Delve into the heart of Illustrator with this in-depth tutorial covering the use of the Pen tool, workspace adjustment, object arrangement, and color fills, complete with comprehensive exercises and tasks.
This exercise is excerpted from Noble Desktop’s past Adobe Illustrator training materials and is compatible with Illustrator updates through 2020. To learn current skills in Illustrator, check out our Illustrator Bootcamp and graphic design classes in NYC and live online.
Topics covered in this Illustrator tutorial:
Using the Pen tool, Adjusting the workspace, Arranging objects, Color fills
Exercise Preview
Exercise Overview
The Pen tool 
is the heart of Illustrator. This exercise gets you started drawing simple lines and shapes.
Getting Started
- Go to File > Open.
Navigate to the Desktop, then into the Class Files folder, then into the Illustrator Class folder. Open the Straight Lines Template.ai file.
Select File > Save As.
At the bottom, make sure Format (Mac) or Save as type (Windows) is set to Adobe Illustrator (ai).
Navigate into the same Illustrator Class folder you opened it from.
Name the file yourname-Straight Lines.ai.
Click Save.
In the dialog that appears, leave the default options checked and click OK.
Selecting Colors & Using the Template
-
As shown below, toward the bottom of the Tools panel, click the Default Fill and Stroke button
. This makes your fill white and the stroke black.
-
As shown below, click the Fill icon to make it active.
Click the None button
just below that.Follow the on-screen directions in the file. When you have completed the directions, save your changes and move on to the next steps below.
Finishing Up Once You’re Done with the Template
You’ve drawn all the shapes for the Manhattan Martini image, so let’s arrange them.
Using the Selection tool
, click on the Glass you drew.Shift–click the Martini and the Manhattan Skyline shape.
Now that all three shapes are selected, copy them (Edit > Copy).
Go to File > Open and from the Illustrator Class folder, choose Manhattan Martini.ai.
Paste the objects (Edit > Paste).
We’ve included the Olive and Toothpick for you. You will learn how to draw curved lines in an upcoming exercise, but we’ve provided these shapes for now.
Click away from the artwork to deselect it.
Let’s arrange things starting with the Glass. With the Selection tool
, click and hold directly on one of its lines and drag it to the center of the page.
Coloring the Martini Glass
In the docked panels at the right of the screen, make sure you are in the Properties panel. If you aren’t, click on the tab name or go to Window > Properties.
-
This shape needs a white fill. With the Glass still selected, go to the Properties panel and under Appearance, click on the swatch next to Fill. (It should look like
.)NOTE: In older versions there was no Properties panel. Activate the Fill in the Tools panel and use the Color panel (Window > Color) instead.
At the top middle of the panel that appears, click the Color Mixer button
if it isn’t already selected.Choose white by clicking on the white swatch towards the bottom left of the Color Mixer panel above the color bar.
To close the Color Mixer panel, press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows).
-
Click on the Martini shape and place it inside the glass… and while it’s still selected, choose Object > Arrange > Bring to Front.
A light blue color would make a refreshing-looking “Martini.” Let’s fill it with color.
In the Properties panel next to Appearance, click on the Fill icon.
We want to have maximum precision when choosing colors, so we will use the CMYK color sliders. If the Color Mixer panel isn’t showing CMYK color sliders, go into the panel menu
at the top right of the panel and choose CMYK.The first line is C (C stands for C yan). Type 7 in the box at the end of this line and press Tab.
If the other 3 colors (MYK) don’t all become 0, then make them 0.
To close the Color Mixer panel, press Return (Mac) or Enter (Windows).
Arranging the Other Elements
Click on the Manhattan Skyline and place it behind the glass.
Notice that the line of the Skyline is on top of the glass. With the Skyline still selected, choose Object > Arrange > Send to Back.
The Skyline is too big compared to the glass. With the shape still selected, go to the Tools panel and double–click the Scale tool
.In the dialog box that appears, for Uniform Scale, enter 75% and click OK.
Reposition the Skyline if needed. Make sure to choose the Selection tool
.On the top-right corner of the page, find the three shapes that make up the Olive and Toothpick.
Stay in that corner and use the Selection tool
to assemble the shapes so the toothpick is touching/poking through the olive.Shift–click all three shapes and go to Object > Group.
With the olive and pick still selected, choose Object > Arrange > Bring to Front.
Move the olive and pick onto the Martini Glass.
Select File > Save As and name it yourname-Manhattan Martini.ai.
Hit Save. In the dialog that appears, leave the default options checked and click OK.
Saving Illustrator Files
Once you click the Save button, an Options dialog will appear. You should keep the Version set to the version of Illustrator you are currently using (in our case, that’s Illustrator).
If you will need to edit the file with an older version of Illustrator, you can save back to an older version, but be careful. Newer features may not translate properly to older versions.
Create PDF Compatible File should be checked on (as it is by default) to ensure the best compatibility with other Creative Cloud applications such as InDesign and Photoshop.
Embed ICC Profiles is an advanced topic since it relates to a color managed workflow. For now, don’t worry about it and just stick with whatever your default is (on or off).
Use Compression should be checked on to reduce file size (without loss of quality).
