Lynda.com has a good training series called, From Illustrator Insider Training: Drawing without the Pen Tool
Use a Wacom tablet to make tracing easy.
Features of Adobe Illustrator(AI) to use.
- Live Trace: Use live trace to automatically trace images that you import into Adobe illustrator.
- Calligraphic Brush Tool: Allows you to create pressure sensitive brushes in AI. Use these brushes with your Wacom tablet.
- Blob Brush Tool: Allows you to trace over the artwork.
- Reshape Tool: Use it to reshape lines created by the line tool to take any shape you want. Use the Direct Selection Tool to select only a portion of the line that you want to move with the Reshape tool so that you don’t move the whole line around when you don’t want to. Reshape Tool.
- Template: Create templates with images that you’ve imported into AI and want to trace. Bring the image into AI and then double-click on the layer to open the Layer Options. Then select Template and chose to dim images to 20%.
- AI’s Transformation tools: Scale tool, the Rotate tool, and the Reflect tool.
- The Smooth Tool: Works like the Pencil tool. You run it over twisted paths to correct or straighten them.
- Simplify tool: Instead of using the smooth tool, you could use simplify which does a similar job but better. It reduces anchor points and makes the path smoother. Select the path, go to the Object menu at the top, select Path, then select Simplify. The dialog box opens and you choose, say 95% for minor simplification or 50% or so for significant simplification. You can record your actions to play and make using this tool easier in the future.
- Reflect tool: Use it to mirror say one-half of say a face so that you don’t have to draw both sides. It also ensures both sides are identical. Click and hold the Alt or Option key to duplicate at the same time.
- Pathfinder: Go to Window Menu and choose Pathfinder. Use pathfinder to create shapes by doing Math and combining them. The Pathfinder dialog box has Shape Modes and Pathfinder (or Pathfinder functions). The Shape Modes and Pathfinder allow you to create numerous shapes by applying simple mathematical functions to the shapes.
- Compound Shapes in illustrator allow you to do more with the Pathfinder functions and Shape Modes. You hold down the Alt or Option key before you click down on any of the buttons in the Shape Modes or Pathfinder functions.
- The Pen Tool: The pen tool is great for drawing in illustrator, including tracing a drawing that you have done before hand and brought into illustrator. Here is a decent video on how to use the pen tool.
How to
- Create a hierarchy in illustrator.