[ Music ]
>> Hello, and welcome to this video tutorial brought
to you by TastyTuts.com.
In the previous tutorial, we learned how
to create individual vector shapes using the shape tool.
In this video, we are going to be using some of those shapes
and learn how to create groups
and learn how we can take those groups
and compound multiple vectors into new,
individual 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.
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,
grouped vectors, versions", and select the version
of Illustrator you're using.
In my case, it's CC and open the grouped vector 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 point in the video or back,
you can simply look in the description
and all the topics covered
in this video are listed along with their times.
So, be sure to check that out.
Okay. So, once you have this document open,
let's get into it.
So, here on the left we have our shapes
from the previous tutorial
and on the right we have our worksheet,
which we are going to work to.
So, let's zoom into the top of the second artboard to begin.
First, we need to create a little composition using some
of the shapes from the first artboard.
So, by pressing and holding the space bar, I can click
and move over like so.
First, I need the diamond shaped vector, so I'm going to press
"V" to activate the selection tool,
and then I'm going to select it.
Then I'm going to press and hold "ALT" on the keyboard and click
and drag it over, and this is going
to quickly duplicate the shape.
Next, I need the square, so I'm going
to select the square vector, press and hold "ALT"
on the keyboard and drag it over onto my worksheet.
Next, I need the triangle on the side, so I'm going to select
and duplicate this vector as well.
And finally, I need the circle shape, so I will select
and duplicate this and drag it over to my composition.
So, let's zoom into our new composition
and quickly move them into position
to reflect the worksheet.
Now, as you can see, some
of the vectors are sitting on top of each other.
In Illustrator, like in Photoshop, we can use layers,
and if we come to the right to see our work panels,
and click on the layers panel,
we can see we are currently working on the work area layer.
If you can't see this panel, you can come to Window, scroll down
and click the layers panel here.
Now, in Illustrator, we can create multiple vectors
on one layer, and it works in a hierarchy structure.
So, the first vector you create on the layer is simply
at the bottom of the pile, then the next vector created will be
on top of that, and the next vector created will be on top
of that, and so on and so on.
Now, you can control this structure
and a range of vectors.
For example, let's bring the bottom vector to the top.
To do this, you can click the bottom vector, right click,
and this will bring up a menu list.
Then scroll down to arrange and select "bring to front",
and now that vector is on the top like so.
Now, if we want to select the circle here and push it
to the back, we can do that by, again, right clicking,
scrolling down to arrange, and clicking send to back.
Easy. Now, as this title here suggests,
these are ungrouped vectors.
Now, what does this mean?
Well, this means I can select each vector shape individually
like so and there is no current connection between them.
However, if I click and drag using the selection tool
over all the shapes like so and release,
I will make the selection and now they are all selected.
Now, we can see a bounding box around all of the shapes.
With these individual vectors selected,
we can actually make changes to them all in one go.
For example, with them all selected, I can change the color
of the fill by clicking on the fill in the menu,
selecting a color, and also clicking
on the stroke color and changing that.
I will just click off to deselect the shapes.
So, clicking and dragging with your selection tool
over individual vector shapes can allow you
to change multiple vector colors and effects in one instance.
By holding "shift" on the keyboard,
I can select one shape, then another,
and this will select multiple shapes individually.
Where perhaps I can make a change,
I can make a change to particular shapes.
So, again, I'm going to click off the deselect
and this time click and drag to select them all.
This will allow us, with the selection tool, to click
and move the selection around.
We can rotate and we can change the size, but we don't want
to do that right now, so I will undo this.
So, now I have all the individual vectors selected.
I'm going to press and hold "ALT" on the keyboard and click
and drag over to the right,
and I will quickly duplicate the vectors like so.
So, now we have two compositions.
So, with all of these vectors selected, I'm going to come
to the menu at the bottom and click the default fill
in stroke button to reset these colors back to black and white.
This time with the vector selected, I'm going to come
to "object" and select "group", or I could press
"Command G" on the keyboard.
Now, once I have done this,
I'm going to click off the shapes to deselect.
Now, if I move my mouse cursor over any of these shapes
and click, we will select all of them.
That is because these vector shapes are now grouped together,
so all our vector shapes to the left are individuals,
and this composition to the right is grouped.
This helps if you're creating a complex piece of artwork
and moving vectors around a lot.
You can group all objects together in this way,
such as text objects, vector shapes, and images.
So, now these vectors are grouped,
all we have to do is select just once
and we will select them all, and we can add effects,
like a color fill and edit the stroke very easily.
Now, it's important to note
that even though these vectors are now grouped,
we can still edit the vector shapes as individuals.
For example, if I click on the group, we will select the group,
though if I double click on one of the shapes in the group,
we will click into that group and I can isolate that part
and click and move that part of the group around,
or even add new effects.
Notice how all other objects on the canvas area turn opaque,
and we have this grey bar at the top showing us
which level we are at within the group.
Once I'm happy with my modification, I'm simply going
to double click into the white canvas shape,
and with the selection tool, if I select the vector,
we can see it's still part of the group.
So, I'm going to double click back onto the vector shape
and put the shape back into its previous position.
Now, sometimes you may wish to ungroup a group of vectors.
If you want to separate them, to do this is quite simple.
With your group selected,
come to "object" and select "ungroup".
Upon click, you will break the group up
and now they are treated as individual elements.
But I want to keep this group, so I'm going to select all
of them and come back to "object" and click "group".
Excellent.
Okay. So, that's how to create and manage a vector group.
Next, I'm going to click on my vector group,
press and hold "ALT" on the keyboard, and drag the group
to duplicate it down like
so under the title "compound shape".
