How to learn Adobe Ilustrator in 4 Hours - 5 powerful options to master

Illustrator in Adobe is a very difficult task. Right. A lot of people really get scared and a lot of people don't take it very seriously and sometimes they feel very what you call time consuming and they even skip it. Right. Learning Adobe Illustrator is a very, very simple activity. This podcast is going to give you clarity how one can learn in exactly four hours and master this tool to start using and creating more attractive illustrations. Okay, so take a lot of notes. I'm going to be sharing you five different elements and you can able to practice Adobe Illustrator if you have opened that and you can even use free trial if you are a stud and start it up.

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Yes, let's jump into this podcast. So do you really believe that learning Adobe Illustrator in four hours it's really possible? Definitely, it's possible. Before that, let me tell you there are five different elements which you have to first take care of it. Okay, so once if you're taking care of it, what happens automatically is you'll be coming to know how it is more easy to learn that. The very first thing, what you have to learn is pen tool for a very precise illustration.

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So normally before starting this podcast I want to I thought of giving you a prerequisite, but now I'm giving you that. Okay, so if you are a designer, if you are a product designer or if you are UI UX designer, have your concepts already sketched, have your ideas clear in your mind, once if you have that clarity, please jump into the Illustrator. Before that, if you come into the software, definitely you will feel lot of time consuming activity and you won't be able to achieve after eight hours also. Okay, so have something very clear before you jump in. And the second requisite is you can have Adobe Illustrator which is like a free version or a trial version, like a student version, or you can have a paid version as well. That could be also one idea. And the third requisite is you can have Wacom if you have like a pen tool. Okay, so you can have a something like, which is like a digital tool where a lot of brands is there Cintiq or Wacom. It starts from 3000 rupees to 1520,000 rupees. Also based on the budget. Whatever you have, you can use it. Okay, why? Because you will be able to precisely illustrate with that particular tools. Because if you use mouse and keyboard many times, it won't be very comfortable to create some precise illustrations. Okay, so having said this, prerequisites, now let's start the first step which is pen tool for precise illustration. So Pen tool normally allows you to create a very precise and customizable path. Okay, why it is important, Jagdish? Because when it comes to illustration, you should be even freely flowing with your hand. You should free flow with your pen tool, right? So it is very important to detail it out your illustration and create some very intricate design. See, the way to access Pen tool is go and search an option in the left side which is called Pen Tool. From the toolbar it will be like a pen. Click to create anchor points. Okay, Whatever you are creating that particular shape, click to create that anchor point and adjust those handles. This is where the fun really comes. Once you have the adjustment, then you can able to easily curve to whatever needs you want to create those complex intricate shapes. Okay, so practice creating some basic shapes first and then you can gradually move on to the complex illustration. This is the first pen tool. Second is Shape Builder. Shape builder is an interesting tool for very easy object creation. Okay, so using the shape builder, it actually simplifies the process of creating very complex shape into merging or even you can subtract or even you can intersect or you can even add lot of elements could be done using this shape builder. Okay, so you can choose a shape builder tool from toolbar on the left side and then you can click and drag to combine or subtract overlapping shapes. It's a beautiful tool and you can practice creating various shapes and experimenting with different combinations. So why shapes are normally used in Illustrator is normally illustration. When you create logos and something like small, small shapes, sometimes it's a combination of different, different rectangles, squares and ellipses. So that becomes a little what you call creative illustration for your work. So combining merging, subtracting and intersecting them makes even more interesting. So when it comes to other tools like let's say this is called Boolean option. Okay. When it comes to Adobe XT or Figma, this is normally called a Boolean option, which is normally used in all the softwares. Okay, but here it's called a shape builder. The third important tool, what you have to learn is the third option. What you have to learn is gradient mesh for realistic shading. See, once you've created the shape, once you've drawn your illustration, now you have to create realistic gradients, right? So the fun comes when you add lot of colors and gradients. So please make sure you already chosen your colors. Don't experiment here, but you can do experimentation. But you need to have some solid idea for your concept, whatever you're trying to solve. So gradient mesh enables you to create some realistic color blends. It's already lot of shadings is available in illustration options. By dividing objects into color different transition, like two or three transition or four or five gradients, you can able to transition whatever color you want into a different radiance. Okay, you can choose an object first and then you can select the gradient mesh tool. That tool option and icon will be in the shape of gradient itself and you can add mesh points. Okay, Once if you define the mesh points to define the color transition, then you can able to change different different colors. Okay. Practice by shading some simple objects first. Gradually you can move for complex. This is about a very interesting option. Gradient mesh. The fourth important option is global colors. See, whenever you are having color management things, so go to global colors, which is allowing you to change the color colors of multiple objects simultaneously, providing efficient color management. It seems like layer management and asset management in Photoshop and other tools. Where once if you change once it creates changes in all the different elements. Okay, you can create a color swatch. You can double click and open the color option and check the global option. So the meaning itself is very clear. Global, right? It applies for everything. So apply the swatch to all your objects. Practice changing it first to see how it's really impacting your overall illustration. Once if it is okay, then save it as a global and then you can able to use it for other mediums as well.

