[Ask BB] Saving Brushes, Object-Expand, Raster Effects Settings and more
This is my first Question/Answer post here at BittBox, and I plan on doing this more often. All of these questions came in from twitter, so if you have a Photoshop or Illy question you need answered, you can leave a comment here, or send me a tweet. I’ll save all the questions that come in and try to answer as many as I can. To kick things off I have some answers below, just remember, I can’t answer every single question that comes in because of 2 fundamental reasons: 1) I may not know the answer, or 2) I may not understand what you were asking. Ok, lets try to de-mystify Illy and PS a little, shall we? Thanks for everyone who send in the tweets :)
![[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more](http://www.bittbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/ask.jpg "[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more")
1) SuperLame Asks:
Any good plugins for AI to make choosing fonts more visual, like flash?
Answer:
As far as plugins go, I haven’t been able to find one that does what you want, however, there is one Illustartor quirk to ba aware of. If you choose your fonts from the top toolbar you’ll get a plain list of fonts. But if you choose fonts from the Character palette itself, you get a small visual preview, similar to the way Flash works. And if you have an extra $100, this software might be what you need.
![[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more](http://www.bittbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/illustrator_type_1.jpg "[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more")
VS.
![[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more](http://www.bittbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/illustrator_type_2.jpg "[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more")
2) deluzione asks:
How do I convert and illy doc from 72dpi to 300?
Answer:
Good question. This is one of those settings that you would think you should be able to find under “Document Setup,” since it’s a setting you choose every time you create a “new” document. However, our friends at Adobe thought it should be in a different place. You’ll find the “Document Raster Effects Settings” under the “Effects” menu.
![[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more](http://www.bittbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/illustrator_raster_settings_1.jpg "[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more")
Just change your setting to 300dpi, and click OK.
![[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more](http://www.bittbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/illustrator_raster_settings_2.jpg "[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more")
3) GrandmasterB asks:
I’ve tried to use Object > Expand… to make a uniform space around text after creating outline, but it doesn’t seem to work…why?
Answer:
Your on the right track, but that’s not what “Expand” was meant for. The command your looking for is “Offset Path.” We can achieve the results you want in 3 easy steps:
1. Type > Create Outlines.
![[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more](http://www.bittbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/offset_path_illustrator_2.jpg "[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more")
2. Go to Object > Path > Offset Path.
![[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more](http://www.bittbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/offset_path_illustrator_1.jpg "[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more")
3. Check the preview box and enter a value for the amount you want to offset. (use a negative number to offset inside instead of outside).
![[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more](http://www.bittbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/offset_path_illustrator_3.jpg "[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more")
4) katzw asks:
What is the correct way to save custom brushes so that others can download and use them? EPS files don’t seem to work. Thanks :)
Answer:
I assume you mean Illustrator brushes, so I’ll try and answer this as best I can. When you save Illustrator brushes, illustrator outputs an .AI file. It’s not a normal AI file, but a “Brush Library.” All you have to do is place that AI file into …Illustrator CSX > Presets > Brushes, and you’ll be able to load the brushes via the Brushes Palette.
![[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more](http://www.bittbox.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/illustrator_brushes_1.jpg "[Ask BB] Masking, Object-Expand, Antialiasing and more")
Hope that helps, guys:) Remember, you can send me questions via twitter whenever you want. The more questions, the better!
Tags: Ask BB, Illustrator, Photoshop, Quick Tip, Tutorial
Great tips especially #3.
thanks!
Great tips. Thanks for the “Ask BB” series, it’s awesome to have this kind of interactivity, as a reader I really appreciate it!
I have to agree with Gabe. I really appreciate it too!
Thanks for the tips, great idea to customize your posts for your readers. Can I ask how you organize your brushes in your computer? I’m always debating whether to save them in the Preset folder of Illustrator or under a separate folder with other resources, i.e. textures etc…
Thanks!
Great advice! Love your site, and you’re pretty cute for a design geek ;)
The Q&A is a great angle to take. Good questions as well. Hope to see more of these in the near future!
Pretty fine, good job BB, but…
Friends at Adobe put their setting exactly where it should be, this dpi setting doesn’t change “document dpi setting” – there’s nothing like this for vector graphics. Vectors will print at any resolution you want. Instead it, as the name exactly puts it, changes the resolution of all the raster effects applied (those that had been applied before changing this setting, too, so watch out, the effects *will* change) – such as feathers, drop shadows, et caetera. So if you leave, say, default 72dpi and apply some shadows, you will still get razor sharp vector edges in print, but pixelated shadows, or other effects.
Just to make things clear – neither deluzione’s question was specific, nor the answer was exact IMO.
Cheers!
