 
Swatches are named colors, tints, gradients, and patterns. The swatches associated with a document appear in the Swatches panel. Swatches can appear individually or in groups.
You can open libraries of swatches from other Illustrator documents and various color systems. Swatch libraries appear in separate panels and are not saved with the document.
Process colors. A process color is printed using a combination of the four standard process inks: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black. By default, Illustrator defines new swatches as process colors. Global process colors.
A global color is automatically updated throughout your artwork when you edit it. All spot colors are global; however, process colors can be either global or local. You can identify global color swatches by the global color icon when the panel is in list view or a triangle in the lower corner when the panel is in thumbnail view.
A spot color is a premixed ink that is used instead of, or in addition to, CMYK process inks. You can identify spot-color swatches by the spot-color icon when the panel is in list view or a dot in the lower corner when the panel is in thumbnail view. A gradient is a graduated blend between two or more colors or tints of the same color or different colors.
Transparency applied to a gradient stop, is preserved when the gradient is saved as a gradient swatch. The aspect-ratio and angle values of elliptical gradients those created by adjusting the aspect ratio or angle of a radial gradient are not saved. For example, registration marks use the Registration color so that printing plates can be aligned precisely on a press. To avoid this, use black ink for type. Color groups. Color groups can contain process, spot, and global process colors.
They cannot contain pattern, gradient, none, or registration swatches. To put existing swatches into a color group, select the swatches and click the New Color Group icon in the Swatches panel. You can identify a color group by the folder icon. You can also create tints in the Swatches panel. A tint is a global process color or spot color with a modified intensity. Tints of the same color are linked together, so that if you edit the color of a tint swatch, all associated tint swatches and the objects painted with those swatches change color, though the tint values remain unchanged.
Tints are identified by a percentage when the Swatches panel is in list view. You can name and store any of these items for instant access. Spot color B. Process color C. Fill or stroke of None D. Registration swatch prints on all plates E. Swatch Library Menu H. Open Color Themes Panel I. Show Swatch Kinds Menu K.
Swatch Options L. New Color Group M. New Swatch N. Delete Swatch. If you want to limit your Swatches panel to only the colors that are used in a document, you can select all unused swatches and then delete them. To select the entire group, click the color group icon. To edit the selected color group, make sure no artwork is selected and click the Edit Color Group button , or double-click the color group folder. To edit the selected color group and apply the edits to selected artwork, click the Edit Or Apply Colors button , or double-click the color group folder.
For more information, see Edit colors in the Edit Colors dialog box. Select Show Find Field from the Swatches panel menu. Type the first letter or letters of the swatch's name in the Find text box at the top of the panel.
Select the colors you want in a new color group and click the New Color Group button. These commands only work on individual swatches, not swatches in a color group. When you open a swatch library, it appears in a new panel not the Swatches panel.
You select, sort, and view swatches in a swatch library the same as you do in the Swatches panel. In the Swatches panel, click the Swatch Libraries Menu button , and choose a library from the list. Edit the swatches in the Swatches panel so that it contains only the swatches you want in the swatch library. Apply a swatch to an object in the document. If the swatch is a global or spot-color swatch, the swatch is automatically added to the Swatches panel.
Select a color using the Color Picker or Color panel, or select an object with the color you want. Then, drag the color from the Tools panel or Color panel to the Swatches panel. In the dialog box that appears, select Global if you want the swatch to be a global color. Set additional swatch options, and click OK. See Swatch options. In the dialog box that appears, select Spot Color for Color Type.
Set additional swatch options and click OK. Drag the gradient fill from the Fill box in the Tools panel or Color panel to the Swatches panel. In the Gradient panel, click the gradient menu next to the gradient box and click the Save To Swatches Library icon. In the dialog box that appears, enter a swatch name, and click OK. You can automatically add all the colors from selected artwork or all the colors in your document to the Swatches panel.
Illustrator finds the colors that are not already in the Swatches panel, converts any process colors to global colors, and adds them to the panel as new swatches. When you automatically add colors to the Swatches panel, all colors in the document are included, except the following:. If you change a gradient fill, pattern fill, or symbol instance to a new global color, the color is added as a new swatch and the original color swatch is retained.
