If you are a busy entrepreneur who is still creating every aspect of your business, including creating ALL the pretty graphics that go along with it than you will NEED to listen up because I'm going to show you 2 of the NEED-TO-KNOW tricks inside Adobe Illustrator that will not only save you loads of time but they will help you maintane a cohesive look and feel to your brand. Trust me, once you know these two tricks you'll be whipping out blog graphics and social media images like a ROCKSTAR! Oh, and if you are wanting to give Adobe Illustrator a try, go ahead and downlaod a 1 month trial version HERE. 1. Multiple ArtboardsDon't let the term "artboard" scare you. It's just Illustrator's name for your project workspace. But here's what few Illustrator users know... you can work on multiple artboards at the same time! You are not limited to only having 1 project in front of you at any given time. You don 't have to flip between multiple windows or screens if you have a multi-page project. So let's say I have written an EPIC blog post and now I want to quickly flush out a set of graphics to accompany said epic blog post. I will need a feature image for the blog itself, I will need a square image for Instagram and I will need a vertical image for easy pinning on Pinterest. After I create my first initial artboard (sized for Pinterest) I will then create a 2nd artboard (square for IG) and 3rd artboard (sized for Twitter and/or inside my blog) right next to each other so I can easily copy and past my first layout and just re-size it to fit the other two artboards. Boom! Major time saver! 2. Set up a library for each "brand" you work with
Here's how to create a library inside your Adobe CC App: 1. From any Adobe CC application, go to Window > Libraries to open the Libraries panel.You can use the Libraries menu to create a new library and name it specific to a client's name or brand, or simply add assets to the default library, named My Library. 2. Click plus (+) in the Libraries panel to add graphics, text styles, colors, and effects from your document. You can also add graphic assets such as shapes and photos by dragging them directly from your project into the Libraries panel. Asset thumbnails are organized by category, so they’re easy to locate. Double-click an asset’s title to rename it. Now that the asset is saved to a library, it’s easy to drag and drop it to add it to other projects I sure hope this helps somebody out there save LOADS of time and maybe even some frustration. Also, if you care to share how long you've been working with Illustrator I would love to know since I consider myself sort of a veteran (15+ years with Adobe Illustrator) and yet these are two fairly new tools for me. Leave a quick comment below if you have time to connect, thanks!
2 Comments
8/12/2017 07:07:26 am
I am so glad I found your site. I feel like now I have enough confidence to try Adobe Illustrator! And just in time because I have a new focus for my blog and want to try to do the design myself. Thanks a bunch!
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6/11/2018 01:49:37 pm
Love your posts, very helpful. Thank you for sharing your knowledge
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Erin GipfordI am destined to help people save time and work smarter by using the best design software on the market, Adobe Creative Cloud. I have over 21 years as a professional graphic designer. I'm excited to share my wealth of knowledge! Categories
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