Illustrator | Creative Bits https://creativebits.org Design News & Inspiration Wed, 08 Feb 2023 06:42:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.5 Best free graphic design software’s https://creativebits.org/indesign/best-free-graphic-design-softwares/ Thu, 03 Dec 2020 08:50:33 +0000 https://creativebits.org/?p=3825 Graphic design is an important aspect to express your creativity in the field of business, advertisements and posters. There are plenty of software’s which offer ultimate tools and features for graphic designing without spending any money. There are also some great graphic design software’s with premium packages. But if you don’t have the money to [...]

The post Best free graphic design software’s first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> Graphic design is an important aspect to express your creativity in the field of business, advertisements and posters. There are plenty of software’s which offer ultimate tools and features for graphic designing without spending any money. There are also some great graphic design software’s with premium packages. But if you don’t have the money to invest, choosing a graphic design software with no cost will be a good idea. Here are the details of top 6 graphic designing software’s below:

Lunacy

If you are searching for a free graphic designing software Lunacy is the best option for you. Lunacy has an incredible file opening speed with lower memory consumption. It gives you built in design assets, icons, photos, vector illustrations and many more. Lunacy can be installed on windows or used on the web. Sketch is only for mac but you can open any Sketch file with Lunacy on windows. As it gives you full compatibility with sketch. Lunacy is also known as the fastest Figma alternative. It’s really easy to export Figma to Lunacy, you just need to convert Figma files to .sketch. Besides it has a vast range of tools including AI support, component libraries, on canvas toolbars, smart shapes, etc. Lunacy is quite a handy tool with easy features. And you are getting this awesome graphic designing software for your pc completely free.

Videos related to Lunacy

Sketch for Windows

AI-Generated Photos 

How to make personal UI kit 

Screenshots:

Sketch

Sketch is one of the Figma alternatives with a free trial of only 30 days. Sketch has UI resources including wireframe kits, templates, mockups, concepts, icons, vector tools, useful extensions and plugins. Most amazing feature of Sketch is supportive plugins and prebuilt themes. You can design with pixels keeping everything vector. And files in this software can be exported in different sizes. It’s an all in one designing software. But it’s only limited to mac and has only one license per device with a one time yearly payment of $99.Even if it has a wide set of tools, it also has some drawbacks. There is no doubt sketch works well as a graphic designing software but falls behind for some features. And if you want a graphic designing software totally free for lifetime, Sketch is not the one to recommend.

Videos related to Sketch:

Intro to Sketch for Beginners 

Screenshots:

 

UXPin design platform

UXPin graphic designing software is outstanding with its wireframing feature. You can install it on any platform. It has collaboration, feedback management, interactive elements, mobile interface, mockup creation, page linking, presentation tools, prototype creation, revision history, screen capture, and wireframe creation. You can perfectly maintain your color palettes and image in this software. Built-in prototypes in this designing software can be easily shared by sending a link. But the interface of this graphic designing software is very hard to operate and understand. This designing software is free for only 14 days. Pricing after the trial period for every user on UXPin starts at $15.00 per month. Even if it has some good features, it’s not free forever.

Videos related to UXPin:

How to use a design editor 

How to use design systems

Screenshots: 

Krita

Krita is a free online graphic designing software for sketching and painting. It’s an amazing photo editing software. The key features of Krita are brush engines, layer management, training Resources, transform tools, mirroring tools, drawing assistants, PSD Support, color palette, OpenGL enhanced, and selections. A creative software to develop marvelous drawing and sketching. It’s very easy to use yet powerful. Designers can do abstract art, comics, illustrations, and textured paintings effortlessly. If any drawing or sketching artist is seeking for a set of drawing tools with no cost. Then Krita will be a good choice for them as it’s totally free graphic software.

