Click here to view the embedded video.

In this video, I am sharing with you a vector path creation technique to speed up the process of creating curved paths by adding intermediate anchor points after your corners have been created. I used to create my anchor points as I was following the curve of the shape I was tracing. Instead, with this technique the anchor points are added to your vector path after your corners have been created, allowing Illustrator to approximate the length of the curve handles for you with much greater accuracy the first time around.

It’s tough to explain with words, which is why I created this video

Enjoy, and boost your productivity in Adobe Illustrator!

* the song in the background is a little ditty I created myself in GarageBand with my trusty guitar.

by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio
Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.

Adobe Illustrator Video Tip: Quickly Add Smooth Transition Anchor Points is a post from: Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

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For longer than I can remember, I have been flustered with the Flatten Transparency feature in Adobe Illustrator CS3 and CS4. Very often I use the excellent Layer Targeting feature introduced into recent versions of Adobe Illustrator, however I found that when using the Flatten Transparency feature, it seemed to ignore the attributes of the Targeting, which forced me to find lengthy workarounds to solve this. Turns out there was an approach to solving this that I had overlooked…

Typically I use Layer Targeting in order to add a shading layer to my illustrations. I do this by creating a new Layer, then Targeting that Layer, and then adding a Layer Appearance effect—in this case I am changing the layer’s Blend Mode to Multiply with a 40% opacity setting. This allows me to just use flat color on this shading layer, and because of the targeting, any objects placed on this Layer inherit the effects applied when I set up the Targeting.

Here was the snag: when exporting final files for clients, I usually provide the vector art as a version 8 Illustrator EPS file, as this removes all special Illustrator-specific features I used in creating the artwork, resulting in a file that is just about as compatible as it can possibly be with not only earlier versions of Adobe Illustrator, but also other vector graphics software. “Dumbing down” the file like this ensures that clients will not run into issues of needing to have the same version of Illustrator I use, especially since I keep up to date on the current versions and realize not everybody else is as quick to upgrade as I am.

Typically when running the Flatten Transparency feature, all one needs to do is select all the items which are affected by the transparency and run Flatten Transparency (typically I just select all the artwork to do this). However, I found in Illustrator CS3 and CS4 that all my targeted (shading) layers were defaulting to flat areas of solid, opaque black. this was not the result I wanted. I went so far as to submit a bug report to Adobe on this, with no reply.

Frustrated, I posted to Twitter about this. Illustrator guru Mordy Golding is one of my followers, and he picked up on my complaint. At first he was in agreement that I had found a bug. However we began to “tweet” back and forth, and by doing so Mordy stumbled on to the solution: not only does one need to select all the artwork, but additionally one needs to also “target” the layers with targeted effects applied. Bingo!

We discussed briefly after confirm this solution that indeed this makes sense, as the Flatten Transparency feature only works on items that are selected, and indeed the Targeting feature is a form of selecting items, although not very obvious or intuitive at first.

If you refer to the image on this post, you’ll see I have highlighted the Layer Target circles. You can determine visually if a layer has been targeted and effects applied of the circle is filled in with dark gray.

Contributors to iStockPhoto might find this especially useful, as iStock requires all art to be flattened and submitted as version 8 Illustrator .eps files.

by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio
Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.

Flattening Transparency Properly When Using Layer Appearances in Adobe Illustrator is a post from: Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

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Here are a few handy keyboard shortcuts in Photoshop for those of you out there like me who spend an inordinate amount of time in the Creative Suite primarily using Illustrator. These are not keyboard shortcuts that you can use in Illustrator, but rather are keyboard shortcuts providing methods of doing things in Photoshop that you are used to doing in Illustrator that at first it might seem isn’t possible, like click directly on an object to select it, drag to a new layer, etc.

Key commands are formatted for Macintosh; Windows users swap out “Command” for “Control” & “Option” for “Alt”

Create A New Layer: Command (Apple key)-Shift-N
Illustrator bonus tip: I used to think you couldn’t do this in Illustrator using a keyboard command, but I was recently digging into the Keyboard Shortcuts prefs and discovered the keyboard shortcut for creating a new Layer: Command-L. Awesome!

Jump to the next/previous layer: Option – ] or [
This would be similar to selecting an object

Move The Selected Layer Up or Down: Command - ] or [
This would be similar to moving an object up or down

Copy A Selection To A New Layer: Command – J
Similar to an option-drag to copy an item

Select Any Object, Regardless of the Current Layer:
Similar to selecting Illustrator’s Selection tool and selecting/moving an object. When using Photoshop’s Move tool, hold the Command key and click on the object. That object’s layer will be selected as well. The Move tool’s options allow you to set this as the default behavior, but I find it odd to work that way. I much prefer using the modifier key to enable the feature.

Manipulate An Object With Transform Handles:
Highlight the layer whose object you wish to  manipulate, then hit Command-T. The Transform box will appear, and you can then drag the object around as well as resize with the transform handles.

A bonus, non-keyboard tip for resizing just a Selection: make your selection using the Marquee tool (or any other selection tool), then go to the Select menu and choose “Transform Selection” to get the transform handles.

by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio
Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.

6 Photoshop Keyboard Shortcuts For Illustrator Users is a post from: Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

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It’s happened to all of us digital creatives. The dreaded day when you just cannot get one of your Adobe applications to launch. Usually there’s a deadline looming (of course). You’ve restarted your computer (three times) and still you cannot get Photoshop to launch. You’ve tried a few tips from some Google searches, but still nothing. Your geek cred is showing it’s limitations. And your deadline isn’t getting any further away.

