In this lesson, you’ll learn how to do the following:

When creating an Adobe Illustrator image using many powerful tools you will want to learn how to use the windows and palettes that control these tools. This brief tutorial covers all the windows and palettes available to you as well as how to effectively manipulate them to your advantage.

Getting started

Begin by starting Adobe Illustrator and creating a new file.

1 Start Adobe Illustrator.

2 Choose File > Open. Choose the file named paletteObjects.ai. Click OK

3 Before changing the view of any windows or palettes, the default view of an Illustrator file shows the basic toolbar, as well as the palettes for Color, Swatches, Graphic Styles/Brushes/Symbols, and Stroke/Gradient/Transparency. To gain some extra artboard working space, press the Tab key to hide all palettes and the toolbar. Press the Tab key again to show them. Press the Tab key while holding the Shift key to hide all the palettes but not the toolbar. Do this again to bring the palettes back.

Know your palettes

Each palette controls a different tool or set of tools, we will examine each one. Any palette can be viewed by choosing Window > [name of palette].

Actions palette – Lets you record, play, edit, and delete actions; also lets you save, load, and replace action sets.

A – Toggles item on or off. B – Toggles modal control on or off. C – Set. D – Action. E – Recorded command. F – Stop playing/recording. G – Begin recording. H – Play current selection.

I – Create new set. J – Create new action. K – Delete selection.

Align palette – Used to align or distribute selected objects along the axis you specify.

A – Horizontal Align Left B – Horizontal Align Center C – Horizontal Align Right D – Vertical Align Top E – Vertical Align Center F – Vertical Align Bottom G – Align Palette Options H – Horizontal Distribute Right

I – Horizontal Distribute Center J – Horizontal Distribute Left K – Vertical Distribute Bottom L – Vertical Distribute Center M – Vertical Distribute Top

To use the Align palette:

1 Choose Window > Align or press the F7 key while holding down the Shift key to open the Align palette.

2 Choose the selection tool () from the toolbar.

3 Click and drag to select the three straight lines in the “Straight Lines” section of the artboard.

4 Click on the different buttons under Align Objects and Distribute Objects and notice how they are positioned accordingly.

5 Click on the Align Palette Options button in the upper right-hand corner of the palette and choose Show Options. Now a third section called Distribute Spacing appears. Use the up/down arrows next to the drop-down box on the right to choose how much space to place between objects. The two buttons directly under the Distribute Spacing header control whether spacing is placed vertically (left button) or horizontally (right button).

Appearance palette – Displays the attributes associated with a particular object you choose.

Attributes palette – Set options in relation to overprinting, path-determined fills, and image maps.

A – Overprint Fill toggle B – Overprint Stroke toggle
	If the transparency of your artwork has not been changed, the fills and strokes appear opaque because the top color “covers” the area underneath. This can be avoided by using the Overprint Fill or Overprint Stroke option to make the topmost overlapping printing ink appear transparent in relation to the underlying.
C – Don’t Show Center (removes center dot from selection guides) D – Show Center (applies center dot to selection guides [Default]) E – Reverse Path Direction Off F – Reverse Path Direction On
	When using a style that is dependent upon stroke direction, Reverse Path Direction On and Off can be applied if you want the style to move the other way.
G – Use Non-Zero Winding Fill Rule H – Use Even-Odd Fill Rule
Fill Rules are used on objects that have self-intersecting paths (paths that intersect themselves) and change which parts are filled. The left picture follows the Non-Zero Winding Fill Rule. The right picture follows the Even-Odd Fill Rule.
I – Image Map drop-down
	Image maps are used to link areas of an image, called hotspots, to a URL. They’re like slices except image maps load as a single file, and enable the use of polygonal, as well as rectangular, hotspots.
J – URL
	Use this to assign a URL to a specific hotspot. Use the drop-down button to choose from previously assigned URLs. Click on the circle button with the sideways triangle in it in the upper right-hand corner of the palette for Attribute options. Click on Palette Options. In this window you may assign the number of different URLs which one image file can save.
K – Browser
	After a URL has been assigned to a hotspot, click on this button to follow to link.