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The fifth important element is Artboard. Okay? For multiple design. So create an Artboard first. Primarily, if you open an Illustrator screen, you will be asked to create some Excel from some pixels and dimensions in MM or whatever inches. If you are very comfortable with whatever sizes or maybe your client has defined an artboard, give that and you can work on multiple designs within the same document, making it easier for you to organize. You can even create that to present your works as well. There is no problem. So use the Artboard tool to create, resize, arrange and different different artboards. Okay, so practice designing some different elements on the separate artboards to improve the organization and workflow first. And then you can draft it in a final one. The sixth and last important element is symbols for reusable elements. See, Illustration is very very simple software guys, I told you five best options. Pen tool, shape builder, gradient mesh and global colors for layer management, color management and Artboard for creating different canvas. And sixth is SY for reusable elements. You know what, if you use the six elements, it becomes easy. Your life becomes really easy to work with Adobe Illustrator. I'll tell you why it is very difficult. Why people are failing because they don't know exactly what tools to pick. They pick here and there and then they watch some YouTube videos here and there and learn and get confused.

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So just focus the six tools. Six elements in the Adobe Illustrator. Try creating some basic shapes. Try creating a very simple logo for yourself. It could be a small rectangle put in your name. That's it. It could be a logo. Maybe you can create a triangle kind of a shape and you can add. Okay, I have a equilateral balance in my life. Like let's say health, wealth and happiness. I wanted to represent that in my brand. That's my logo. You can add some gradient. That's it. First you can try it out successfully implementing these five different vertical options. Then what happens is psychologically you will feel confident. Then you can move for complex shifts. This is how you have to learn a software and move. What happens is people really get distracted. They don't even sit in the computer for half an hour or one hour together. Then how will you learn the software? First discipline yourself and then you can learn very easily any software.

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So the symbols for reusable elements is symbols allow you to create some reusable elements. Saving time and ensuring consistency across your design. You can create a graphic or object. Go to a graphic or object and convert it into a symbol. So once you convert the symbol and then drag the instances of a symbol onto your artboard, practice using some symbols which is used commonly in your designs. What happens is there is a big difference between symbol and normal shapes. Whatever you make once if you make the symbol then you can replicate in many places in your design. This is a reusable part of it.

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So once if you learn it quickly definitely your productivity will be very high. Guys. And you can take some online tutorials. I'll suggest you on Google YouTube channel. Okay. Which is called Daniel Scott. So his, his YouTube channel name is bring your own laptop. He's a one stop solution for all the Adobe tools creative cloud suits. And you can watch Danskey also another YouTube channel. So I find Daniel Scott is really good because I watch many of his videos. You can quickly get it clarified. Whatever tool options and other things you have. See guys, tool is just a tool. You'll have to use it. It's not the life. Even without Illustrator you can become a great designer. So tools will enable you to communicate your ideas faster. If you're really good at sketching like pencil, pen. Right now I'm designing a cake for my baby you know what I just told my person who's making a cake in the form of just a graphic? I just sketched it in a pencil and then I shared it. I wanted my name to be embossed. I wanted my name to be in a very straight language. I wanted the other half of the name to be little illustrative. So I showed how the illustration should be there and I mentioned the colors and it's good to go. There was a table, there was a pencil and a notepad in front of me. I just did it. It's as simple as that. It's just a communication of your ideas. It's not the God a lot of people think. Learning Illustrator and Photoshop is going to save my life. What happens if AI takes over everything? It's already happening for your information. So utilize the tools wisely. Do not rely on this completely. And I'll tell you one best method. Always practice hand sketching. That would be the best method to really make you survive as a designer. You can take a lot of online courses. You can take a good mentorship program. You can watch this YouTube channel. You can have a peer based learning. That's a very good thing. What happens is when you have a peer based learning, you learn one on one each other and you can even talk to your mentor and guided about it and get some simple activities and project based activities for only doing some illustration. What happens is you will have an end goal clearly defined. You can do it. Okay, so now let's come to the last part of the podcast. How you can do it in four hours, right? So the first one hour you can do an introduction for overall interface and basic tools. You can get a overall understanding of an Adobe Illustrator tool. You can use a very basic tool called selection. You can note it down, guys. Okay, Selection tool and direction Selection tool and pencil tool and line segment tool. So what happens is it creates a simple shapes and lines. Try doing it. Even you can pass this podcast. You can open this Illustrator and try using this very simple option called select. You can use a shortcut called V if you are Windows or Mac user. Direction Selection tool, Pencil tool and line Segment tool. Line. If you put L it will come. Circle. If you put O it will come. Okay. Or if you put rectangle, it will come. So these are all the very, very simple direct keyboard options which is available.

