If you aren’t familiar with Illustrator’s extremely handy “Pathfinder” palette, you might sit down for a few moments to play with it, because it is a true time saver, and an excellent tool for manipulating paths. First, of all let me say that “Pathfinder” is a horrible name for this palette. It doesn’t actually “find” paths. It makes it easy to combine paths, divide objects, subtract shapes, etc.

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Believe it or not, Illustrator is capable of some amazing effects similar to those in Photoshop, all waiting at the tip of your finger in the Tools palette. These are NOT filters, but some lesser known Basic Illustrator Tools that , if harnessed right, can transform a single path into a work of art. I’ll show you some simple examples, but I invite you to explore these really, really easy tools a little further using your imagination.

These effects may or may not be new to you, but I’ve been using Illustrator for over half a decade, and I felt like a kid at a candy store once I started playing around with them! Here is an example of what you can do in a matter of seconds (literally):

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You will probably find dozens, if not hundreds of tutorials on how to do this in Photoshop, but I’m going to show you how to do it in Illustrator (vector). The advantage? You can scale it up for a roadside billboard if you like. That’s the power of vector graphics. All you have to do is make it once and you can change the size as many times as you like, without losing quality. I’m tempted to say that this (logo reflection) effect might actually be easier to do in Illustrator in the first place. Man, the web is definitely a creature that likes to follow trends. Let’s break one shall we? . . .

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This is a brush set meant for making your own custom swoosh, swirl and curl designs. I have a tutorial on exactly how that process works that you can read here. This isn’t the only way to make swooshes, but it should help you get started, to say the least. I’m continually fascinated as to how confusing vector swoosh creation can be to most people. Along with this brush library, and a quick tutorial read, you should be well on your way to start making your own swooshes in 100% vector format, relatively easily.

The reason I created this brush set is so that (hopefully) it will make it easier for you to try and understand swoosh making and get inspired to set up your own unique brushes to produce some beautiful swooshes and curls on your own. Practice makes perfect in most cases, but these should help you along your way.

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I’ve put together a list of 17 quick tips that will help you save time when using Illustrator, and increase productivity as well. For some of you, this may mean breaking a habit or two, but in the long run it’s well worth exploring the options of the Illustrator interface if it means saving time (measured in clicks and curse phrases, in my case), especially when it comes to “selection” methods. Some of these are obvious, and some may not be, but I want to help enlighten even the most casual of Illustrator jockeys. In no particular order. . .

1. Select all shapes with the same fill or stroke, or both.

If you go to the “Select” menu, and click on “Same,” you can instantly select ALL of the shapes with that same fill color, stroke color, or both, in single click! I love this feature and I find myself using it more and more every day. It comes in handy especially when editing a file received from a client when trying to prepare for printing (color matching to a pantone). Also if you make a last minute color scheme decision, you can easily update all of your shapes at once. Other “select same” options include Blending Mode, Opacity, and Stroke Weight.

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