Polygon tool Creates polygon shapes that hold color or text. Rectangle tool Creates rectangle shapes that hold color or text. Ellipse tool Creates ellipse shapes that hold text. Type on a Path tool Used to type on an object s path. Type tool Creates resizable and moveable text frames in which you can type text. Convert Direction Point tool Changes the control handles around an anchor point reshaping the segments controlled by that anchor point. This helps to turn one shape into another Delete Anchor Point tool Deletes points from a path without causing a break in the path. Add Anchor Point tool Adds a point to a path, which is a simple way to change any path. Creates straight lines if you simply click and release to make anchor points. Pen tool Creates a line between two anchor points you make. Lasso tool Selects objects, anchor points, or path segments by being dragged around all or part of the object. By specifying the Color Range, or Tolerance, you can control what the Magic Wand tool selects. Magic Wand tool Selects all objects in a document with the same or similar fill color, stroke weight, stroke color, opacity, or blending mode. Group Selection tool Selects a group of points all at once, such as the four points of rectangle. Direct Selection tool Selects the contents of a frame, such as a placed graphic allows you to work directly with editable objects, such as paths, rectangles, or type that has been converted to a text outline. TOOLBOX DESCRIPTION Selection tool The most commonly used tool, which selects text and graphic frames and allows you to work with an object using its bounding box.
Let go of the mouse button to make the additional tools and new toolbar (Figure 5). While holding down your mouse button drag your mouse to the end of the tools to the button with the gray triangle. Click and hold on the tool you want to see the additional tools for.
To Tearoff additional tools, do the following: 1. If you need to use some of the additional tools often, you can tear off the additional tools into their own toolbar. To view the additional tools click and hold down on any tool that has a gray triangle in the corner. These tools have small gray triangles in the right-hand corner. Some tools in the toolbox have additional tools linked to them. In this tutorial, only the basic tools will be discussed in depth. If you are a novice user of Adobe products you should keep in mind that you might not need to use all the tools. TOOLBOX If you used Adobe PageMaker or Adobe InDesign before you should be familiar with the toolbox in Illustrator CS6 as it shares some of the tools from these applications. NOTE: If you enter incorrect information in the Document Setup dialog box, or if you need to adjust any of this information while you are working, you can make changes any time by clicking File > Document Setup > More Options. When you have entered all of your document settings, click OK. Each document profile has the appropriate presets for your project. When making a graphic for Web, choose Web. For example, when making a graphic for a brochure, choose Print. Document Profile: Choose a profile that will best fit your project. Clicking the opposite icon switches the Height and Width values. When Width is the larger value, the Landscape icon is selected. When Height is the larger value, the Portrait icon is selected. These icons interact dynamically with the dimensions you enter in Page Size. Orientation: Click the Portrait (tall) or Landscape (wide) icons. To change unit size from points to inches, click on the units drop down and choose inches. There are presets for common sizes such as letter, legal and tabloid. Page size represents the final size you want after bleeds or trimming other marks outside the page. Options include, but are not limited to: Page Size: Choose a page size from the menu, or type values for width and height. Here you will be able to set up the correct page size and orientation for your document. This will open the Document Setup dialog box. To create a new document, click File > New. See Figure 2 for an example of opening a new document on a Mac. For example, if your final output will be a brochure, you may need to set up your document to be horizontal and double-sided. This will require some advanced planning. SETTING UP THE DOCUMENT Setting up your document correctly from the start will make your job much easier as you work through your project. On a Mac, click Macintosh HD > Applications > Adobe Illustrator CS6, or click the Illustrator icon in the Dock. On a PC, click Start > Programs > Adobe > Illustrator CS6, or click on the Illustrator short cut on the desktop.