And just like earlier, I'm going to click
on the default coloring stroke to reset the vector colors.
So, as it currently stands,
this group contains four individual vector shapes.
Now, we are going to compound these shapes together
to create a single vector shape.
To do this, we are going to use the pathfinder tool.
Now, I have mine to hand over to the right
at the bottom of my screen.
If you cannot see this panel, simply come up to Window,
scroll down and select pathfinder.
If we look in the pathfinder panel,
we can see various shape modes and pathfinders.
What we are about to do is merge the four vectors
that created this group into a single shape.
So, with the group selected, I'm going to come
over to the pathfinder tool and click the first icon
to the left called "unite", and upon click, you can now see
that these shapes have become one.
If we look closely we can see the anchor points
and the vector outline that now makes up this new shape.
So, now we have this new shape, we can alter the effects of this
as one, such as the stroke, we can push this up,
and turn the fill to transparent.
It's important to mention that once you compound the vectors
like this, you can no longer access the previous shapes
as individuals, so, be careful while using this technique.
So, I'm going to select the shape with my selection tool
and press and hold "ALT" and drag it over to the right
to duplicate the shape like so.
This time, I'm going to make the stroke transparent,
click on the fill color, come to the swatches panel,
and select a gradient.
So, sometimes you may need to create compound shapes in order
to apply various effects.
If I click on my top group and apply the same gradient,
we can see it's not the same as with the compound shape below.
Here we get a nice gradient across the entire shape.
So, next we are going to look at the shape builder tool.
Now, the shape builder tool works similar
to the pathfinder tool.
With the shaper builder tool, you can merge, cut,
and slice shapes with more control
to create more interesting outcomes.
So, first we are going to come up
and select our ungrouped vectors.
With the selection tool, I'm going to click and drag an area
to select them all, click and hold "ALT" on the keyboard,
and drag them down under my shape builder tool header.
Next, I'm going to come over to the menu
and select the shape builder tool, which is just
under the free transform tool.
Now, with the shape builder tool activated, I'm going to come
over to the group vectors
and move the mouse cursor over the shapes.
So, this selection of vectors contains four individual vector
shapes and they are overlapping each other.
As we move the mouse cursor over the selected vectors
with the shape builder tool,
Illustrator will highlight all the various shapes
within the group.
We can see the areas that overlap
and the areas that do not.
So, let's say we want to merge just the diamond shape
with the triangle below.
With the shape builder tool, you can click and drag
over the two shapes and you can see they now become compounded.
Let's say we want to cut out the top part
of the circle as they overlap here.
Well, with the shape builder tool, we can click on that area,
and it will cut it away.
With the selection tool, I can now click that shape
and move it to the side.
So, here, we have not only cut that shape away,
but created a new shape here, too.
So, now I have a bunch of new vector shapes.
I can move them around and space them out like so,
and change them individually.
Pretty cool.
So, next I'm going to select my compound shape I created earlier
and press and hold "ALT" to click and drag
to duplicate it below, and click
on the default color fill button.
This time we are going to come to our first artboard
and holding "shift", select the circle, the star,
and the polygon shape.
I will press and hold "ALT" and drag them
across to duplicate them, and with them all selected,
I'm going to scale them down like so holding "shift",
and change the color fill to black.
Then I'm going to select each shape and move them
over to my vector shape like so,
but notice how they are behind the larger shape.
So, now I'm going to click on the big shape, right click,
scroll down to arrange, and send to back,
and now we can see our new black shapes on top.
I'm quickly going to scale up my star like so.
So, now we have our vector
with smaller overlapping shape vectors.
Next, I'm going to make a selection
over this new composition with my selection tool.
I'm going to click and drag over them.
Now, I could group these if I want to as demonstrated earlier,
but I have a different plan for this.
With the vector selected, I'm going to press and hold "ALT"
on the keyboard, and click and drag across and down like so
to make a quick duplication.
Now, we are going to do something a little different.
What we are going to do is cut the black vector shapes
out of the larger vector below to make a new shape.
So, with them all selected, we are going to come again
to the pathfinder panel, and this time we are going to come
to the fourth icon across and click on the "exclude" button.
Upon click, you will now see
that the individual vectors become compounded
into one vector.
If I remove the stroke, and apply the same gradient
as before, we can see we have the transparent shapes
in our vector.
Now, if we want to modify these holes in our shape, we will need
to use the direct selection tool.
For example, let's zoom right into this shape,
I will press "A" on the keyboard
to activate the direct selection tool,
and then click on the shape.
Now, we can see the red anchor points that make up the shape.
Now, it's a case of simply selecting one
of the anchor points and moving it around, though if I want
to move the entire hole around, I will first need
to select the anchor point, then hold "shift" and select the rest
of the anchor points to move them
around using the arrow keys.
Simple. So, zooming out with the selection tool,
I'm going to click and duplicate the shape across pressing "ALT"
as I drag, and simply swap the fill and stroke color,
and push up the stroke.
And we can see how the gradient also applies to our stroke
on the new compound shape.
So, that is how we can arrange our vectors, group our vectors,
compound individual vectors into single vectors,
and cut shapes out of vectors.
It all comes down to what artistic effect you are trying
to achieve in your artwork, and to what extent you wish
to organize your vectors.
Grouping vectors can simply help with your workflow,
though compounding vectors can help achieve a particular
esthetic for your artwork.
In the next video, we are going to learn how to draw
in Illustrator and learn how to effectively use the pen tool,
the brush tool, and the pencil tool.
See you in the next video.