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And you can understand layers that would be a best choice to start off with. In the first one hour. Okay, you don't have to worry much. In first one hour you can try with these four options, see have a very good discipline. Switch on your timer, in your watch, in your mobile phone or whatever for 60 minutes without any distraction. Put your mobile in focus mode. Nowadays all the mobile have that mode, right? Without any distraction. Practice these five options till the clock hits 60 minutes. Take a 10, 15 minutes break, have a cup of tea or juice or whatever and then you can go for the second hour. Okay, so the second hover you can master some path and shapes. So having learned the lines and different different selection option. Now you can dive into a pen tool to create different different path. You can create some what you call shapes. You can create some pond like structure. You can create some oval like structure. You can create some organic like structure. You can create a curve using the handles. You can play around. Then you can use path builder and shape builder. Now you can do this intersection, addition, subtraction and elimination. Okay, so experiment with different shape builders. It's very easy and simple. It doesn't take much time. Five minutes to find out all this option, whatever it told you and practice it for next 30 minutes to 45 minutes.

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And then work with some text. Now add some pretext, whatever you have chosen. Like let's say if you're buying brand is calling for Helvetica. If your brand is calling for Futura, use that particular text on top of your logo or sideways and try to create how it creates a visual beauty out of it even. You can change your text and merge that text. You can combine the text, you can make your text in a very different, different format. And you can play a lot of text formatting option like a stretching of the text and increasing the kerning of the text and increasing the lettering of the text and squeezing the text. And you can able to increase, decrease, make the bold light. Please do it for one full hour and try it out. Okay, so the Hover 2 you can switch on the timer and try mastering the paths and shapes and text. Okay. You can again go to the YouTube channel if you have any doubts. And you can watch it out after taking 15 minutes break or probably your lunchtime. Then one hour you practice on advanced technique and color management. You can now use gradients. This becomes more fun. People normally go into the gradients and color modes first without drawing any kind of shape. That's completely waste of time. Right now is the time you have to start learning colors. Make some smooth transition. Play with some RGB colors and then play with some secondary colors. Play with some cool complementary colors. You can go to the website called Cooler C O O l o r s I.in okay, you can take a lot of color gradient schemes and then you can copy paste that same CSS code or what you call the hex code here. And then you can create that same gradient mesh. You can add some advanced shading. You can put double layer shading. Now you can, once you've learned the layer management system in the first hour, now you can able to play with different different layers, right? If you go to left hand side, you can find different, different options. Whatever you've drawn in the Illustrator canvas will come as a layers. So once if you click and move it using your mouse, it automatically moves to the top layer. It's like having different, different cloth layers, right? So same like that. Layers is one of the beautiful tools in Illustrator and Photoshop which will increase your productivity and manage the color shading effects. Okay, you can, if you're really confused, click the right click in the mouse and then you can see there is a layer. And if you find the layer going up and down, you can see how the effect is coming out. And you can type layers in the particular YouTube channel, whatever is in and you can able to search more about creating some advanced layer swatches.

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And once if you created that, then you can go for global colors and swatches and you can manage using a different, different artboard. Okay, next third hover, you can do it. So the last fourth, however, again taking a break. Now you can work on some very good shortcuts methods. Okay, so learn some good keyboard shortcuts. You can speed up your workflow like I told you, right? For selection you can use V for control C, you can use copy For Control V you, Ctrl X you can put copy, paste, cut paste and once if you're creating more options like let's say pen tool P line for L and circle for ooh and rectangle R. So these are all the very good shortcut keys which is available in the YouTube videos. You can watch it out quickly, I've told you five, but you can explore that shortcut method 20 minutes without distraction. You can learn in that one. After remaining 40 minutes, what you can do is you can try to take some symbols from the libraries, which is whatever shape is available in Illustrator. Or you can even download some assets from Google Design Materials which I've already talked in my podcast and don't worry, I'll be pasting you the link. You can take some methods materials there and you can able to copy paste and you can able to create some color gradients. Okay, now once you created some random images, try to export it into png, go to file, try to export it as a png high quality JPEG or even PDF or any kind of an artboard video you want to take and save it and share it to your friends and see how it's opening. Maybe you can share it in your WhatsApp and see how it really comes up. Hey, this is a cool first logo what I made. It's a as simple as this guys. If you're able to utilize this four hours to learn, you know what? You will become much more clear in using this tools. Whatever I told you. Okay, so let me recap you the first one hour you can do practice of interfaces and basic tools. Second hour you can practice path and shapes. Third hour you can go and find out some advanced techniques and color management. Fourth, you can find out some keyboard shortcuts and export option and try to play with different different elements and creating your library and layer management. Okay, so I hope this podcast would have given you some clarity. If you're really understanding Illustrator in a more different way, this one podcast could be a start for you. And now you can become a master in just four hours without anybody teaching you. Okay, thank you so much guys. If you find this as useful, give me a best rating in Spotify and Apple. If you need my mentorship support in helping you to build your design career in just 3 months to make his salary 2x or 3, please hit me an email. I'll be happy to check whether you're really interested to take for my mentorship program and help you. Normally I don't help a lot of students. I take only a few students check make sure if you are really interested to do that. Okay, thank you so much guys. Bye bye. All the best.