Oh
hello and welcome to this video tutorial
brought to you by TC Jude's comm so now
we are getting into the essential
practice section of this course in the
previous seven episodes I introduced you
to illustrator and showcased some handy
tips you should know now it's time to
get hands-on in this video we are going
to be focusing on shape vectors we are
going to be using the shape tool to
create a range of vector shapes then in
the next episode look at how to manage
these shapes vectors in groups and look
at how we can compound vector shapes now
the best way to learn is by watching and
doing so to help you I have created this
worksheet to follow along with this
tutorial you will need to open this
document I have prepared especially for
this tutorial this can be found in the
essential practice folder in the project
folder now you can download this project
folder for free the link is in the
description also along the way I will be
mentioning some useful shortcut keys
which you can find in the description
and in the shortcut key page in the
project PDF which you can also download
in the description so with the project
folder open click essential practice
shapes versions and select the version
of Illustrator you're using in my case
it's CC and open the shapes file and you
should have something that looks like
this now we are going to be covering a
lot in this video and in quite some
depth if you wish to skip ahead at any
points in the video or back you can do
so simply by looking in the description
the topics covered in this video are
listed in the description along with
their times so be sure to check that out
ok so once you have this document open
let's get into it so as we have already
learned that illustrator is a
vector-based program and we use this
program mainly to create and draw vector
shapes one of the handy tools we have in
Illustrator is the shape tool this gives
us a basis to build our vector artwork
and often it all starts from a simple
shape so if we come over to our menu on
the left we can see our shapes tool
about seven icons down if we click and
hold on this we can see an array
of shape on offer here if you look
closely you can see this little arrow on
the far right of this panel if we place
our mouse cursor over this and release
we can pop out this small panel that
will reveal all the possible shapes we
can make now this is going to be useful
and we're going to be using this panel a
lot in this video so as you can see in
this worksheet we have a lot of shapes
and this is a guide and we are going to
be creating the same shapes on top to
practice okay so now we are ready to
start making some shapes let's zoom into
the top row so here we have four shapes
we have what appears to be a rectangle a
square a diamond shape and a triangle on
its side or to make these shapes we are
going to use the rectangle tool so come
to the rectangle tool in the menu panel
and it's the icon on the far left and
select it once a shape icon is pressed
notice how your mouse cursor changes to
a crosshair this is going to make it
easier for you to accurately place your
new shape on the canvas area so I'm
going to bring my mouse cursor over to
the rectangle shape to attempt to draw
one but you may notice like me you get
some green notifications as I place my
mouse cursor over the previously made
shape if this is not happening for you
don't worry this is only because
smartguides is switched on for this
tutorial I'm actually going to switch
this off so if I come to view and scroll
down to smart guides we can currently
see this is checked so I'm going to go
ahead and click this to turn it off and
now there is no smart guides great so
let's go ahead and place our mouse
cursor on the top left of the triangle
shape and click and drag to draw out a
shape as you click and drag you will see
an outline
this is illustrator showing you the
shape which you are about to draw and
you can drag this in any direction to
draw a rectangle shape so using the
worksheet as a guide I'm going to drag
my shape to create the first rectangle
and upon release we will have the vector
shape with an outline and see the anchor
points that make up this vector upon
release you
we'll also notice the mouse cursor
remains a crosshair this is because we
can now continue to draw another shape
though if we wish to control our new
shape move it around or rotate for
example we can press B on the keyboard
to activate the selection tool upon
pressing V we can now see a different
outline around our shape this is the
vector bounding box on our mouse cursor
changes to a black arrow this will allow
us to click and move the vector perhaps
grab one of the squares on the bounding
box pull it in to change the shape and
move the cursor over to the top right
corner and rotate but we're not going to
do that here so I'm going to press and
do to undo that okay so let's move on to
the next shape and this time we have a
square shape so like earlier I'm going
to come to the shape tool panel and
click on the rectangle tool now there
are two ways we can go about doing this
the first way is pretty easy with the
rectangle tool selected we can simply
click once on the canvas area and up
will pop a properties box now if you
need to create a square vector to a
specific size you can enter the values
here so I'm going to enter in a width of
20 millimeters and the height of 20
millimeters and click OK and there is
our new shape though I'm going to delete
this because I'm going to demonstrate a
second way so with the rectangle tool
active I'm going to come over to my
square shape and click to begin to draw
I'll put my mouse cursor in the top
right and begin to click and drag now
this time instead of dragging my mouse
cursor like in the previous example I'm
going to press and hold shift on the
keyboard and this is going to scale my
