Explanation of Menus
This is a quick explanation of the stroke menu and basic tools to get you started creating vectors in Adobe Illustrator.
Basic tools:
The tool menu is where all the tools are located.. here is a brief explanation and diagram of what each does.
1. This is the selection tool, you can use it to click on paths and shapes you've created to scale/transform them, or move them.
2. This is the direct selection tool, you can use it to select specific points on a path in order to fix them or move them or adjust their angles.
3. This is the pentool, use it to draw your vector shapes. Note: if you click and hold on the pentool, a submenu will pop up with "Add-Point tool" and "Subtract-Point tool". They do exactly what their name says.
4. This is the text tool, select it and click anywhere on your canvas to create vectorized text.
5. This is the line tool which will create a vectorized line. If you click and hold on this menu, its submenu contains other tools such as Arc and spiral.
6. This is the shape menu, from it you can create a rectangle, rounded rectangle, circle (elipse), a polgyon (you specify the number of sides), and a star tool. The best way to use this tool is to select the type of shape you would like to create and then single click on your canvas. This allows you to input custom, exact settings for your shape.
7. This is the brush tool. It is much like the brush tool in Photoshop, however its settings are controlled in the stroke menu (will be explained below.)
8. This is the pencil tool / smooth tool / erase tool. The pencil tool is used to manually draw paths and is extremely useful. The smooth and erase tools are self-explanitory.
9. This is the "fill color". Any path you draw will be filled with this color. If you desire to have no fill, you can simply click the / button to cross it out.
10. This is the stroke color. Any path you draw will be outlined in this color. You can define the settings for the stroke on the stroke menu.
Stroke Menu :
If your stroke menu is not visible, press f10.
1. This controls the color of your stroke.
2. This allows you to choose the color of your fill, and allows you to choose different custom preset designs and gradients to fill with.
3. The symbols tab holds preset vectors that are made for available for quick easy editing.
4. The brush tab controls the settings of your brush, much like photoshop.
5. The graphic styles tab has vectorized textures that you can apply to your paths.
6. This is the weight of your stroke, or how wide/thick the stroke (if enabled) will be of your paths. You can enter a custom number in here.
Hope this helped.
Basic tools:
The tool menu is where all the tools are located.. here is a brief explanation and diagram of what each does.
1. This is the selection tool, you can use it to click on paths and shapes you've created to scale/transform them, or move them.
2. This is the direct selection tool, you can use it to select specific points on a path in order to fix them or move them or adjust their angles.
3. This is the pentool, use it to draw your vector shapes. Note: if you click and hold on the pentool, a submenu will pop up with "Add-Point tool" and "Subtract-Point tool". They do exactly what their name says.
4. This is the text tool, select it and click anywhere on your canvas to create vectorized text.
5. This is the line tool which will create a vectorized line. If you click and hold on this menu, its submenu contains other tools such as Arc and spiral.
6. This is the shape menu, from it you can create a rectangle, rounded rectangle, circle (elipse), a polgyon (you specify the number of sides), and a star tool. The best way to use this tool is to select the type of shape you would like to create and then single click on your canvas. This allows you to input custom, exact settings for your shape.
7. This is the brush tool. It is much like the brush tool in Photoshop, however its settings are controlled in the stroke menu (will be explained below.)
8. This is the pencil tool / smooth tool / erase tool. The pencil tool is used to manually draw paths and is extremely useful. The smooth and erase tools are self-explanitory.
9. This is the "fill color". Any path you draw will be filled with this color. If you desire to have no fill, you can simply click the / button to cross it out.
10. This is the stroke color. Any path you draw will be outlined in this color. You can define the settings for the stroke on the stroke menu.
Stroke Menu :
If your stroke menu is not visible, press f10.
1. This controls the color of your stroke.
2. This allows you to choose the color of your fill, and allows you to choose different custom preset designs and gradients to fill with.
3. The symbols tab holds preset vectors that are made for available for quick easy editing.
4. The brush tab controls the settings of your brush, much like photoshop.
5. The graphic styles tab has vectorized textures that you can apply to your paths.
6. This is the weight of your stroke, or how wide/thick the stroke (if enabled) will be of your paths. You can enter a custom number in here.
Hope this helped.