Videos related to Krita:

Tutorial: a Comic page from A to Z with Krita

Krita tutorial: getting to know the UI

Screenshots:

 

Inkscape

Inkscape is a must having tool for graphic designing professionals and it is free. It’s an open source graphic design tool which can be installed in windows, mac and cloud. Inkscape comes with 2D drawing, data import/export, image editor and rendering. It can convert a bitmap image to a vector. If you are marketing, doing web graphics, cartooning, it’s a wise decision to choose this software. Inkscape is super easy to use with some handy shortcuts and you can adapt to the user layout of this free designing software with ease.

Videos related to Inkscape:

Interface and Basic Drawing

Shape Tools and Options

Groups, Levels, and Object Selection

Screenshots:

 

Vectr

Vectr is a free graphic designing software to create and edit designs, logos, presentations and cards. Anyone can use this software who wants to design graphics. It can edit and collaborate your designs with easy finish. It’s similar to illustrator but it’s mainly for the purpose of vector arts. It can be used on your browser which is very simple and time efficient. For simple projects this is one of a kind graphic software. You can install it on windows, mac or do it on the web.

Videos related to Vectr:

Grouping Layers In Vectr 

Rounding Corners In Vectr

Borders And Shadows

Screenshots:

 

 

The post Best free graphic design software’s first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> Fit artboard size to artwork https://creativebits.org/illustrator/fit_artboard_size_artwork/ Fri, 05 Jul 2013 17:09:00 +0000 https://www.localartistprojects.com/uncategorized/fit_artboard_size_artwork/ If you need to adjust your artboard size to the size of the artwork there is a simple trick to get this done. Simply edit the artboard and click the artwork. The artboard will immediately adjust to the mimimum size to fit your vector artwork. Commenting on this Blog entry will be automatically closed on [...]

The post Fit artboard size to artwork first appeared on Creative Bits.]]>

If you need to adjust your artboard size to the size of the artwork there is a simple trick to get this done. Simply edit the artboard and click the artwork. The artboard will immediately adjust to the mimimum size to fit your vector artwork.

Commenting on this Blog entry will be automatically closed on August 30, 2013.

The post Fit artboard size to artwork first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> Venus in Type Adobe Illustrator Poster Giveaway https://creativebits.org/illustrator/venus_type_adobe_illustrator_poster_giveaway/ Tue, 23 Apr 2013 14:45:00 +0000 https://www.localartistprojects.com/uncategorized/venus_type_adobe_illustrator_poster_giveaway/ Adobe is giving away 1,000 of these rather nice posters. Only downside is that it will cost you a Facebook Like and sharing your friends list. Commenting on this Blog entry will be automatically closed on June 18, 2013.

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Adobe is giving away 1,000 of these rather nice posters. Only downside is that it will cost you a Facebook Like and sharing your friends list.

Commenting on this Blog entry will be automatically closed on June 18, 2013.

The post Venus in Type Adobe Illustrator Poster Giveaway first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> How to open a pdf in Illustrator if you don’t have the fonts https://creativebits.org/illustrator/how_open_pdf_illustrator_if_you_dont_have_fonts/ Tue, 30 Sep 2008 21:41:15 +0000 https://www.localartistprojects.com/?p=1968 Let’s suppose you receive a pdf document that you need to further work on in Illustrator, but when you open it all fonts get replaced by the default font, because you don’t have those fonts used in the pdf. The font information is there in the pdf, so theoretically if you could convert all the [...]

The post How to open a pdf in Illustrator if you don’t have the fonts first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> Let’s suppose you receive a pdf document that you need to further work on in Illustrator, but when you open it all fonts get replaced by the default font, because you don’t have those fonts used in the pdf. The font information is there in the pdf, so theoretically if you could convert all the text to outlines you would be able to work with the document.

flatten transparency window

To do that you have to open a new Illustrator document. Place the the pdf. Select the menu Object / Flatten transparency. Make sure to check the Convert all text to outlines option and go. You got the whole pdf in curves.

