new to illustrator

[jasonchan]

i am new to illustrator and not sure what the difference is between this and photoshop. I guess the greatest distinction is photoshop uses rasterized graphics and illustrator uses vector graphics. I hear that it is better using illustrator for certain things and photoshop for others. I do not consider myself a pro at photoshop but i want to transition into illustrator as well because i want to create logos. Any good tutorials or books out there?

[seamas]

i am new to illustrator and not sure what the difference is between this and photoshop. I guess the greatest distinction is photoshop uses rasterized graphics and illustrator uses vector graphics. I hear that it is better using illustrator for certain things and photoshop for others. I do not consider myself a pro at photoshop but i want to transition into illustrator as well because i want to create logos. Any good tutorials or books out there?


The Quickstart books are OK for the basics, learn the functionality of all the tools.
I've also looked at the Adobe books. Nice as well.
After that, I just browse some of the books in the store for cool tips and ideas. There are a ton of great tips online -some even on this forum.
(I'll have to get links later)


I think one of the most used tools in Illustrator, and one of the best to learn is the Pen tool. Practice tracing letterforms anda variety of illustrations and photos. A few hours of use will be enough to get the hang of it.

I much more time working in Illustrator than Photoshop, but I often use both programs when creating certain images. Both are great tools.

[TR1]

I always use Illustrator for logos. Its easy to scribble designs scan then then manually trace round them with the pen too. You can really manipulate type too by converting to outlines and manipulating bits of the letters.

I have used the quickstart books and I would recommend them as seamas suggests.

[jasonchan]

Thanks for your input guys... is this the book you guys are referring to?

http://www.amazon.com/Illustrator-Windows-Macintosh-Visual-QuickStart/dp/0321336569/ref=sr_1_5/002-7112167-4280810?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174599024&sr=1-5

i'll place an order for it once i get a confirmation! Thanks again.

[TR1]

Thats the one - I had an one for a much earlier version of illustrator, but it was pretty easy to understand

[Ned]

Sorry to disagree, but I would not really suggest Visual Quickstart. Not saying it's a bad book, or in any way a bad purchase, but you would do much better with Adobe's Classroom in a Book (http://www.amazon.com/Adobe-Illustrator-CS2-Classroom-Book/dp/0321321839/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/103-6319333-7704669?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1174637625&sr=1-1).

[Crimson]

Mastering the Pen tool is the hardest part. Being familiar with photoshop puts you a little past the basics. It's the pen and working with the bezier curves. They can be tricky for regulars but with everything in life- practice. Then it makes you good for doing clipping paths in photoshop. Yes the big difference is vector and raster. However, that is a big enough difference to seperate the two programs. I am a big supporter of Lynda.com to learning any new software.

[YNOT]

Mastering the Pen tool is the hardest part.

I don't know if I'd say it's the hardest part, but by all means use it, learn it, live it!!!! The pen tool is your ultimate friend in Illustrator. With knowledge of the pen...you can accomplish anything.

I've got over 16 years in the design industry, so feel free to ask if you've got any questions and I'll do my best to assist you. There's still a lot I can learn with Illy...but I am extremely comfortable in the software especially when it comes to illustrating.

Tony

[Sketcher]

I mostly just use Photoshop for photo touch-ups and things like that. Almost all of my artwork is done in Illustrator.

And yes, the Pen Tool can be your best friend.

[joie]

In illustrator go to the 'Help' menu then 'Illustrator help' and it has everything you could want to know, it has an index which you can look up the functions of each tool etc....(if u hover over a tool in illustrator with the mouse, it'll tell u what it's called!) and there's some tutorials too.
this is how I learned illustrator.....and it's FREE!!!!!!!!!

[frankster]

If you really are very very new to the idea of the pen tool then there are a tonne of free on line resources to get you started that aren't as daubting as a big old book. Here's a simple pdf for example...

http://www.oit.umass.edu/workshops/tutorials/images_publishing/ai_2.pdf

[Jason Fraker]

Check out www.lynda.com and do the monthly subscription for $30/month. There, you can stream any video they offer whenever you want as often as you want. The Illustrator Essentials is a good one to start with, and the vids are broken down into chapters, so you don't have to watch for four hours before they get to what you want. I've used this site for a couple of months, and the variety of videos they offer is staggering. Of course, I'm a visual learner when it comes to this stuff, so actually watching someone complete the tuts is very helpful to me.