What a headache...

[1cowabunga]

Hey, I've been trying to teach myself how to use illustrator for a while. I've just being playing with the tools a bit and trying to understand how everything works. I think I'm lost. :D Here's one of my questions (refer to the attached picture). I'm wondering how I can get the brown and purple shapes to be flush against the black line. What tools/procedures are used in doing this? Thanks for the help.

~Sam

[Scott]

Go to artwork mode (command-y/mac or control-y/PC) and move the nodes so they are on top of each other.

You can select nodes and use the alight palette or average (command/Control-J) to get things to line up as well.

Artwork mode allows you to see the actual skeleton rather than trying to work with the applied strokes/colors.

[1cowabunga]

Aha!! I read about that once but I skipped over it too fast. I've moved my nodes around and now they feel much better. ;) Thanks a ton for your help.

[PDG]

I just use a sh@tload of layers and I place it strategically 'behind' the black lines :)

[1cowabunga]

Not a bad tip there either PDG. I might slowly be getting the hang of this...maybe...I hope. I'm still taken aback by the gradient tools and all the menus that say "filters" and such. I wish there was an illustrator class I could take. lol

[Scott]

Remember.. Filters.... you CAN'T change once you use them... Effects you CAN change (via the appearance palette) after you've applied them.

[PDG]

[QUOTE=1cowabunga]Not a bad tip there either PDG. I might slowly be getting the hang of this...maybe...I hope. I'm still taken aback by the gradient tools and all the menus that say "filters" and such. I wish there was an illustrator class I could take. lol[/QUOTE]

http://www.tutorialoutpost.com/

Scroll down...they've added a small Illustrator section.

Also, spending $20 for a month at Lynda.com will do amazing things. They're actual Quicktime videos of people teaching ;)

[1cowabunga]

Thanks for the tip jolt. sounds like that would've been another headache for me. lol. I just have to remember to keep saving before I do anything I guess.

PDG, that Lynda.com sounds like something I should look into. Thanks for the information.

~Sam

[MindBender]

Another way to deal with the paths, and this is important when working with physical production output (things like vinyl and acetate signs) is that your vector shapes usually can't overlap and still output correctly. To solve that, I duplicate the shape (in this case the black line thing) and place it on top of the other shapes (the two colored ones) and use the "pathfinder" palette to "minus" the shapes. This is like cutting off the overlapping portions.

Getting used to using the pathfinder is very helpful in building more complex shapes. Take a look at the little spinning gear thing in my avatar. That was built in Illustrator just using the pathfinder and some primitives to build the gear and then a simple blend to give it volume. Very quick way to make interesting or complex shapes easier to handle. :)