shape up like so pressing and holding
shift is going to allow me to scale my
shape up nice and easy so I can create a
perfect square nice okay so let's move
on to the next shape this time we have
what looks like a diamond shape so I'm
going to press B on the keyboard to
activate my selection tool and if we
don't have our square we've just made
selected be sure to select that now in
Illustrator we don't always have to make
shapes from scratch using the shape tool
we can use shapes we have already made
we can duplicate them and make the
modifications we want you may find this
a faster technique so this time I'm not
going to make a new shape I'm simply
going to copy and paste the square I
just made so with the square selected
I'm going to press command C to copy and
command V to paste and there is our new
shape so I'm going to select it and move
it into position and all I'm going to do
is simply rotate it so with the
selection tool if I place my mouse
cursor over the edge the mouse cursor
will change to a curved arrow and I'm
going to press and drag around like so
if I press and hold shift on the
keyboard I will snap to 45 degree
increments and this will make it easy to
get an accurate rotation so upon release
I have the diamond shape and I'm going
to use the arrow keys to finally place
this on top of the worksheet nice so
moving on to the next shape here we have
what appears to be a triangle on its
side now we have just made what looks
like a diamond shape now we are going to
use this shape again but make a slight
adjustment to create our new shape so
like earlier with our new shape selected
I'm going to copy and paste and place it
into position like so now we have not
covered the pen tool yet but I want to
show you one tool that is going to help
us modify our shape very easily so with
our new shape selected we are going to
come over to the menu and click and hold
on the pen tool and we want to select
the delete Anchor Point tool once we
have this tool active we can now see the
outline of our vector shape change this
no long this is no longer the bounding
box we can now see each anchor point
that makes at the vector shape in red
what I'm going to do is come across and
put my mouse cursor over the far left
anchor point and click to remove that
occur point upon click the point will be
removed and we have essentially created
a new shape this is no longer a square
shape it's now a triangle shape
excellent
so that's our rectangle shapes covered
let's move on to the next row and make
some new shapes with the ellipse tool so
again like earlier we are going to come
to the shapes tool pan
and this time click the ellipse shape
tool then come down to our circle shape
on the worksheet and click and drag to
draw a circle just like earlier we can
click a drag to create any sort of
ellipse shape but if we press and hold
shift on the keyboard we can draw a
perfect circle like so once you have
drawn that shape press V on the keyboard
to activate the selection tool and move
this shape into position like so don't
worry if the shape is too big or too
small so the next shape looks like a
circle in half so just like earlier
we're going to copy and paste our new
shape and move into position and again
we are going to come to the pen tool
select the delete Anchor Point tool move
the mouse over the far left Anchor Point
and click to remove that particular
Anchor Point
though notice what happens this time we
still have curvature in the line and we
have some anchor point handles to deal
with this we no need to use the direct
selection tool so by pressing a on the
keyboard we can activate the direct
selection tool what I'm going to do next
is click and drag the handle points and
push them back into the Anchor Point
like so I'm going to do this with both
Anchor Point handles and this will
remove the curvature in that part of the
line then I'm going to press B on the
keyboard and now we have our bounding
box around the shape ready to move it
around so the next shape appears to be
the same as what we just made but
rotated so let's go ahead and do this
I'm going to copy and paste and place my
shape into position move my mouse cursor
over the edge to show the curved arrows
click to rotate and hold shift to snap
rotate move into place and there it is
simple on to the next shape now we have
something a little different here what
we are going to do here is use a new
tool called the free transform tool so
to create this we are first going to
select a shape we have already created
the first Halfmoon example using the
selection tool copy and paste it like so
then move into position with the shape
selected I'm going to come across to my
tools menu and
select the free transform icon this is
about halfway down upon click you will
now see the outline of the shape change
and now we have these circle points
around by shape also you will notice a
new panel appear next to the tools menu
this is the free transform panel and
from here you can select a different
transform mode so I'm going to go ahead
and click on the perspective distort
mode in the free transform option menu
then I'm going to come across to my
shape and click on the bottom left point
and pull out like so and just like that
I have used the free transform tool to
manipulate my vector shape to create a
completely new shape
excellent so next we are going to move
down and if we take a look at the
worksheet we can see we have some quite
different shapes next we are going to
use the star tool so if I come up to the
shapes tool menu and select the star
shape let's come down and begin to draw
first shape and it helps to start with
your cursor in the middle of the
worksheet example so I'm going to click
and drag and move the mouse around like
so and we can make a star shape at any
angle but on this occasion I'm going to
hold shift on the keyboard to create a