Make sure that nothing is selected, and choose Add Used Colors from the Swatches panel menu. Select the objects containing the colors you want to add to the Swatches panel, and do one of the following:. Click the New Color Group button in the Swatches panel.
Specify options in the dialog box that appears. Select the file from which you want to import swatches, and click Open. The imported swatches appear in a swatch library panel not the Swatches panel. To import individual swatches from another document, copy and paste objects that use the swatches. The imported swatches appear in the Swatches panel. If imported swatches for spot colors or global process colors have the same name but different color values as swatches already in the document, a swatch conflict occurs.
For spot color conflicts, the color values of the existing swatches are preserved and imported swatches are automatically merged with the existing swatches. For process color conflicts, the Swatch Conflict dialog box appears, and color values for existing swatches are automatically retained.
You can share the solid swatches you create in Photoshop, Illustrator, and InDesign by saving a swatch library for exchange. The colors appear the same across apps as long as your color settings are synchronized.
You can create and share color group swatches by using the Color Themes panel previously known as the Kuler panel. See Color Themes panel. These types of swatches are automatically excluded when you save swatches for exchange.
When you load a library that contains swatches with identical names, the definitions of the identically-named swatches are overwritten. Ensure that swatch names are unique.
You can manage the swatches in your Swatches panel by duplicating, grouping, replacing, merging, or deleting them. You can also specify swatch options such as swatch name, color type, color mode, or preview.
When you want to keep specific colors together in the Swatches panel, create a color group. For example, you can create a color group for colors you select in the Color Guide panel.
When you save a color group in the Edit Colors dialog box, it is automatically saved as a color group in the Swatches panel. You can also manually group any set of solid color swatches. To replace a swatch, hold down Alt Windows or Option Mac OS and drag the color or gradient from the Color panel, Gradient panel, an object, or the Tools panel to the Swatches panel, highlighting the swatch you want to replace. Replacing an existing color, gradient, or pattern in the Swatches panel globally changes objects in the file containing that swatch color with the new color, gradient, or pattern.
The only exception is for a process color that does not have the Global option selected in the Swatch Options dialog box. To merge multiple swatches, select two or more swatches, and select Merge Swatches from the Swatches panel menu. The first selected swatch name and color value replace all other selected swatches.
To delete a swatch, select one or more swatches.
Adobe Illustrator is a vector graphics editor and design program developed and marketed by Adobe Inc. Originally designed for the Apple Macintosh , development of Adobe Illustrator began in Along with Creative Cloud Adobe's shift to monthly or annual subscription service delivered over the Internet , Illustrator CC was released.
The latest version, Illustrator , was released on October 26, , and is the 25th generation in the product line. Adobe Illustrator was reviewed as the best vector graphics editing program in by PC Magazine.
Development of Adobe Illustrator for the Apple Macintosh began in [2] shipping in January as a commercialization of Adobe's in-house font development software and PostScript file format.
Adobe Illustrator is the companion product of Adobe Photoshop. Photoshop is primarily geared toward digital photo manipulation and photorealistic styles of computer illustration , while Illustrator provides results in the typesetting and logo graphic areas of design.
Early magazine advertisements featured in graphic design trade magazines such as Communication Arts referred to the product as "the Adobe Illustrator". Illustrator 88, the product name for version 1.
Byte in listed Illustrator 88 as among the "Distinction" winners of the Byte Awards, stating that with it Adobe had "pulled ahead" of previously industry-dominant competitor Aldus FreeHand. Early versions of the software did not support working in preview mode and users needed to have two windows open on their desktop in order to have a live preview of their work.
One window would show the work in progress and the other window would show a preview of the work in progress. Although during its first decade Adobe developed Illustrator primarily for Macintosh, it sporadically supported other platforms.
The first version of Illustrator for Windows, version 2. The next Windows version, version 4. Note that there were no versions 2. And there was no version 6 for Windows. Version 4 was, however, the first version of Illustrator to support editing in preview mode, which did not appear in a Macintosh version until 5.
Version 6 was the last truly Macintosh version of Illustrator. The interface changed radically with the following version to bring consistency between Mac and Windows computer platforms. The changes remained until CS6 when some small steps were taken to restore the app to a slightly more Mac-like interface.