Use the selection tool () and the objects in the “Polygons” section of the artboard to test features of the Attributes palette.

Brushes palette - Manage the brushes for a document; create, modify, and delete brushes.

	A – Brush size and shape presets B – Brush style presets C – Brushes palette options D – Scrollbar (use to view all the brush styles) E – Remove Brush Stroke
		Removes brush style from selected brush stroke object
	F – Options of Selected Object
		Clicking on this button while a brush stroke object has been selected will open the Stroke Options window

The Art Brush (left) options appear if the selected brush stroke uses an applied visual style The Calligraphic Brush (right) options appear if the selected brush stroke has a simple shape

Use the selection tool () and contents of the “Brush Strokes” section of the artboard to learn and test features of the Stroke Options palettes. Always be sure to have the Preview box checked.   G – New Brush (creates a new brush preset) H – Delete Brush (deletes selected brush preset)

To pick from a series of themed brush styles, click on the Brushes palette options button (C) and click on Open Brush Library and choose a brush style series.

Color palette – Applies color to an object's fill and stroke, and also to edit and mix colors. These are either colors that you create or you selected from the Swatches palette, from an object, or from a color library.

A – Fill color box (click to select and edit) B – Stroke color box (click to select and edit) C – Remove color (whichever color box is selected (A or B) will be reset to no color) D – Cyan color slider
	In the CMYK color scheme, the C slider and corresponding text box marked with a % indicate the amount of Cyan.
E – Magenta color slider
	In the CMYK color scheme, the M slider and corresponding text box marked with a % indicate the amount of Magenta.
F – Yellow color slider
	In the CMYK color scheme, the Y slider and corresponding text box marked with a % indicate the amount of Yellow.
G – Black color slider
	In the CMYK color scheme, the K slider and corresponding text box marked with a % indicate the amount of Black.
While the above Color palette picture displays the CMYK color scheme, palette options allow you to change to a different color scheme. This will change the number, appearance, and operability of the sliders and text boxes.
H – Color palette options
	Click on this to see Color options, including different color schemes. The commands “Invert” and “Complement” will change the selected color (Fill or Stroke) to its inverted or complementary colors, respectively.
I – CMYK color spectrum
	Use the mouse to pick a color among the spectrum. Click and hold the mouse button to get a preview of the color.

Document Info palette – Displays information about the file, including name, location, color properties, and other options.

Click on the circle button with the sideways triangle inside it in the upper right-hand corner of the palette for document information options. There you can find out information concerning other aspects of your Adobe Illustrator file.

Flattener Preview palette – Controls the degree to which artwork is rasterized (flattened) to change how it will look when printed.

		A – Flattener Preview palette options
			After opening the palette, click on this and choose Show Options to view entire palette.
		B – Refresh (refreshes the Preview) C – Highlight dropdown menu D – Overprint dropdown menu E – Transparency flattening settings area F – Preview area
			This is where you can see how changes affect the final product. Click to Zoom In, hold down the Alt key and click to Zoom Out, hold down the Spacebar and click and drag to move the artwork.

Gradient palette – Modify shading effects for fill or stroke colors.

A – Gradient preview B – Gradient Type
	Use this dropdown menu to choose either Radial or Linear gradient.
C – Gradient angle
	Sets angle of gradient, only works with Linear type
D – Gradient palette options E – Location value
	Sets location of selected slider marker, important when trying to create balanced, gradual shading effect
F – Gradient Slider
	Slider markers on top set shade midpoint between adjacent color sliders. Color sliders on bottom are set to specific colors and set the tone for how the gradient will look.

Use the selection tool () and contents of the “Gradients” section of the artboard to learn and test all the features of the Gradient palette.

