Question: I’ve been a life-long, 17-year user of FreeHand and this is just killing me. In FreeHand I could “Cmd-C” an object to move it then “Cmd-D” would repeat that to create simple patterns. How do I do that in Illustrator? I tried “Cmd D” but it just moves the same shape. It doesn’t create new ones?
I’m working on a 4 color-process job in Illustrator that uses a blue that is our corporate blue. Well now the job is almost ready for press and they decided to make this a 5-color job. I know there is an easy way to make all this blue a PMS5425 blue. Is this enough info? Can you help me out?
I have a question about Symbol Libraries. I have managed to create a library for a website I am working on. The library has a few logo ideas and I would like to be able to add to it when I am in another Illustrator document. It seems that all I am able to do is create another new library, open the older symbols and save them… this method slows down the workflow. Any suggestions?
I was wondering if there is a way that I can automatically create a group of swatches from a placed Photoshop image? There is an easy way to do it in Photoshop (converting the image to Indexed color, etc.), and I’d love to know if there’s an equivalent in Illustrator CS3?
QUESTION: I am using Illustrator CS3, and I have a picture that I’d like to place multiple text objects and possibly vector images over and make a clipping mask utilizing all of the objects at the same time. I can’t figure out a way to combine the text objects so that they form a clipping mask (when I try, I usually just get the last object I put in to be the mask).
I have something to confess: I personally really don’t like Flash. I mean, I love the format, and I sure want to be able to create Flash content. But I’ve just never really wrapped my head about that application and that crazy-making actionscript. So when I saw this little tidbit appear in CreativePro.com, about some new Adobe technology code-named Bordeaux, it definitely caught my eye. I started thinking: “Hey, maybe I’ll be able to create SWF content without Flash pretty soon!”
Granted, Bordeaux is only rumor at this point, and Adobe has not publicly said anything about it. But come on, Adobe must know that there are plenty of people like me out there — people with a lot of experience with the Adobe Creative Suite way of doing things, and who crave Flash output without using that Flash application. They’d be crazy not to be working on something behind the scenes.
I hope we’ll hear more about Bordeaux and other great SWF developments in the coming months. I’ll sure be asking our friends at Adobe about this when we see them at the Miami conferences. And while I’m there, perhaps I’ll sit in on one or two of the introductory Flash sessions in order to get over my Flash-phobia! 
Hope to see you in Miami, too, or at another one of our future conferences.
Macworld was fun, frantic, and exhausting — just like it always is. The show was full of interesting gadgets and software, as well as a huge number of things I would be hard pressed to care less about. Here’s a run-down of a few things we found interesting or surprising.
Biggest surprise: The unbelievably large number of companies whose express purpose in life appeared to be selling iPod and iPhone cases. I mean, come on…
Coolest scanner: Fujitsu continues to surprise me with cool document scanners. Their newest, the ScanSnap S300M, is so tiny that you can easily bring it with you on the road and use it with USB power from your laptop. This is a roll-fed scanner (not a flatbed), so it’s designed for documents, not images. But after talking to the folks at Fujitsu, I’m convinced that it could scan photos pretty darn well in a pinch.
Fun Media Moment: I was interviewed by a guy from Forbes magazine about the new MacBook Air. Unfortunately, I liked the new finish on the laptop a little too much (it really is velvety) and ended up in trouble with my wife after the article described me as stroking it lustily. (How often does the word “lustily” show up in a business magazine!?)
Adobe’s booth was a happenin’ place, of course, though each time I walked by they appeared to be showing the newest version of Photoshop Elements. I am constantly amazed at that software; even though Photoshop can do it all, Elements makes a number of complex photo-editing features so simple that I think many creative professionals may want to use it.
Most astonishing software-to-be: GridIron Software demoed their Flow software, which watches what you do and remembers relationships among your files. For example, if you place a PSD image into an Illustrator file, then place that AI file into InDesign, then make a PDF of that file, Flow knows… and it can later tell you which PSD and AI file was used in that final PDF. If you try to delete the AI file, it’ll warn you saying, “Hey, did you know that this is currently being used in this InDesign file?” It’s amazing software. Unfortunately, it doesn’t really exist yet. They hope to be shipping this coming summer.
How about you? Were you at Macworld? If so, what noteworthy software and hardware did you see?
Barry, Mordy, and I are all heading from our respective hometowns to converge at Macworld 2007 in San Francisco this week. While we tend to be bi-platform (Mac/Windows), our primary machines are Macs, and we always look forward to seeing what kinds of fun and new technologies are on the scene around the Moscone center. Look for us! Barry will be in his usual flourescent-colored shirt; Mordy will be waving down everyone who will listen to him pontificate about Illustrator; and I’ll be the one wandering around somewhere between total overwhelm and nerdgasm.
Image courtesy istockphoto
You can fake everything in Photoshop, but understanding a few techniques you can use behind the camera will make your life far happier and more efficient.
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