With the introduction of Illustrator 7 in , Adobe made critical changes in the user interface with regard to path editing and also to converge on the same user interface as Adobe Photoshop , and many users opted not to upgrade. Like Photoshop, Illustrator also began supporting plug-ins, greatly and quickly extending its abilities. With true user interface parity between Macintosh and Windows versions starting with 7.
Adobe bought Aldus in for Page Maker. As a result, Macromedia acquired Free Hand in from its original developer, Altsys , and continued its development through Illustrator Version 9 included a tracing feature, similar to that within Adobe's discontinued product Streamline. Illustrator CS aka version 11 , released by Adobe for Mac and Windows in October , was the first version to include 3-dimensional capabilities allowing users to extrude or revolve shapes to create simple 3D objects.
It was the last version for the Mac which did not run natively on Intel processors. Live Trace allows for the conversion of bitmap imagery into vector art and improved upon the previous tracing abilities.
Live Paint allows users more flexibility in applying color to objects, specifically those that overlap. Instead, Adobe would provide tools and support to ease the transition to Illustrator. Illustrator CS3 included interface updates to the Control Bar, the ability to align individual points, multiple Crop Areas, the Color Guide panel and the Live Color feature among others. CS3 was released on March 27, CS4 was released in October It features a variety of improvements to old tools along with the introduction of a few brand-new tools acquired from FreeHand.
The ability to create multiple artboards is one of CS4's main additions from Freehand. The artboards allow you to create multiple versions of a piece of work within a single document. Other tools include the Blob Brush, which allows multiple overlapping vector brush strokes to easily merge or join, and a revamped gradient tool allowing for more in-depth color manipulation as well as transparency in gradients.
CS5 was released in April Along with a number of enhancements to existing functionality, Illustrator CS5's new features include a Perspective Grid tool taken from FreeHand, a Bristle Brush for more natural and painterly looking strokes and a comprehensive update to strokes, referred to by Adobe as "Beautiful Strokes".
The app had many of the features of Adobe Illustrator, yet it was a free download. This allowed professionals to sketch and ideate "on the go" and allowed anyone to access world-class vector drawing capabilities. As a result, Facebook and social media posts appeared from all over the world with vector drawings from Adobe Ideas from pros and novices alike.
Version CS6 was the 16th generation of Adobe Illustrator. Adobe added many more features and several bug fixes such as a new user interface, layer panels, RGB codes, and color ramp to increase performance.
CS6 was released on April 23, This version the 17th was the first to be only sold in a subscription-based service model, in line with the other software in the formerly called Creative Suite. As part of Creative Cloud, this version brought improvements in that subject such as color, font and program settings syncing, saving documents to the cloud, and integration with Behance a creative collaborative network , as well as other features such as a new touch-compatible type tool, images in brushes, CSS extraction, and files packaging.
Starting with version 1. John Warnock desired a Renaissance image to evoke his vision of PostScript as a new Renaissance in publishing, and Adobe employee Luanne Seymour Cohen, who was responsible for the early marketing material, found Venus' flowing tresses a perfect vehicle for demonstrating Illustrator's strength in tracing smooth curves over bitmap source images.
Over the years the rendition of this image on Illustrator's splash screen and packaging became more stylized to reflect features added in each version. The image of Venus was replaced albeit still accessible via easter egg in Illustrator CS The CS4 icon is almost identical, except for a slight alteration to the font and the color which is dark gray.
The CS5 icon is also virtually the same, except that this time the logo is like a box, along with all the other CS5 product logos, with the "Ai" bright yellow. CS6 changed it a bit to a brown square with a yellow border and yellow lettering, and in CC the colors were upgraded to a sharper tone and thinner borders.
Compatibility with Inkscape : [18] Inkscape's native format is SVG Scalable Vector Graphics , which is supported by Adobe Illustrator, but the two implementations are not fully compatible. A sidebar that appears at the left of the screen with a variety of tools to select, create, and manipulate objects or artworks in Illustrator. These tools can be selected as following: drawing, typing, painting, reshaping, slicing and cutting, symbolism, moving and zooming, and graph.
