Illustrator CC Question

[Texas_Signmaker]

In Flexi, you can take an object and align it to the left, center bottom or top...you can also distribute.. Does Illustrator CC have that function? If it does, where is it and is there a keyboard shortcut like in Flexi?

I tried Googling this question but can't find an answer.

OK, I found that when you select BOTH objects you can do the align, but what if you just want to align one object with the whole artboard?

 

[Solventinkjet]

Go into the "View" menu and look for an option called, "Snap to Grid". When it's on any object will automatically align with the art board if you drag it near it. Not sure if that is what you are looking for.

 

[boneck]

in the windows menu, there is a transform window.. that will allow you to enter numerical data coordinates to align to where ever you want, from the access points you mentioned... There is also an "align" tab under the windows menu that would let you distribute and align objects as well

 

[shoresigns]

I believe the Align panel is what you're looking for. Window > Align to open it. Also, open the menu in the top right corner of the panel and Show Options to see even more alignment tools.

I don't think there are keyboard shortcuts for it, though. That would be a bit unwieldy since you would probably need 17 different shortcuts to cover everything.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

Thanks for the help. I'm trying to get into Illustrator as I've only used Flexi for the last 14 years. I think Illustrator is better / more powerful at graphics and objects, but it seems Flexi is faster at just regular signs.

 

[DerbyCitySignGuy]

Thanks for the help. I'm trying to get into Illustrator as I've only used Flexi for the last 14 years. I think Illustrator is better / more powerful at graphics and objects, but it seems Flexi is faster at just regular signs.

AI is 100% more powerful than Flexi. It's definitely more difficult than Flexi too. Watch lots of YouTube videos. Once you learn everything that AI can do (which is a lot) you can find tutorials for almost anything online. Also, just monkeying around with it is a good way to "discover" new things. Just try to remember how you broke something and got a cool result so you can do it again in the future.

[Edit: I can't think of anything off the top of my head that Flexi can do that AI can't.]

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

[Edit: I can't think of anything off the top of my head that Flexi can do that AI can't.]

Well, keyboard shortcuts for align is one...lol

Yea, there is a TON of videos / tutorials on Illustrator..was watching some this weekend and it really helped but there is A LOT to go through and discover.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Also, just monkeying around with it is a good way to "discover" new things.

To add to this and this helps me when I'm learning a new software, have a project to do and with each project increase the difficulty by forcing to use some aspect. Only thing to make sure of, don't have that project be a client's project. Stick with what you can do efficiently/correctly and then slowly migrate over to a new workflow.

Depending on how well one handles change determines how long it takes.

Stick with it though. Ai is a very robust program. I stopped with CS6 (still have it in a VM) and even a legacy version like that, it is very, very robust.

 

[Texas_Signmaker]

it is very, very robust.

Good, I don't think my time will be wasted learning Illustrator... I've felt limited in Flexi when I need to do some major cleaning up or really want to get creative in graphics / objects.

 

[ColorCrest]

If you haven't already found it, Align to Artboard may be found as an option in the Align tab.

Well over 20 years ago Actions were introduced so a user can record tasks they dream up. Same goes for CorelDraw. I don't know if you can find free action sets for sign-makers out there, but if not, it's fairly simple to record your own repetitive tasks as buttons.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Well over 20 years ago Actions were introduced so a user can record tasks they dream up. Same goes for CorelDraw. I don't know if you can find free action sets for sign-makers out there, but if not, it's fairly simple to record your own repetitive tasks as buttons.

I'm a huge fan of actions (and they don't seem to have compatibility issues, I've created actions in CS6 and I've got them to work in CS4, it seems the base format is essentially a text format), but one caveat, not all menu commands can be recorded directly. I do think that there are work arounds, but that can crop up every now and again. Just a heads up.

 

[Old Timer]

In Flexi, you can take an object and align it to the left, center bottom or top...you can also distribute.. Does Illustrator CC have that function? If it does, where is it and is there a keyboard shortcut like in Flexi?

I tried Googling this question but can't find an answer.

OK, I found that when you select BOTH objects you can do the align, but what if you just want to align one object with the whole artboard?

scroll down in the windows tab to TYPE,select paragraph and that will give you your alignment options. you can also set your toolbars to essential classics and it will appear in the top or side toolbar as you prefer

 

[timkaz227]

One thing to look at is the "Workspace". At the top right of the screen is a pull down with different choices based on the type of work you do(Typography, layout, web, etc...). I use "Printing & Proofing", when in that workspace if you select an object the align tools show up in the menu bar at the top. Immediately to the left of the "align" tools is another pull down that lets you choose if you are aligning to to artboard, or the objects you have selected, etc...

Also, The 'Distribute" tools are right next to the align tools.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

One thing to look at is the "Workspace". At the top right of the screen is a pull down with different choices based on the type of work you do(Typography, layout, web, etc...)....

To add to this, "you" can actually create your own workspace (at least in CS6 "you" could) that would fit your specific workflow. So can take certain things from other pre-fabbed workspaces to make "your" own.

I think with CC (although I can't confirm that as I refuse to go to those versions) can even create custom toolboxes as well. Only bad thing with remaining on legacy versions as I do think that would be great for productivity.

 

[yor]

I think you got the answer to your question.. Otherwise you can not compare Flexi to Illustrator for graphic design needs, Flexi is much more production oriented.

Personally I am using Illustartor for all that is printing (via Raster LInk) and vinyl cut directly and I am happy with that does everything I need.

 

[Johnny Best]

www.astutegraphics.com These guys have the best plug ins for Illustrator, my favorite is DynamicSketch, it just gets added to your tools drop down.

 

[myront]

Not an ai user or fan but decided to explore this for myself.

1. ai has no shortcuts assigned to the align functions and has a limited selection of keyboard shortcuts one can manually assign
2. no way to align according to the order in which selected. i.e align only works one way. At least that I can see.
3. I do agree that the best thing to do is create your own actions to do these but again you're limited to shortcut keys. I think only the Function keys i.e F10 etc.

Corel
1. letter "t" is align top. And you can align according to order selected
2. b = bottom, r = right, L = left, c = center horiz, e = center vertically
3. p = align to center of page/artboard
4. can assign any keys or key combinations as shortcuts

 

[WildWestDesigns]

3. I do agree that the best thing to do is create your own actions to do these but again you're limited to shortcut keys. I think only the Function keys i.e F10 etc.

Not necessarily, it just requires more of a work around when this can't be done directly. But there are ways to manually interject the functions that can't be recorded directly.

 

[Sandman]

My only complaint with Illustrator is that AI will not make a font the size you type into the font size box. It wants to include the base line in the size so a 6 inch letter is always way under 6 inches.

Here's a site many of you will love. It's called Creative Market. There is a lot of free stuff and very inexpensive fonts but my favorite is an Illustrator Action by Charles Borges de Oliveira
It's called Old Stock and is only $25. It creates various drop shadows, 3D blocks and fills, gradients or lines, with or without inlines and outlines. Vectors are preserved so you can use it for printing or cut vinyl and it works from CS3 and up. He has recently made Old Stock II which for the first time ever has actions for making a true 2 color highlight shadow and contains 39 more actions for $30.
https://creativemarket.com/Borgeslettering/2427207-Old-Stock-II-Vector-Design-Tools.

 

[TimToad]

https://store.cnn.com/sales/the-complete-adobe-cc-training-bundle