What if I told you this could be avoided, virtually forever? And also, that you can get back to work with all your settings just the way you like them?

That’s a strong claim, but I am going to back it up by showing you how. You’ll be able to get back to work exactly where you left off — all your preferences, settings & palette locations will be just the way you like them, all with a clean start.

Typically on computers (on a Mac at least), the standard answer when things seem too far gone is to “trash the prefs”, or in other words delete the preferences file for that piece of software. The reason behind this logic is the fact that the software, not finding the prefs where they are supposed to be, will create a brand new preferences file for you when you next launch the application.

The big problem here is that all your settings — well your preferences, actually — are stored in this file (go figure). Creating a new preferences file from scratch will also result in losing all the customization you’ve done for that particular piece of software. But there is a pretty simple solution to both these situations.

Simply put, you just need to save a duplicate/backup version of the preferences file/folder, and replace that when things get weird. The trick however is to set up your software just the way you like things before you do this. This is the trick to getting a “new” set of prefs with everything set up with all your customizations. This customized setup is best done with a brand-new set of preferences, so as to ensure your working with a clean, error-free version. At the very least, backing up your prefs right now with a working version set to just how you like things is better than nothing.

Here are the locations of the preferences files for Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign (Mac and PC). If you need to do this for other apps, you can reverse-engineer the locations pretty easily to find anything else.

Mac OS X:

Illustrator: Users>(username)>Library>Preferences>Adobe Illustrator CS[x] Settings>Adobe Illustrator Prefs

Photoshop: Users>(username)>Library>Preferences>Adobe Photoshop CS[x] Settings

InDesign: Users>(username)>Library>Preferences>Adobe InDesign>Version [x].0

Windows (XP & 2000):

Illustrator: Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Adobe\Adobe Illustrator[Version][Settings].

Photoshop: Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Adobe\Photoshop\[version #]\Adobe Photoshop [version #] Settings

InDesign: Documents and Settings\<username>\Application Data\Adobe\InDesign>Version [x].0

(Note: to locate the file from Windows Explorer it may be necessary to set Explorer Folder options > View to “View Hidden Files and Folders”)

What I like to do it to save a backup copy of the preferences in the exact same folder where the actual preferences are, renamed to something different. I usually just append the word “backup” to the folder name. For example, “Adobe Illustrator Prefs” would be saved as “Adobe Illustrator Prefs backup“.

On a Mac I can confirm that leaving this backup folder in the same folder will do no harm. I am not a Windows guy so you may want to check further to see if this is a safe option.

What I like about this is the fact that my backup is right there where I need it — no searching necessary. I just make a copy of the backup folder, trash the “problem” version and rename the copy of the backup.

Because I am extra cautious, I usually drag the problem preferences folder to the Desktop instead of trashing it immediately, just in case I need to go back for some reason (you never know). After a week or so of things working fine I will then go back and trash the faulty folder.

It sounds a lot more complicated than it actually is, and you’ll be glad you set this up if you ever need to use it, trust me.

by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio
Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.

Adobe Apps: Backup Your Prefs is a post from: Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

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Cartoonist and regular MAD Magazine artist Tom Richmond just posted some insider tips on working for MAD Magazine over at his excellent blog.

Sorry to say, there’s no secret handshake or magic words, but the good news is that it’s at least easier nowadays to get your work in the mag than it was back in the 70’s & 80’s — MAD has opened up to a wider range of styles as well as a wider pool of freelancers that they work with.

And to quote Tom on the likelihood of your artwork getting seen:

Trust me when I say that anyone who sends work into MAD will get the proper attention paid to it, usually by art director Sam Viviano himself.

That’s good to hear, although Vivano’s artwork is phenomenal—it’s gotta be nerve-wracking to submit to him. I remember his work way back in my Scholastic Book Club days, in Dynamite Magazine. Now that’s going waaaay back!

MAD Magazine was the main inspiration for me as a very young kid to start drawing. I remember finding old Don Martin books my Dad had stashed in the attic, and even and old Alfred E. Newman bust my Dad had made out of sculpting clay (and he was an engineer back then, and now a lawyer!).

Anyways, the MAD Magazine artists were a huge, if not the inspiration for me as a budding artist. I can remember being mesmerized by all the artwork in the magazine, each artist for their own unique style and sense of humor. And as I got older, I came to appreciate the artists I wasn’t as keen on back in my younger days (Jack Davis in particular). I was a Mort Drucker/Don Martin guy primarily, but always envied Sergio Aragones’ genius work in the margins. Paul Coker always had some magic going on too.

Instead of getting all nostalgic in this blog post, I really should be getting some work together for submission to MAD.

 via Tom Richmond

by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio
Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.

Working For MAD Magazine: Insider Tips is a post from: Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

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Hold down the Option key when erasing using the Eraser Brush, and you’ll get a marquee that you can drag to erase a perfectly rectangular area.

Bonus Eraser Tool tip: edit the keyboard shortcuts so the Eraser uses the “E” key, and remap the Free Transform tool to Shift-E (essentially swapping the keyboard shortcuts for the two tools). Seems much more intuitive this way.

Both tips via FreeTransform

by George Coghill -
View my cartoon character and mascot illustration portfolio
Contact me to get started on your own custom cartoon illustration projects.

Adobe Illustrator Eraser Brush Tip: Option-Erase is a post from: Cartooning & Illustration Blog: Coghillustration

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