Illustrator CS4 One-on-One: Advanced

Explores some of Illustrator's most powerful and least understood features, including how to create complex ones with the Pathfinder palette and align paths to create schematic illustrations.Knowing the fundamentals of drawing and reshaping paths is only part of the story. In Illustrator CS4 One-on-One: Advanced, the second of the popular One-on-One series, computer graphics expert Deke McClelland covers some of Illustrator's most powerful and least understood features. He shows how to merge simple shapes to create complex ones with the Pathfinder palette, as well as align paths to create schematic illustrations. Deke explains how to paint fluid, multicolor fills with blends, and the new and improved gradient tool. He explores seamlessly repeating tile patterns, blobs and brushes, and imported images. He also dives into one of the deepest features in all of Illustrator, transparency. Exercise files accompany the tutorial. Recommended prerequisite: Illustrator CS4 One-on-One: Fundamentals. Download Deke's customized keyboard layouts and color settings for Illustrator from the Exercise Files tab. Topics include: Working with compound shapes in the Pathfinder palette Ghosting shapes with Fill Opacity Understanding gradients and the gradient tools Cloning and coloring a blended path Saving tile patterns and applying them to a shape Importing and linking images from other applications