AI knowledge points-usage of common tools

I want to start studying AI software seriously and share my study notes.

Software version: mac version 2020CC.

We can open an existing AI document or create a new one after opening AI.

When creating a new document, there are some document preset options. After selecting one, you can adjust and create it according to your actual needs.

There are several points to note:

Documents used by electronic equipment, in px, regardless of the "bleeding" value, RGB color is enough;

For the document to be printed, if the unit is cm/mm, you need to set the "Bleeding" value and select the CMYK color;

After the document is created, due to the different options in the figure 1, the contents displayed in the workspace will be displayed in different tabs, and you can choose as needed.

When multiple tabs in the workspace are confused, we want to quickly put them back in their original positions. We can click "Reset Basic Functions" or "Reset xxx" in Figure 2.

Next, briefly introduce some common tools and their property settings:

First, the shape tool

1, rectangle, hold down the left mouse button and drag on the drawing board to drag out a rectangle. If you want to change the rectangle to a rounded rectangle, you can adjust the values of the four corners in the property panel.

Shortcut key:

Drag the square, hold down shift and drag the mouse;

Drag the square with the starting point as the center point, and hold down alt+shift to drag the mouse;

Drag the square with the starting point as the center point to move the position of the shape. Hold down alt+shift+ space bar and drag the mouse.

The above three methods are also applicable to other shapes (such as perfect circles), but remember to release the mouse first and then the shortcut key to achieve the effect.

2, round, we can use it to make pie chart effect, the method is as follows:

Drag the axis on the shape, or change the value on the property panel.

You can also pick out the missing part of the pie chart to make a corresponding copy of the pie chart, and click the reverse pie chart button on the panel, as shown in the following figure:

3. Polygon, you can change the number of sides of the polygon and adjust the value on the property panel:

You can also press the shortcut key without dragging the mouse:

Increase the number of sides: up arrow;

Reduce the number of sides: down arrow;

If you want the polygon to be positive when dragging, remember to press the shift key.

4, star, do not squirm the target when dragging, you can change the angle of the star by shortcut keys.

Increase in the number of angles: upward arrow;

Angle reduction: downward arrow;

When dragging a star, if you don't change the angle of the star, just change the fat posture of the star, and hold down the cmd key to drag.

If you want the star to be positive when dragging, remember to press the shift key.

Second, the little black arrow and the little white arrow.

The following two arrows have different functions. The black arrow is used to move the item in the picture, and the white arrow is used to change the position of the anchor/path of the shape.

Click a turning point (anchor point) of the rectangle with a small white arrow. When it changes from hollow to solid, the anchor point will be selected. At this point, drag the mouse to change the position of the anchor point. You can also put the mouse on a line (path) of the rectangle and drag the line to change the shape of the rectangle.

Third, writing tools.

The text tool can be used alone or in combination with the shape tool.

1, text tool (text arranged horizontally)

(1) Click on the sketchpad, which is a line of words;

(2) Dragging in the sketchpad is a paragraph;

Drag out a shape first, then select the text tool, put the mouse on a line of the shape, and when the word "path" appears, click the mouse, and the text paragraph will expand horizontally within the shape;

2. Straight text tool (text is arranged vertically)

(1) Click on the sketchpad, which is a vertical line;

(2) Dragging in the sketchpad is a vertical paragraph;

(3) Drag out a shape first, then select the straight text tool, place the mouse on a certain line of the shape, and when the word "path" appears, click the mouse, and the text paragraph will expand vertically in the shape;

3. Path Text Tool

① Drag out a shape first, then select the text path tool, put the mouse on a line of the shape, and when the word "path" appears, click the mouse, and the text paragraph will expand along the outer contour of the shape;

② If you want to change the direction of the text, you can select: Text-Text Direction-Vertical in the menu bar.

4. Word spacing

The spacing between words and lines can be adjusted by shortcut keys.

Word spacing: alt+ left/right arrow keys;

Line spacing: alt+ up/down arrow keys;

Fourth, copy and paste.

Sometimes we need more than one same project. At this time, there is no need to come one by one. We just need to copy and paste, but copy and paste are different.

Cmd+C and then cmd+V, copy one to the center of the workspace;

Cmd+C and then cmd+F, copy a layer to the original location of the original project;

Cmd+C and then cmd+B, copy a layer to the original location of the original project;

Hold down the Alt key and drag the element to copy it to the drag position;

Alt+shift+ Drag the element and copy it to the horizontal/vertical alignment with the original project;

Cmd+, move the selected item up one level;

Cmd+, move the selected item down one level;

Cmd+shift+, put the selected item on the top;

Cmd+shift+, put the selected item at the bottom;

Verb (abbreviation for verb) undo and resume.

When the operation has done several steps and there are problems that need to be undone, just press cmd+z repeatedly.

But after the cancellation, you found that it was not as good as just now. When you want to restore it, just press cmd+shift+z. ..

Zoom in and out and drag the canvas

Select the Magnifier tool and click the canvas to enlarge it. If you want to reduce the canvas, press alt to switch the magnifying glass to a reduction mirror. At this point, continue to click on the canvas to reduce the canvas.

If the canvas is enlarged so that we can't see an item in the canvas, we can drag the canvas to the desired line of sight by pressing the space bar, so that the mouse becomes a small gripper.

The above can also be done by shortcut keys:

Cmd+ plus sign enlarges canvas;

Cmd+ minus sign reduces canvas;

Cmd+0, making the canvas the most suitable size for the screen;

Storage and export

The completed file can be exported to ai format and common pdf format by clicking File-Save/Save As.

We can select an item in the artboard, right-click it, and then click Export Selected Item in the tab to export the item.

What's the difference between an artboard and a resource in the Export panel?

Select the artboard. The exported file is all the contents in the artboard where the selected project is located. The part beyond the artboard cannot be exported.

Select an asset, and the exported file is the selected project itself (multiple selections are allowed), and the part of the project itself beyond the sketchpad can also be exported; However, the unselected items in the artboard will not be exported.

In addition, the exported formats are jpg and png, with jpg as a white background and png as a transparent background, which can be selected as required.

-Thank you for reading.

Welcome all the great gods to come and teach ~