Each week you will need to respond to two questions posted. Your response should be a minimum of 300 words for both questions. You should also include at least one response to your fellow students. The responses are a requirement for participation part of your grade. Your responses go in the comments section below.
Question 01 –
How do you fill a shape and a stroke with different colors?
Question 02 –
Describe the way to create a dashed line in Illustrator?
In illustrator, once you have made your shape and its highlighted, in the properties panel a section called appearance has 3 small boxes that say fill stroke and opacity. Fill is for the inside of the shape, here you are able to change the color to whatever you like. Stroke is used for outline of the shape, you can give your shape a boarder of big or small with any color of your choice. opacity shows how light or dark you want the shape to show. by clicking on fill or stroke helps you give your shape a different look.
To create a dashed line in illustrator you must use the line tool to create a line.Then go to the appearance section in the properties panel on the right side of the screen. Click on the box next to “dashed lines”. Then you enter the numbers for the lengths of dashes and gaps of your liking. The very top gives you an option to change the weight of how thin or thick you want it to be.Under the weight you are able to change the shape of the line to whatever you may like.
So, Iād immediately start off by scrolling over to the design tools adjacent to my work space and select the rectangle tool as an example. Iād hold shift while simultaneously dragging the edge of the rectangle to a desired shape. After that, I would go over to the selection tool and use this to select the newly formed square/rectangle shape and make sure the entire shape is highlighted. Then switch over to my color swatches and edit whatever color of my choice. Just under that is the stroke tool. I would then edit the stroke color and thickness of my choice. There are a couple ways to do it, but typically I just double click the small color swatch area and it automatically fills the shape with the selected color, or I can just click in the shape after selecting the color and stroke and it will fill it that way (in theory). I havenāt tried the latter yet but Iāve read that you can do it that way.
Also, there are instances where weāll need ādashedā or ādottedā lines in our design projects. There are several ways to do this too but the method Iām most familiar with is utilizing the stroke panel palette. Iād begin by selecting the line segment tool, holding shift and drawing a line on my art board to desired length. After that, Iād scroll on over to my stroke tool and in its drop down menu are more options. I would then check the dashed line box and set the weight to one of the single-digit selections or whatever I need for this particular project. Also, I have the option to round the caps for the dashed line as well which I usually edit for aesthetic purposes and to keep the line smooth looking and not so rigid.
In order to fill a shape and stroke with different colors, you can start with the shape. It will automatically start with the default colors; a white fill and a black stroke. Once you have your shape down, while it is still selected you can go to the appearance panel on the right side of the screen and click the top box labeled fill. A couple of different options will appear including various swatches or sliders. Here you can choose what color you want for your fill.
You can do the same for the stroke underneath the fill box. Clicking the box will allow you to change colors the same way as the fill box did. Clicking the word “Stroke” will pop up a menu that will allow you to adjust the various properties of the stroke. In the center of this menu, there is a check box labeled “Dashed Line”. Click this to create a dashed line. Once you click it, the options below will light up. These will allow you to adjust the distance between and the length of your dashes.
Greg,
I appreciate how quick and to the point your comment is. I could see this being in a quick tutorial guidebook, or maybe even as part of a script when narrating for a video tutorial. I’ll be keeping this as part of my referral notes, since it’s so quick!
-Kai
The process for modifying the Fill and Stroke of a line in Illustrator is very simple. When you first create your artboard and select a drawing tool, whether it be with the pen tool, freehand brush, curved pen tool, or a shape tool, you can look over to the right side of your screen (or, more specifically, your properties tab) to see a variety of settings you can fiddle with. Three sub-categories typically exist underneath the Properties tab; Transform, Appearance, and Quick Actions. We want to focus our attention to the Appearance tab. Here, we will see another three sub-categories; Fill, Stroke, and Opacity. You might also notice three boxes next to them. By left-clicking twice on these boxes, you will open up a set of swatches that will allow you to change the color of your Fill and the color of your Stroke. Then, once you place your anchors and create your path, your Fill and Stroke should change. Additionally, if you did not set up your colors prior to drawing them, you can use the Selection Tool to pick an object you’d like to edit, then navigate to the same Properties tab to modify it’s appearance the exact same way.
If you like to get fancy with your lines though, you can also change whether or not they’re dashed. You might notice that there is a dotted underline where Stroke is found. Left-clicking that will bring up a panel with advanced settings for the stroke of your lines. Turning your stroke into a dashed line is as easy as ticking the checkbox on. Additionally, a few other customizable options exist. For starters, you can actually input values to determine exactly how long you want your Dash-Gap-Dash-Gap-Dash-Gap pattern is, giving you a lot of customizability without needing to, say, draw those lines over and over again. Also, you can choose whether or not your dashed lines will maintain your exact measurements inputted, or you can make them change their lengths and gaps automatically to make them fit to corners.
Iruele,
You’ve broken down and explained this process in better detail than the book, sheesh, lol. I sometimes forget about the sub-categories that allow me to get to my swatches. Very useful information when trying to utilize tools in illustrator. Thanks for clearing that up!
-Jamil
You start off by looking into the tool box. Then you go into the shapes tool and choose the shape you want. Once you have chosen your shape and place it onto the empty page. It might already have a color that filled in the box. so you will then look onto the right side of the screen where there are more tools. You click on the option that says swatches and under it you will see where it says fill and stroke. Once you click on either option many colors will appear and you choose the color you want. The fill will fill in the whole inside of the box. As an example if you choose blue the whole box will be blue. Then the stroke is the outside of the box which is the line around the outside of a shape. You can change the color to any option you want and also make the stroke line thin or thick.