Graphic Styles palette – Allows you to quickly change sets of reusable appearance attributes that are saved with a document.

	A – Graphic Styles options B – Style thumbnail area C – Break Link to Graphic Style (removes style from selected object) D – New Graphic Style (create new style) E – Delete Graphic Style (erase style)
		To apply a graphic style to an object, either select the object and then click on a style, or click and drag a style to the object of your choice.

Info palette – Displays information about a selected object; crosshair position, dimensions, fill and stroke color.

A – Crosshair
	Shows position of mouse pointer using X and Y coordinates. If an object is selected, displays coordinates of object’s top-left corner.
B – Fill color (displays object’s fill color in current color scheme) C – Info palette options
	Click on this and choose Show Options to view fill and stroke color information.
D – Dimensions (displays height and width of selected object) E – Stroke color (displays object’s stroke color in current scheme)

Layers palette - List and control all the layers in a document. Stacking order determines appearance order.

A – Visibility (toggles visibility of layer) B – Lock (toggles locking of layer contents) C – Layers palette options D – Selected layer listings E – Object in layer F – Make/Release Clipping Mask (toggles clipping mask) G – Create New Sublayer (create layers that exist in other layers) H – Create New Layer (create a new layer) I – Delete Selection (erase layers, sublayers, or objects)

Links palette - See and manage all linked or embedded artwork in an Illustrator document. By default, the palette displays a small thumbnail of the artwork and uses icons to indicate artwork's status. You can hide or change the size of the thumbnails, show or hide different types of links, and sort items based on name, kind, or status

	A – Relink B – Go to Link C – Update Link D – Edit Original E – Modified artwork F – Embedded artwork G – Missing artwork H – Linked artwork I – Transparency interaction J – Links palette options
		Click on this and select Palette Options. Here you can select the thumbnail size and transparency interactions. Palette options also enable choosing which links appear and how they’re sorted

Magic Wand palette - Select all objects in a document with the same or similar fill color, stroke weight, stroke color, opacity, or blending mode. Specify the color range, or tolerance, for the Magic Wand () tool's selection

A – Fill Color (check box if you want to select objects with similar fill color) B – Stroke Color (check box if you want to select objects with similar stroke color) C – Stroke Weight check box if you want to select objects with similar stroke weight) D – Opacity (check box if you want to select objects with similar opacities) E – Blending Mode (check box if you want to select objects with similar blending modes)

Navigator palette – Quickly change the view of your artwork using a thumbnail display.

A – Zoom text box B – Zoom out button C – Zoom slider D – Zoom in button E – Thumbnail display of artwork F – Proxy preview area G – Navigator palette options

Pathfinder palette - Combine paths into new objects and shapes; access filters for combining paths and shape mode commands that create and modify compound shapes.

A – Add to shape area B – Subtract from shape area C – Intersect shape areas D – Exclude (overlapping shape areas) E – Expand (overlapping shape areas) F – Divide	G – Trim H – Merge I – Crop J – Outline K – Minus back L – Pathfinder palette options
Use the selection tool ( ), the Pathfinder palette and contents of the Pathfinder section of the artboard to learn and test all the features of the Pathfinder palette.

Types of paths and shapes A. Three simple paths B. Compound path C. Compound shape

Stroke palette - Controls attributes for whether a line is solid or dashed, the dash sequence if it is dashed, the stroke weight, the miter limit, and the styles of line joins and line caps. Stroke weight determines the thickness of the stroke. Illustrator strokes a path by centering the stroke on the path; half of the stroke appears on one side of the path, and the other half of the stroke appears on the other side of the path.