A small triangle has the option to view or expand some hidden tools by holding down the mouse button on the triangle. Some examples of basic tools in Illustrator are selection tools, paintbrush tools, pen tools, pencil tools e. Selection tools are used to the layout, adjust, and organize the artwork by selecting, positioning, and stacking objects accurately. Moreover, selection tools can group, lock or hide, and measure objects. There are different types of brushes: calligraphic, scatter, art, pattern, and bristle.
Pencil tools allow the user to draw and edit freehand lines. Illustrator Draw is a free-form vector drawing app for Android and iOS users. Drawings made with the Illustrator Draw app can be exported to the desktop programs of Adobe Illustrator. From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Vector graphics editor from Adobe Inc. Adobe Inc. October 26, Retrieved October 29, Retrieved December 4, September 20, Archived from the original on October 20, January The Nelson Group, Inc.
Archived from the original on May 30, Retrieved April 26, April 15, Retrieved February 11, October 18, Archived from the original PDF on May 24, Retrieved February 8, November 7, Adobe Systems. December 5, Archived from the original on December 19, Retrieved December 29, John Nack on Adobe. Adobe Blogs. May 16, Retrieved July 19, Retrieved September 5, Archived from the original on January 3, Veerle's blog.
Archived from the original on December 7, Retrieved December 6,
Get creative by applying and editing freeform color gradient adobe illustrator cc free to achieve more natural and freeform color blending. This sample file is an Adobe Stock color gradient adobe illustrator cc free you can use to practice what you learn in this tutorial.
If you want to use the sample file beyond this tutorial, you can purchase a license on Adobe Stock. Check out the ReadMe file in the folder for the terms that apply to your use of this sample file. In Illusstrator, a freeform gradient is used to create a graduated blend of color stops within a shape grdaient an ordered or random sequence such that the blending appears smooth and natural.
A freeform gradient can be applied in two modes:. After changing the gradient type, a series of color stops will appear in the artwork. The number and color of those color stops may be different depending on the artwork in your document. Tip : To change the color of more than one color stop adone a time, Fre the color ilkustrator you wish to edit, then click the Fill color in the Properties panel and adjust the color for all of them.
Aside from adding color using color stops, you can also draw illustraor line that you can blend the same or different colors along. Gradient lines will make the color along the path have a more solid appearance.
Drag to reposition the points or double-click any of them on the path to edit their color. Press Delete or Backspace to remove them or click on the line to add new points.
To edit the individual color stops that are not associated with a line, select the Points option in the Properties panel.
You can then select and edit points. Back to: Create color gradients Up next: Create and apply a pattern. Adobe Illustrator Features What's New. Buy now. What you'll need. Get files. Oclor you learned: Apply gfadient create a freeform gradient to artwork What is a freeform gradient?
A freeform gradient can illustrwtor applied in two modes: Points : Select this option illusttrator you want to create color stops as independent points in the object. Lines : Select this option if you want to create color stops over a line segment in the object.
Apply a freeform gradient Select the Gradient tool in the toolbar on the left and click in the artwork to apply a default White, Black gradient, in color gradient adobe illustrator cc free instance. In the Properties panel, click the Freeform Gradient button to change the color gradient adobe illustrator cc free to a freeform gradient. The freeform gradient you see when working on your own artwork may be different.
Edit the color stops For each color stop, you can perform the following: To change the color of the color stop, double-click the color stop to make several color options appear in a panel, or select the color stop and click the Fill color in the Properties panel. To remove frwe color stop, either press Backspace or Delete, or drag the color stop outside the bounds of the selected artwork. To add a new color stop, click within the bounds of the selected artwork. To move a color stop, press and drag a color stop.
Create gradient lines Aside from adding color color gradient adobe illustrator cc free color stops, you can also draw a line that you can blend the same or different colors along. In the Properties panel, select cree Lines option. Click in the selected artwork to set a point and begin drawing the line. Click adove another spot to draw a curved line. Continue clicking until you finish the path. To stop drawing, press the Esc key. Edit the points again To edit the individual color stops that are not associated with a line, select color gradient adobe illustrator cc free Points option in the Properties panel.
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