The post How to open a pdf in Illustrator if you don’t have the fonts first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> Set your Illustrator tools to grey https://creativebits.org/illustrator/set_your_illustrator_tools_grey/ Tue, 02 Sep 2008 18:52:01 +0000 https://www.localartistprojects.com/?p=2481 When you work with Illustrator documents your document’s background is mostly white. The interface of the application, such as the panes and the toolbox are also white by default. This puts some strain on your eyes and brain when you’re trying to identify each area. To relieve this extra effort you may want to experiment [...]

The post Set your Illustrator tools to grey first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> grey interface

When you work with Illustrator documents your document’s background is mostly white. The interface of the application, such as the panes and the toolbox are also white by default. This puts some strain on your eyes and brain when you’re trying to identify each area. To relieve this extra effort you may want to experiment changing the background of the user interface to a shade of grey instead of white.

You can change this setting in Preferences/ User Interface. Don’t set it too dark as it decreases the contrast between the background and graphics of the buttons making it more difficult to see the individual functions. A good balance is a color in the middle of the slider which is a light grey.

A secondary advantage of such a setting is that you will have an easy way to tell which application is running in the foreground as InDesign and Photoshop toolbars are quite similar to Illustrator.

I know there are many who prefer complete consistency of interfaces among applications. I personally prefer a small difference between them as it helps to identify instantly what I’m dealing with. That’s why it was a good idea to have Safari, iTunes, Garageband and other Apple apps all have slightly different looks. It’s a better parallel to the real world and it’s easier for our mammalian brains to grasp.

The post Set your Illustrator tools to grey first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> Paste by remembering layers in Illustrator https://creativebits.org/illustrator/paste_remembering_layers_illustrator/ Sat, 30 Aug 2008 10:58:15 +0000 https://www.localartistprojects.com/?p=2727 If you work with files that have a common base and several custom layers for languages or other mutations, you should always remember to switch on the Paste Remember Layers option in Illustrator. You will find this option by clicking the little contextual menu icon in the top right corner of the layers pane. This way when [...]

The post Paste by remembering layers in Illustrator first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> paste remember layers option

If you work with files that have a common base and several custom layers for languages or other mutations, you should always remember to switch on the Paste Remember Layers option in Illustrator. You will find this option by clicking the little contextual menu icon in the top right corner of the layers pane.

This way when you select objects across several layers in your document and copy/paste it you will retain the layer separation and naming from the source document.

The post Paste by remembering layers in Illustrator first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> Transparent gradient in Illustrator https://creativebits.org/illustrator/transparent_gradient_in_illustrator/ Mon, 28 May 2007 16:02:41 +0000 https://www.localartistprojects.com/?p=2154 In Photoshop to make one layer gradually disappear to reveal another layer is common knowledge. It is achieved by applying a gradient to the top layers’ mask. Not surprisingly you can achieve the same effect with a similar approach by applying a gradient mask to objects in Illustrator too. Here are the three simple steps [...]

The post Transparent gradient in Illustrator first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> In Photoshop to make one layer gradually disappear to reveal another layer is common knowledge. It is achieved by applying a gradient to the top layers’ mask.

Not surprisingly you can achieve the same effect with a similar approach by applying a gradient mask to objects in Illustrator too.

Here are the three simple steps to create a gradient mask in Illustrator.

Place the two objects on top of each other. These objects do not have to be images as illustrated above, but any other type of Illustrator element. Notice that the top object is selected and the transparency panel is open. There are two boxes within the transparency panel. The left one represents the object itself. On the right another box represents its mask, which is currently empty.

Double click inside the empty square to create a mask. Once the square of the mask turns black the object will disappear as the object is now fully masked out. Note that the mask square is selected, which means you are working on the mask.

Open the gradient palette and create a gradient from black to white. Now, while the mask square is still selected draw a rectangle over the top object, which is at this moment still hidden. As soon as you release the mouse button the top object masked with the gradient will appear. Now you can adjust the size and shape of your mask to complete the effect.

