saving Colors

• Whenever built a color, drag it from the Color panel to the Swatches panel to save it as a color swatch for future use
• Or select an object that uses the color and click the New Swatch button at the bottom of the Swatches panel
• Alt+click to save it with auto naming

Building and using custom libraries
Retrieve colors by clicking the Swatch Libraries button to access various color libraries Swatch Libraries menu button->down to Other Library

Using the Color Guide and color groups

• Window->Color Guide Edit Colors button
• Or Ctrl-click to select multiple colors and then click the New Color Group button at the bottom of the Swatches panel

Adding Pantone colors

• Swatches panel->Color Books->Pantone solid coated or etc
• Type the number into the Find text field of the Pantone panel or browse through Small List View or Large List View

Editing Colors
Double-clicking a swatch in the Swatches panel can open its options

Change the color values

• Use the sliders or by typing values into the color text fields
• Select the Preview check box to see results while making changes

Use global colors
Only have to change the swatch options once and all new instances of that color are updated

Color Type drop-down list

• Spot color: A color that isn’t broken down into the CMYK values
• Spot colors are used for 1–2 color print runs or when precise color matching is important
• Process color: A color that’s built from four colors (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black)
• Process colors are used for multicolor jobs e.g. Take any spot colors created in corporate logos and such and convert them to process colors - this saves an extra printing run
• Choose the Spot Colors option from the Swatches panel menu
• Choose Lab to get the best possible CMYK conversion for the actual spot color when using a color-calibrated workflow
• Choose CMYK (default) to get the manufacturer’s standard recommended conversion of spot colors to process
• Results can vary depending upon printing conditions

Building and Editing Patterns

• Build a simple pattern, start by creating the artwork to use as a pattern on an artboard — polka dots, smiley faces, wavy lines, whatever
• Then select all the components of the pattern and drag them to the Swatches panel
• Pattern in your artwork and try to drag it into the Swatches panel,
• Illustrator kicks it back out with no error message
• Can drag text right into the Swatches panel to become a pattern

Edit an existing pattern

• Use the Selection tool to select all pattern elements and Alt+drag the new pattern over the existing pattern swatch in the Swatches panel
• When a black border appears around the existing pattern, release the mouse button
• Add some space between tiles, create a bounding box using a rectangle shape with no fill or stroke (representing the repeat for creation)
• Send it behind the other objects in the pattern and drag all objects, including the bounding box, to the Swatchespanel

[???Unresolved???Page 319] To scale a pattern, but not the object that it’s filling, double-click the Scale tool
In the Scale dialog box that appears, type the value of wanted scale but deselect all options except for Patterns, as
This works for the Rotate tool as well!

Working with Gradients

• Choose Gradient from the Show Swatch Kinds button at the bottom of the Swatches panel
• Then choose Window->Gradient or Ctrl+F9
• Choose Show Options from the Gradient panel menu to see more options
• Use the Gradient tool to change the direction and distance of a gradient blend (press G)
• Drag a long path for a smooth, long gradient
• Drag a short path for a short, more defined gradient

Create a new gradient

• Click on the basic B & W Linear Gradient swatch in the
• Swatches panel (this provides a good base point)
• Activate a color stop at Gradient panel by clicking it
• When a color stop is active, the triangle on the top turns solid
• Choose Window->Color to access the Color panel and then click the triangle in the upper-right corner to open the panel menu; choose RGB or CMYK colors
• Click the gradient ramp (at the bottom) in the Color panel to pick a random color (or enter values in the text fields to select a specific color) for the active color stop in the Gradient panel
• Repeat this step to select colors for other color stops
• To add additional color stops, click beneath the gradient ramp choose a color from the Color panel
• Alternatively, drag a swatch from the Swatches panel to add a new color to the gradient
• To remove a color stop, drag it off the Gradient panel
• CS4 allows to change the opacity of that location of the ramp by entering values in the Opacity text box
• This is a great way to create stripes and other reflective gradients

Copying Color Attributes

• Use the Eyedropper tool to copy fill and stroke attributes
• Select the Eyedropper tool and click a shape
• Alt-click another object to apply those attributes

The Live Trace Feature

• File->Place, Click the arrow to the right of the Live Trace button,
• Choose Tracing Options, Select the Preview check box,
• Click the Trace button

The Live Paint Feature
The paint within a given region remains live and flows automatically when any of the paths are moved