Now for the dashed line you will also go into your tool box on the right side in the properties tab you will click on it right after you had created your line. Once you are in the properties section you will click onto where it says dash lines. Also here you are allowed to change the way you want the lines as and example how many dashes you want and if you want the lines thick or thin.
To fill a shape and change the fill and stroke to different colors you must start by placing a shape. To place a shape, you select the shape tool and left click, drag, then release when the shape is the desired size. You can also create your own shape by using the pen tool to create anchors and paths. You then use the general selection tool to select the shape youād like to change the color of. Then on the right side of the window, a tool panel will pop up and show two squares, one that is filled in and one that only has the outline. The filled-in box controls the fill, and the outlined box represents the stroke. When you left-click on the filled box, you can change the fill of the shape you have selected to any color or pattern. Then when you click on the outlined box, you can change the stroke (outline) of the shape to any color or pattern. To access more colors, you can open the color library by left-clicking on the icon in the bottom left corner of the menu that pops up when you left-click on either the filled or outlined square.
In the beginning you start out the same way as you would when you are changing the color of the stroke or fill. You start by placing a path or shape by using the pen or shape tool and selecting it using the selection tool. You then click on āwindowā on the top menu and select the āstrokeā tab. Then click on the menu icon in the top right corner on the window that pops up. The menu will then expand, and it will give you many options to choose from. There will then be an option to click a box labeled as āDashed Lineā. Click that box to create a dashed line. From there you can adjust how big the dashes and the spaces in between them.
You look in the sidebar, in the properties tab for the fill and stoke section and click on the squares. Then a little window pops up, click the pallet icon for the rainbow square where you can pick a color. But by default, you are brought to your color pallet. You can add more color pallets by going into the swatches library somewhere on the bottom of the window. The solid square is for the fill, and the square with a square hole is for the outline or stroke or something.
To make dotted lines and give it an arrow and whatnot, click on the word stroke which is next to the square with a square hole which will bring up another window. You can check the dashed line checkbox and type in the lengths of the lines and gaps. In the same window, you can edit the caps, add arrows to the ends, and even add a taper.
You can basically do the same thing in Inkscape by going to the strokes and fill tab and going into the stroke paint, fill and stroke style (to set dashed lines and etc) tabs under that. I don’t think it has the taper stuff that Illustrator.
The word stroke has dotted lines under it so that you know you can click on it.
To fill a shape and to make a stroke. You first pick a shape of your choice that you would like to use. My shape for example ima just say is a circle. When you have picked your shape you go on the right side of your computer screen where the variety of options to change the background or size of your page. You click on the box that has has the color options in it. And there is the option to either fill in the color of the shape or the other box which is empty and clearly shows the stroke being highlighted if you want to change the color of the stroke of your shape.
To make the dotted line with the arrow You start by placing a path or shape by using the pen or shape tool and selecting it using the selection tool. Click on window tab and the stroke option will be there. Then there will be many options you can choose. The dashed line option is also in that area so you will be able to create the dash line in a way of your choosing.
To fill a shape with a different color you start off by making a shape with the shaper tool or the rectangle tool, but it could be any shape you want. Once you have done that you make your way to the properties panel. Once you are there you look for the appearance panel which there you will see a box labeled “Fill” beside it. You click that box and you will see a variation of colors and you select one to get your color. To fill a stroke of any color you have start by a selecting a shape, a line, or anything that has a stroke. After you have done that, in the same panel you go down and click the box beside stroke which where a window will pop out also with different colors.
To create a dashed line you select a line or shape with a stroke that you created and with that you go to the properties panel and you go down to appearance. There you will see “stroke.” You then click the word “stroke” which where a panel will pop out with different options you can do for your stroke. You will look for a box labeled “Dashed Line” you then check the box and voila! you have yourself a dashed line.
To fill a shape and a stroke with a different color or a new color you must use the fill and stroke tool located at the bottom of your tool bar. Its also located under properties and appearance on the right tool bar. There you can choose a specific color that you would like to use or use the CMYK spectrum to find a color there. There are also more options within the drop down menu under Color Guide that include special sections of colors to choose from such as dark, warm, metal, etc.
To create a dashed line, you first have to create a path using the pen tool. Then you must select the path using the selection tool. Once your path is selected, go into the properties tab and click stroke next to the color swatch. There you can edit the line you’ve created. Once there, check the dashed line option. Now you have a dashed line.
Select the chosen form or object in Adobe Illustrator to fill it with a different color and give it a new color stroke. By selecting a color from the swatch panel and utilizing the “Fill” icon in the Tools panel, you may change the fill color. Next, choose a new color for the stroke by clicking the “Stroke” icon. If required, change the weight of the stroke. Use the Fill and Stroke settings in the Control panel or Properties panel as an alternative. You may create visually unique and re-usable shapes and objects in your Illustrator artwork by choosing various colors for the fill and stroke.
Start by choosing the Line Segment tool from the Tools panel or activating it on the keyboard with the key to produce a dashed line in Adobe Illustrator. To create a straight line on the artboard, click and drag. Use the Selection tool to choose the line once it has been drawn. The “Dashed Line” option may be found in the Control panel or Stroke panel. To access pre-set dash patterns, use the dropdown menu adjacent to it, or select “More Options” to further personalize the dash pattern. You may customize the dash’s length and spacing. Depending on the settings and selected dash pattern, the line will now be dashed.