nice shape like on my worksheet so upon
release use the selection tool to move
the shape into position if you need to
so the next shape appears to have a lot
more points on the outside to create
this shape again we are going to use the
star shape so with the star shape I'm
going to click and drag out like so but
this time I'm going to press up on the
keyboard by pressing up on the keyboard
you can add more points to the star
shape and if you press down you can take
them away so from my original star shape
I'm going to press up on the keyboard
seven times and I will make a shape the
same as on my worksheet
upon release use the selection tool to
move the shape into position and rotate
if you need to the next shape is again
very different this time we have a lot
of points but this but they seem more
shallow on the edges to create this
shape again with a star tool we'll go
going to click-and-drag now notice how
the shape is the same as we left the
last one illustrator remember that so we
are going to click and drag out like so
but this time instead of pressing up or
down on the keyboard we are going to
press and hold on the command button for
a Mac or ctrl for PC with the command
button held down we are going to move
and drag the mouse cursor in and out as
we do this we can change the depth of
the points we can make them really tall
or really short so I'm going to drag
mine so they closely resemble my shape
on the worksheet and release my mouse
click and I'm going to reposition and
rescale to position my shape neatly on
the worksheet like so excellent
okay so let's create another star now
notice how the star shape is the same as
the star I created previously now this
can be convenient in some cases but not
so much for others right now I just want
to go back to my original star shape so
I'm going to delete that new shape and
use a simple technique so with your star
shape tool selected this time instead of
clicking and dragging to create a shape
simply click once on the campus area
then up will pop a menu option and as
you can see it has the values of the
shape we just made I'm going to change
these settings here radius one means the
outside circle so I'll change this to 20
millimeters and radius 2 means the
inside circle so I'll change this to 10
millimeters then I will change my points
to 5 click OK and we have a star very
similar to what we started with and I'll
just alter the size of that using the
selection tool excellent so I'm going to
use the free transform tool again here
by coming over to the Tools menu and
selecting this again my outline will
change and we have these circle points
and a free transform menu will appear
this time I'm going to select the free
transform mode from the free transform
or panel and click on my points until I
have a shape that looks something like
this
next we are going to move on to the
polygon shapes I'm going to select the
polygon
shape tool and click and drag out a
polygon shape similar to my worksheet
example and move that into position like
so the net shapes appear to be a
triangle to create this is very simple
again with the polygon tool we are going
to click and drag out and this time
press down three times on the keyboard
then press and hold shift to align it
straight up just like the worksheet
example once I have created this I'll
press V to activate the selection tool
and move this into place and resize
accordingly to fit on the worksheet next
I will again select the polygon tool and
begin to draw shape but remember
illustrator brings out the same shape so
this time I will press up on the
keyboard two times and we can see we
have a new shape similar to the
worksheet I will press and hold shift to
align it straight up and place it over
the worksheet example next I'm going to
create another polygon at this time
instead of clicking and dragging I'm
going to click once and then the menu
panel that pops up I'm going to type a
radius of 15 and put in ten sides and
click OK and there is our new custom
shape so by now you should have a clear
understanding of how some of the shape
tools work the shape tool offers you the
ability to create simple shapes and by
using the up and down buttons on the
keyboard and and the command for Mac and
Control for PC you can customize your
shapes further so finally we have the
rounded rectangle shape and this is very
similar to the rectangle tool but here
we can toggle the corners to get more
rounded shapes so I'm going to select
the rounded rectangle shape tool from
the tools panel and click and drag a
shape similar to the worksheet and here
we have a rectangle with some rounded
corners next I'm going to draw another
shape but as I drag my shape to the
similar size as my worksheet I'm going
to press and hold up on the keyboard to
try and match the corners on my
worksheet this is going to pull in my
corners and here we have big round
corners next with the rounded rectangle
tool I'm simply going to click once and
enter in some custom values I'm going to
add a width
of 65 millimetres height of seven
millimeters and the corner radius of 35
millimeters and there is a wide slim
rectangle shape with rounded corners so
that is how we can use the shape tool in
Illustrator to create shape vectors the
shape tool offers us five shapes to
choose from but as you can see we can
get a wide variety of shapes from them
and with the aid of the free transform
tool we can further customize shapes so
this is really the basis of creating
artwork in Illustrator you start with
some simple shapes and build up as you
go along in this video we looked at how
we can create and manage shapes
individually in the next video we are
going to learn how we can use these
vector shapes in groups and then learn
how we can compound shapes to create
more complex shape vectors so I'll see
you in the next video