Fundamentals of working with vector

graphics
Objective: to master the techniques of working with the graphic
editor of vector graphics Adobe Illustrator

Order of execution
To complete the work, you must:
1. Explore the Adobe Illustrator tools;
2. Create a logo;
3. Import Bitmap
4. Trace the image

Brief theoretical information:

Vector graphics is a way of representing objects and images in computer
graphics, based on the use of elementary geometric objects such as points, lines,
splines and polygons. The term is used in contrast to raster graphics, which
represent an image as a matrix of fixed size, consisting of dots (pixels) with
their own parameters.

Advantages of the vector way of describing graphics over raster

graphics:
- size occupied by the descriptive part does not depend on the real size of
the object, which allows using the minimum amount of information to describe
any large object with a file of the minimum size.
- Due to the fact that information about an object is stored in a descriptive
form, you can infinitely enlarge a graphic primitive, for example, a circular arc,
and it will remain smooth.
- Object parameters are stored and can be easily changed. It also means
that moving, scaling, rotating, filling, etc. does not degrade the quality of the
drawing.
- When enlarging or reducing objects, the thickness of the lines can be set
constant, regardless of the actual contour.

Disadvantages of vector graphics:

- Not every object can be easily vectorized - for something like this the
original image may require a very large number of objects and their complexity,
which negatively affects the amount of memory used by the image and the time
it takes to display it.
- Converting vector graphics to raster is quite simple.
- The advantage of a vector image - scalability - disappears when we start
dealing with especially low graphics resolutions (for example, icons 32× 32 or
16 × 16).
The figures below show the Adobe Illustrator tools that are used to create
various vector images.

Figure A. Adobe Illustrator toolbar

Area of application
Area of application of raster and vector images also differ, and it cannot be
said that a vector illustration is better than a raster in everything.
 Figure A. Adobe Illustrator toolbar

Converting a complex photograph or art picture into a vector form is a very

resource-intensive task, besides, vectorization (transferring pictures from a
raster to a vector) implies some simplification of a photo composition or
drawing. Vector graphics are extremely useful when preparing images for
websites, and this is its main use for webmasters. Images obtained by translating
from a vector to a raster are almost always unique, they are appreciated by
search engines when ranking images. In vector graphics, there are no problems
with backgrounds, textures and shapes, then it becomes clear: vector drawings
have their place on a web designer's shelf.

Methodical instructions
 Task.
Using the graphics editor Adobe Illustrator, create a logo, import a bitmap
and trace it, export the image to Word.

Create a new document in Adobe Illustrator, click Window - Workspace -

Essentials (Fig.5.1)

Figure 5.1 Preset Adobe Illustrator

Next, we collapse the areas on the right to the view, as in Fig.5.2, select
the standard first layer. Then, on the left bar, select PenTool (Fig. 5.3), here,
only at the bottom, select black as the main color and remove Stroke (Fig. 5.4).

Figure 5.2 Pixel change

 Figure 5.3 Pen Tool Figure 5.4 Stroke

After completing the above steps, we are ready to proceed directly to

drawing the logo. By successive mouse clicks, we draw a kind of mountain
peaks, closing the image upon completion of the action (Fig. 5.5 - Fig. 5.8).

Figure 5.5 Mountain peaks - step 1

Figure 5.6 Mountain peaks - step 2

Figure 5.7 Mountain peaks - step 3

 Figure 5.8 Mountain Peaks - Step 4

After that, select SelectiveTool, the first element of our ToolBar, click
outside the picture, then select PenTool again and apply some kind of
"shadows" to the peaks to create a visual volume (Fig. 5.9 - Fig. 5.11). Do not
forget to change the color of the price using the tool from the right bar.

Figure 5.9 Shadows - step 1

Figure 5.10 Shadows - step 2

Figure 5.11 Shadows - step 3

 The next step is to create hills for our mountains. To do this, we need to
change the color to green, and using the same PenTool (Pen), we will create
them. But attention, on the second click (at the end of the segment), we do not
release the mouse button, but drag this point, thereby creating a rounding (Fig.
5.12 - Fig. 5.14).
Figure 5.12 Hills, line rounding - step 1

Figure 5.13 Hills - step 2

Figure 5.14 Hills - step 3

 In the same way as we created shadows on the mountain peaks, we create
a shadow on the hill (Fig. 5.15).