The post Transparent gradient in Illustrator first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> Duplicate a Shape Using the Rotate Tool https://creativebits.org/illustrator/duplicate_a_shape_using_the_rotate_tool/ Tue, 30 Aug 2005 20:04:03 +0000 https://www.localartistprojects.com/?p=2010 The rotate tool is one of the most important tools in Illustrator. To duplicate a shape using the rotate tool, first select the shape if not selected and then select the rotate tool. Place the rotation point on the desired position and rotate the shape while holding Alt (hold Shift + Alt to get a [...]

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Duplicate a Shape Using the Rotate Tool

The rotate tool is one of the most important tools in Illustrator. To duplicate a shape using the rotate tool, first select the shape if not selected and then select the rotate tool. Place the rotation point on the desired position and rotate the shape while holding Alt (hold Shift + Alt to get a perfectly 45D angle) to make the first copy and the fun part; press Ctrl-D (windows) Cmd-D (mac) repeatedly. By doing so, you’ll get an equal rotation spacing/distance between the shapes.

Using this magical tool, you could turn virtually any shape into a beautiful kaleidoscopic design, create patterns of shapes, add numerical characters to a clock or dial efficiently and lots, lots more.

The post Duplicate a Shape Using the Rotate Tool first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> Duotone support arrives in CS https://creativebits.org/illustrator/duotone_support_arrives_in_cs/ Wed, 13 Oct 2004 23:15:00 +0000 https://www.localartistprojects.com/uncategorized/duotone_support_arrives_in_cs/ Adobe brought transparency to the Illustrator world back with version 9. One of the many complaints about the poor-selling AI9 (and believe me, if you used it, you could see why nobody liked it after only 5 minutes of use!) was the inability of linked spot color EPS photos to interact with all the transparency [...]

The post Duotone support arrives in CS first appeared on Creative Bits.]]>

Adobe brought transparency to the Illustrator world back with version 9. One of the many complaints about the poor-selling AI9 (and believe me, if you used it, you could see why nobody liked it after only 5 minutes of use!) was the inability of linked spot color EPS photos to interact with all the transparency features.

In order for the Pantone colors to output correctly, you HAD to embed the photo in AI, which resulted in absolutely huge file sizes and a pretty decent wait while the file saved. If you forgot to embed the photo, AI would output it as a CMYK or RGB image, depending on what document color space you were in.

Illustrator has finally fixed this with version 11 (Illustrator CS). You can now link spot color EPS images into AI and not embed them – Even if you have an object with a drop shadow on top of it.

This is great because you can keep a more modular workflow this way. Of course, there are very few instances where I would use a placed photo in Illustrator to begin with (at least in the advertising design business anyway). But, this is one old habit I’m happy to say I can finally break!

PS: I should note that when I specify duotone, it’s just because I’m a bit ‘Old School.’ But the same applies for any multi-tone image EPS from Photoshop.

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The post Duotone support arrives in CS first appeared on Creative Bits.]]> Preview your icons https://creativebits.org/illustrator/preview_your_icons/ Mon, 20 Sep 2004 08:52:00 +0000 https://www.localartistprojects.com/uncategorized/preview_your_icons/ If you are designing an icon in Illustrator, select the Window/New Window menu to open a new view for the same document. Now select the View/Pixel Preview or press Apple-Alt-Y (Command-Option-Y) to change one window to pixel preview mode. Place the two windows side by side and enjoy seeing your logo in pixel preview while [...]

The post Preview your icons first appeared on Creative Bits.]]>

If you are designing an icon in Illustrator, select the Window/New Window menu to open a new view for the same document. Now select the View/Pixel Preview or press Apple-Alt-Y (Command-Option-Y) to change one window to pixel preview mode. Place the two windows side by side and enjoy seeing your logo in pixel preview while working on it in vectors. This way you can make sure you’re using the right line width and see how your curves translate to pixels.

Read about a free pixel design application for OS X in this previous post.

Commenting on this Blog entry is closed.

The post Preview your icons first appeared on Creative Bits.]]>