Design tip bits

Here are some handy key command shortcuts in Illustrator. Changing the colour mode of swatches Want to change the colour mode of your swatch? Click twice on the swatch in the swatch palet to open up the swatch options or via the flyout menu swatch options. Press the shift key and click in the colour of the swatch palet (under the word colour mode) and with each click illustrator will show you the swatch values in different modes and change the swatch to the chosen mode. It also works for pantone colours although I would not use this method for print, best is to refer to the pantone swatch books. Want change the swatch to the complimentary color. Use the method above but this time hold down the command key To invert the swatch open the swatch options palet and click in the colour or the swatch while holding down the Command and Shift keys Changing the colour of objects If you want to invert the colour, change it to it's greyscale equivalent or the complmentary colour of an objec...

Want to change a fill or stroke to none. 1. Indicate whether you want to change the fill or stroke in the tool menu You can toggle between the fill and stroke by pressing the x key 2. Select the object and press the / key. Applying the same fill and stroke You can apply the same fill and stroke to an object without it being selected. 1.Select the eyedropper tool 2. Click in the object that has the colour and stroke that you wish to apply to other object(s) 3. Hold down the option key and click in the (unselected) objects. If the object you want to change has no fill, then you will have to click on the path in order to change the appearance. (This is why I always advise using smart guides see tipbits tuesday april 8) Applying the colour of a stroke or fill with another colour used in your document. 1. Indicate whether you want to change the fill or stroke in the tool menu You can toggle between the fill and stroke by pressing the x key 2. Select the object you want to change 3. While h...

There are several ways to change the colour of a gradient. You can select the colour in the swatch palette and drag and drop it on the gradient stop. Easier yet is to select the stop and while holding down the option key click on the colour in the swatches palette.   You can also pick up the colour from an object in your document 1. click on the gradient stop 2. select the eyedropper in the tools palette 3. hold down the shift key and click with the eyedropper in the object containing the colour you want to use. Clicking on the stroke will apply the strokes colour.