Preserved Topic: Is Illustrator NECESSARY?

I've made a few logos here and there, and I would like to get serious and actually start some sort of logo design. . .thingy. . . Anyway, I used Photoshop for all of my logos to date, but if I want to make a few bucks designing logos, is Illustrator a must? So far I don't even know where to begin, I've downloaded the trial version from adobe.com, and I just don't know where to turn. I read through the Illustrator tut over at gurus network, but I can't do those because I am a COMPLETE newbie. . .anyway, back on topic, is Ill. a must?
Thanks!

I think, creating a logo as a vector graphic as opposed to pixels is a must. That way you can reuse it in many occasions.
I like Illustrator, but Freehand or Corel Draw would do the job too.

Sasha »

[This message has been edited by Sash (edited 07-01-2002).]

Yes.

Ok, can anyone point me to an extreme newbie-level tutorial?

help -> contents

=)

Seriously though, if you're new to a program, the only way to learn it is to use it. It's frustrating as heck, especially with Adobe programs I've found, since they're much more complicated than most other programs, but after a while you start remembering things from mistakes you made in the past, and it starts to come together.

I recommend you start with the Pen tool. Look for it on the toolbox on the left.

I pretty much taught myself Photoshop 5, and have just moved on through a few years. Illustrator should have been easier for me to understand, given the similar interface. . .but not so.
Would a tablet be any help with Illustrator?



[This message has been edited by Cloudman (edited 07-01-2002).]

Try this for starters or do another search....... http://www.design.iastate.edu/LABS/mac_tutorials/illustrator/homepage.html

Cloudman: Illustrator is not really necessary but a vector program is because of way you can use, size, etc the image with out the loss of image quality as it's all vectors.

I don't know about tutorials on the net but the my teacher gave me this book (well same book but for version 6) for a week or too at college and a learnt a hell of a lot just by doing some of the lessons in there. I know that book is for version 10 at amazon, but if you can find a older versions of the book then great because i learnt of the version 6 book for version 8/9 of Illustrator. That?s the best advice I can give. But the tut?s kromaZ pointed you to look good so try them if you can?t get a the book .



[This message has been edited by Darkshadow (edited 07-01-2002).]

Tablet or no tablet depends a lot on what you want to make.

Don't get me wrong, AI with a tablet is great fun, but if you're mainly going to make logos and not that much freehand drawing you'll be fine with just the mouse.

What I've learned in AI I learned by playing around with the program. The first step is to come to grips with working with bezier curves and anchor points instead of pixels. Then you have all that select/deselect and join/merge/cut/order... business to get through.

Try to open a basic jpg in AI and then do a rough linedrawing of it. Good practice in using the tools methinks. (I've recreated lo-res logos that way for print work in my past life)

If you have any specific questions I might be able to answer them, but I do not have any tut's for you.

Cheers

Exporting paths from Photoshop to Illustrator may be helpful. Try it.

Sasha »

http://www.gurusnetwork.com/tutorials/illustrator/

Jeni knows quite a bit about paths and stuff in PS which may be helpful so it might be worth getting her attention (or searching the archives to see what has been said on this in the past).

Also check out the FAQ:
http://faq.ozoneasylum.com/88/

___________________
Emps

FAQs: Emperor

freehand is easier to use but Illustrator is more comprehensive. I taught myself both by reading the manuals cover to cover and setting myself tasks. You always find a way to overcome the problems and you learn from this method. here are a few links you might like to try:
webmasterbase
timedesign
huntfor.com
2ginc.com
computerarts
wwwebmasters


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