6pt dashed lines with dash gap of 2, 12, 16, 12 A. Butt cap B. Round cap C. Projecting cap	A – Stroke Weight (use up/down arrows or drop-down selection to decide thickness of stroke) B – Miter Limit
		Miter limit controls when a mitered (pointed) join is switched to a beveled (squared-off) join. The default miter limit is 4, which means that when the length of the point reaches four times the stroke weight, a miter join is switched to a bevel join. A miter limit of 1 creates a bevel join.
	C – Dashed Line
		Creates a custom, non-solid line.
	D – Dash Patterns text boxes
		Specify a dash sequence by entering the lengths of dashes and the gaps between them
	E – Butt Cap (select to have stroke lines with squared ends) F – Round Cap (select to have stroke lines with semicircular ends) G – Projecting Cap (select to have stroke lines with squared ends half the line width beyond the end H – Stroke palette options I – Miter Join (select to have stroke lines with pointed corners) J – Round Join (select to have stroke lines with rounded corners) K – Bevel Join (select to have stroke lines with squared corners)

Use the selection tool ( ), the Stroke palette and contents of the artboard to learn and test all the features of the Stroke palette.

SVG Interactivity palette - Adds interactivity to your artwork when it is exported for viewing in a Web browser. SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics.

A – SVG Interactivity palette options B – Event menu (choose the event to trigger JavaScript) C – JavaScript Files (select JavaScript file to use with object) D – JavaScript Files Dialog Box (manipulate JavaScript code here for object) E – Link JavaScript Files (links JavaScript files to active SVG objects) F – Remove Selected Entry (deletes JavaScript events)

JavaScript events

onfocusin – trigger the action when the element receives focus, such as selection by the pointer.

onfocusout – trigger the action when the element loses focus, (often when another element receives focus).

onactivate – trigger the action with a mouse click or keypress, depending upon the SVG element.

onmousedown – trigger the action when the mouse button is pressed down over an element.

onmouseup – trigger the action when the mouse button is released over an element.

onclick – trigger the action when the mouse is clicked over an element.

onmouseover – trigger the action when the pointer is moved onto an element.

onmousemove – trigger the action while the pointer is over an element.

onmouseout – trigger the action when the pointer is moved away from an element.

onkeydown – trigger the action when a key is pressed down.

onkeypress – trigger the action while a key is pressed down.

onkeyup – trigger the action when a key is released.

onload – trigger the action after the SVG document has been completely parsed by the browser. Use this event to call one-time-only initialization functions.

onerror – trigger the action when an element does not load properly or another error occurs.

onabort – trigger the action when the page loading is stopped before the element is completely loaded.

onunload – trigger the action when the SVG document is removed from a window or frame.

onzoom – trigger the action when the zoom level is changed for the document.

onresize – trigger the action when the document view is resized.

onscroll – trigger the action when the document view is scrolled or panned.

Swatches palette - Control all document colors, gradients, patterns, and tints. You can name and store any of these items for instant access.

A – Swatch display area B – Show All Swatches (displays all swatches) C – Show Color Swatches (displays swatches that are colors) D – Show Gradient Swatches (displays swatches that are gradients) E – Show Pattern Swatches (displays swatches that are patterns) F – New Swatch (create a new swatch) G – Delete Swatch (erases selected swatch) H – Swatches palette options
To view more swatches, click on the palette options button and choose Open Swatch Library, then pick a library. To modify a swatch, choose it in the swatch display area, then choose the palette options > Swatch Options.
	Here you can edit the swatch name, color type, color mode, and even the color itself. Color types include Process and Spot. A spot color is a special premixed ink that is used instead of, or in addition to, CMYK process inks, and that requires its own printing plate on a printing press. Use spot color when few colors are specified and color accuracy is critical. A process color is printed using a combination of the four standard process inks: cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK). Use process colors when a job requires so many colors that using individual spot inks would be expensive or impractical, such as when printing color photographs.
Under the Color Type drop-down menu is a check box marked Global. Global process colors make it easier to modify color schemes without locating and adjusting each individual object. This is especially useful in standardized, production-oriented documents such as magazines. Non-global process colors do not automatically update throughout the document when the color is edited. Process colors are non-global by default; a non-global process color can be changed to a global process color using the Swatch Options dialog box. Global and non-global process colors only affect how a particular color is applied to objects, never how colors separate or behave when you move them between applications.