Matt
Great that you’re handing out tips Jay, but am I missing something at tip #1? This is how my “font-chooser”/”font-drop-down” looks like:
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9031/afbeelding2m.png
(including preview)
Ive had some curiosity about #1 myself. Nice Q&A!
(deluzione) Thanks for the answer, Jay! And yes, I was looking for it in the Document Setup.
Sweet.
[...] Jay Hilgert from Bittbox.com is one of those guys, expert in the field. He had an “Ask Bittbox” question round on Illustrator and Photoshop on Twitter, so I sent in my question, and it got posted on Bittbox.com [...]
Nice tips, keep going!
Nice tips, I enjoy those small tips and advices a lot, exciting to read, thanks :))
Good work guys, thanks. Keep going!
is #1 a feature available in CS4? I’m using CS3 and don’t have the font preview off the palette.
I have an Illy question (or if it can be done in PS as well, that would be great!) How the heck do you get an object to align to a non-straight path. Say I have a circle or an oval and I want to make little star shaped cut out’s every 1/4 inch (or so) around the shape. How would I get the stars to line up around the inside of the circle/oval without using a brush? Is it even possible to align objects to a path in Photoshop or Illustrator? (I know in Quark Xpress it’s called Step & Repeat, but I haven’t found any such command in PS or Illy…
Awesome Post, and about the fonts, Extensis is awesome recommend for anyone designing.
[...] Saving Brushes, Object-Expand, Raster Effects Settings and more | BittBox (tags: links resources) [...]
Hi BB,
How do you export jpg with dpi greater than 300 from Illustrator ? File > Export limits you to 300 dpi only.
Thanks!
Nice Post! Keep answering questions please!
Great tip, I like the concept of answering questions from users!
Hey BB and everybody,
you could also use Font Explorer X by Linotype. It’s similar to Extensis Suitcase but it’s free. I used extensis for quite awhile, but i don’t have the money to drop on the new program. Font Explorer X has accomplished the basis things I did with extensis. Font explorer X is a font management software that gives you previews of fonts and allows you to activate fonts at will. here is the link.
http://www.linotype.com/2631/freedownloadmac.html
peace,
cj
I lived and breathed #3 at my first graphic design gig back in 99. It weened me away from using stokes for outlined text and so on. If a factory doesn’t have the scale strokes box checked, the job is ruined. Use #3! Very useful!
Thanks BB and Matt! Great piece of info.
In point 1 you mention that illustrator previews your text. Is this functionality possible in Photoshop as well?
Nice Post.
TIP 2! thanks…
[...] This is such a cool idea! I don’t think Bittbox was the first, GoMedia did something similar, but it’s cool none-the-less. Here’s the deal: Bittbox, a rad designer/blogger/leprechaun tosser, decided to yet again make his knowledge base available to the design community, this time via Twitter. Any designers that needed to know a quick tip or trick regarding their designs could tweet the need to Bittbox. Shortly after, he composed those tweets into a very informative tutorial-esque post. This is definitely a great use if the all might tweet. We need to keep things like this going. Thanks Bittbox. Check it out! [...]
Great idea Bittbox. Thanks for the info.
For #3, as someone made a reference to, you can accomplish something similar using strokes if you don’t want to outline your text, although it can get you into hot water if you send it to print without outlining. By default (for some unknown reason), the strokes show up in front of the text, which everyone knows is super sucky, but if you add your strokes via the Appearance palette (contextual menu > add new stroke…) you can drag the stroke below the fill and make it look like you want. This workflow also allows you to add multiple strokes to type and objects, something that drove me CRAZY for the longest time.
[...] [Ask BB] Saving Brushes, Object-Expand, Raster Effects Settings and more – The first Q & A post ever published on BittBox. Contains answers to 4 questions. [...]
hey great work!!: im just wondering in Ai how can i crop an image?. but not alter the original one.. i mean, is there a crop tool? or one that works like one? thanx sweety!
I’ve had a unique Illustrator problem lately…every now and then the “Send To Back” command stops working, under the Object>Arrange> menu…Any idea as to why? I did a little searching but haven’t found anyone having this particular problem…
For qustion #1, when you type your text and put the curser in the font field and go up and down with the arrows in your keyboard, the text changes so it is really easy to see whether you like it or not. you just go up and down until you’re happy
Hi Jay,
first of all congratz with this site. I’m visiting it more and more and finally decided to register… (even made a typo in my name, damn)
Anyway, currently working on a poster where recycled paper uses a maximum ink coverage of 280%. My artwork exceeds this, more like 340%. Is there a nice way to reduce this ink coverage in a fast and easy way (photoshop or indesign, and keeping more or less the same colours).
Thanks in advance.
very very useful
thanks
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Sweet tip. Bookmarked!