Figure 5.15 Hills - Shadow

In order to change the shape of our shadow, select the second tool in the
left ToolBar called DragSelectingTool. We click on our object, and we stretch
the "control points" as we wish (Fig. 5.16).

Figure 5.16 Changing the shape of an existing object

Next we have an equally important step, creating a background. Select the

Rectangle in the ToolBar, after changing the color of the drawing, and create a
rectangle. The next step, right-click on it, select Arrange (Location) and selectin
the menu Bring Forward (Fig. 5.17). You should end up with something like
this. fig. 5.18.

Figure 5.17 Logo background - step 1

Figure 5.18 Logo background – summary

Then, using the acquired skills, and using the Circle tool, add the Moon to
the background to the mountains fig. 5.19.
 Figure 5.19 Add Moon

Next, we swap our main color and shading, choose a suitable color for
shading, take the Brush as a tool, and draw a kind of tree, not necessarily too
neatly (Fig. 5.20).

Figure 5.20 Adding a Tree

Next, select one line, and from the top menu, select the StrokeColor
option, as shown in fig. 5. 21.
 Figur
e 5.21 Selecting all elements

As in fig. 5.22, we can play with the thickness of the stroke, with its
shape. If you don't like the brush, you can replace it with a pencil and customize
it for yourself. Having played a little, you can get the trace result (Fig. 5.23).

Figure 5.22 Changing the stroke

 Figure 5.23 Summary of changing the border settings

To create a full-fledged, aesthetic logo, we need to crop out everything

that is unnecessary. To do this, select the Ellipse tool, hold down the Shift key
(so that we have a circle), stretch it to the size we need, press the right mouse
button, and select Make Clipping Mask (Fig. 5.24). On the top of the logo we
print any text of your choice, and with the help of the editor we change its style
(Fig. 5.25).
 Figure 5.24 Ellipse and mask

Figure 5.25 Logo and text

The final step is to create some border text around your logo. To do this,
select the ellipse tool again and place it around the logo. Then we print your text
and cut it out (fig. 5.26).
 F
igure 5.26 Edging - Step 1

After that, knock out the Text along the path tool in the Text tool. Fine! In
conclusion, we will make it so that it perfectly frames the logo, for this we
change the value shown in Fig. 5.27.

Figure 5.27 Edging - Step 2

As a result, we have a good logo (Fig. 5.28), made in a short time

using the basic functionality of Adobe Illustrator.
 Figure 5.27 Logo - final

Let's trace the bitmap

1. Open the bitmap or place it in an Illustrator document.
2. Select the original image and do one of the following:
a. Select Object> Image Trace>Newto trace with default
settings. By default, Illustrator traces in black and white.
b. Click thebutton Image Tracein the Control panel or
Properties panel, or click the Trace Styles button and select a style ().
c. Choose Window> Image Traceor switch to theworkspace
Trace. Open the Image Trace panel and do one of the following:
i. Select one of the standard styles using the icons at
the top of the panel.
 ii. Choose a style from themenu Style.
iii. Set the trace options.
3. (Optional) Adjust the tracing results in the Image Trace
panel (Window> Image Trace).

4. To convert the traced object to paths and manually edit

the vector image, choose Object> Trace Image>Expand.

We export our image

1. Select File> Export.
2. Browse to a location for the file and enter a filename.
3. Choose a format from thepop-up menu Save As-Text
(Windows) or Format (Mac OS).
4. Click Save (Windows) or Export (Mac OS).

Test questions:
1. What are vector graphics?
2. What are the advantages of vector graphics over raster graphics?
3. What are the disadvantages of vector graphics?
4. What is the basis for representing objects and images in vector
graphics?
5. Which image, vector or raster, takes up more space?
6. What are the areas of application of vector images?
7. What are the main advantages of working in the graphics editor
Adobe Illustrator?
8. What competing programs are Adobe Illustrator?
nine. What kind of vector operations on shapes have you used in
your work?
ten. Can you make a raster image from a vector and vice versa?

Individual assignment:
Design and draw an advertising logo in Adobe Illustrator.