Symbols palette - Manage the symbols for a document. The Symbols palette contains a variety of preset symbols. However, you can create new symbol, modify existing symbols, and delete the symbols you don't use.

A – Symbol view area B – Place Symbol Instance (inserts selected symbol in the artboard) C – Replace Symbol (replaces selected symbol in artboard with different selected symbol in palette) D – Break Link to Symbol (converts selected symbol into a regular object)
	Once a symbol becomes an object, it can be modified as an object and even turned back into a symbol.
E – New Symbol (creates a new symbol)
	In creating a new symbol, you can either duplicate an existing one and then modify it, or create a symbol out of an object you created in the artboard.
F – Delete Symbol (erases selected symbol from the palette)

To view more swatches, click on the palette options button and choose Open Symbol Library, then pick a library.

Tools palette – The tools palette is the most powerful and essential palette in Illustrator.

Transform palette – Displays information about the location, size, and orientation of one or more selected objects. All information shown in items A, C, F, and H are displayed in proper units (points, inches, etc.).

A – X Coordinate (location of selected object along the X-axis) B – Reference Point Locator (select an object’s reference point, get it’s X/Y coordinates) C – Y Coordinate (location of selected object along the Y-axis) D – Rotate (rotate object about a fixed point, either by typing a value or selecting from drop-down list) E – Shear (slant a selected object’s shape, either by typing a value or selecting from drop-down list) F – Height (object’s height, can be modified by typing a different value in the text box) G – Lock Proportions (click to lock the selected object’s height/width ratio) H – Width (object’s width, can be modified by typing a different value in the text box) I – Transform palette options
	An important option is Scale Strokes & Effects. When this is selected, stroke (line thickness) and object effects are sized along with the height and width, making the object completely proportional.

Use the selection tool ( ), the Transform palette and contents of the artboard to learn and test all the features of the Transform palette.

Transparency palette – Specify the opacity and blending mode of objects, to create opacity masks, or to knock out a portion of one object with the overlying portion of a transparent object.

Group with Knockout Group option deselected (left) compared to selected (right)	A – Blending Mode (select type of transparency effect you wish to change) B – Viewing area (view effect on selected object) C – Isolate Blending (enables you to apply blending effect to selected items only) D – Opacity & Mask Define Knockout Shape
		In knockout groups, causes an element to be shaped by its opacity setting and mask
	E – Knockout Group (prevents the elements of a group from showing through each other) F – Invert Mask G – Clip H – Opacity (controls percent of visibility of object) I – Transparency palette options
		Select this and choose Show Options to view items B, C, D, E, F, G; also used to create Opacity Mask

Type palettes – There are seven separate palettes associated with the type and are covered in the Type palette tutorial.

Variables palette - Works with variables and data sets. The type and name of each variable in the document are listed in the palette. If the variable is bound to an object, then the Objects column displays the name of the bound object as it appears in the Layers palette.

A – Make Object Dynamic B – Make Visibility Dynamic
	The Variables palette displays the names of dynamic objects as they appear in the Layers palette. If you save the template in SVG format for use with other Adobe products, these object names must conform to XML naming conventions. Illustrator automatically assigns a valid XML ID to every dynamic object you create.
C – Unbind Variable D – New Variable E – Delete Variable F – Variable viewing area (icons on left side represent variable type) G – Lock Variables H – Data set (use these arrow buttons to scan through data types, or use the drop-down menu) I – Variables palette options

You’ve completed the palettes lesson.

Click here to download a Microsoft Word version of this tutorial.

Copyright © 2005, Bloomsburg University Department of Instructional Technology.
All rights reserved. This material may not be used without written permission.
Contact Dr. Mary Nicholson at mjnich@bloomu.edu