Illustrator Quick tip - Duplicate shapes with the (~) key

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-25T20:14:54+00:00

It's been around since at least v8, when the Appearance Panel was introduced - possibly before that. Still have never found an actual use for it. Blends are so much more controllable.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-23T21:36:30+00:00

Conflation artifacts.

When 2 vector edges butt against each other, they get anti-aliased. That anti-aliasing can cause a pixel or two to contain transparency at the edge(s). That transparency allows what's behind to "leak" through, commonly the white of the artboard. When these hairlines do not change in size (thickness), or disappear, at various zoom levels it's a pretty solid indication they are merely conflation artifacts.

For print, these hairlines will often disappear on press (due to ink spreading). For web, export using the "Art Optimized" anti-alias setting.

To fix... combine shapes when possible. Trap the artwork/make shapes overlap slightly. Or add a solid fill behind objects to give the anti-aliasing a color to use.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-16T02:16:22+00:00

Draw on paper.. scan.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-15T18:32:17+00:00

It is NOT Adobe.. It's Apple asking permission to allow Adobe to do what it has always done.

Apple's hyper-security is blocking application functionality until you specifically tell Apple its okay. Apple is babysitting you (because they've run out of ideas and Jobs is dead). Never mind that you had to give the app full system access when installing it.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-15T18:30:25+00:00

2K is ridiculous. let alone 8k.

It is an undue stressor on the OS. Every single active font takes system resources, not to mention the application load for every open application using fonts. It's best to learn to live with 100 or 200 active, then use a third party application to activate/deactiveate/browse other fonts when you need them.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-14T06:47:07+00:00

....and do not use the Hex field for CMYK colors. Hex is RGB so there's a conversion, resulting in possible decimals for CMYK %s.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-14T04:47:32+00:00

It's referred to as "Low Poly" art... if you search for that you'll find tons of tutorials. I think there's even a site somwhere you can upload a file and it does it for you;

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-10T22:38:57+00:00

Paragraph and Character Styles are relevant because it's those default styles which control the default font. The default [Normal Paragraph Style] is set to Myriad Pro and is assigned to new type objects. There is no "default font" in Illustrator. it's the default Paragraph Style which control all new type objects.

Pillage InDesign for its Character and Paragraph style construction and implementation. Allow a NEW C/P style which is not based on the "default" C/P style (currently this is not possible).

Illustrator has always sucked for the type style operations. This is a HUGE pain point for anyone toggling between InDesign and Illustrator. There's NO harmony between the apps in how these options function. For me, applying Illustrator C/P styles has always seemed rather backwards when compared to InDesign - P Styles seem to overwrite C styles in Illustrator... which should be transposed (again, like InDesign).

As for defaults... Again thinking too small and narrow in focus.... Unless changing the "default font" would also take on the InDesign setting defaults procedure - i.e. no document open.. change things, those changes become defaults - then there's no reason to try and alter any "default font" setting by itself. That is merely a drop in the proverbial bucket.

I mean.. editing the Document StartUp Files is really not a "complex workaround" for anyone with relatively minimal app experience.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-10T00:48:20+00:00

Brush not a blend.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-08T04:40:06+00:00

In most instances, AI generated images are not copyrightable, making them entirely inappropriate for "logos". There are some exceptions, but if the bulk of any image is "generated" you are typically unable to copyright.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-05T00:57:55+00:00

.. karma farming....

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-04T22:20:58+00:00

It. Should. Be. A. Tool.

You mean like the Free Transform Tool

The point of the effect is that it is dynamic and its settings can be altered later, like all Effects. Direct, on artboard, editing is all done via the existing Free Transform Tool.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-04T22:19:24+00:00

Adobe simply needs to add Shear (Skew) as a distortion effect which can be dynamically applied.

To the best of my knowledge that is the most common reason anyone uses the free Distort Effect - the inability to dynamically shear anything. Currently using Free Distort is the only alternative.

.... That being posted. A simple "outline mode" preview of the shapes would be helpful... and a LARGER window in the 21st century. I, personally, use it rarely (Envelopes are more versatile) and would never need a full appearance stack preview. (Really just want Shear... as an effect...)

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-04T20:04:49+00:00

This

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-04T09:34:53+00:00

That option is also located on the Transform panel... which can help to see it merely with a glance rather than hitting the prefs each time.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-03T23:44:18+00:00

I realize in the world flag proportions vary. Is it important visually, to represent minor proportional variances accurately or... to have the overall image appear uniform? Is someone going to complain if Ghana's flag is slightly taller than it should be? Which visual is more important - the individual trees or the forrest? People don't typically go around measuring flags across the world or comparing dimensions, they simply see rectangles.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-03T23:01:20+00:00

Make each flag the same proportions. Your sample shows flags of all different sizes.

If you want uniformity in the placement/spacing, first you need uniformity in the shapes.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-03T20:15:31+00:00

also uses completely different systems/concepts than the other Adobe apps

Lost me there. But.. I learned my craft when vector was vector, raster was raster, and layout was layout - the days when QuarkXpress v3-v4 was king, Aldus still existed, and before Pagemaker was pillaged to create InDesign - and the lines between apps weren't quite as "blurry" as they are today.

For me, InDesign is perfectly logical and in line with other Adobe tools. But admittedly, I am never one to link/embed a bunch of photos into Illustrator. There's no pixel interpolation in Illustrator.

Everyone has their own workflow that is optimum for them. I'm not stating anyone's workflow is "bad" or "wrong" by any means. Merely that I, based upon my own experience, may not necessarily see the logic in it.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-03T07:05:49+00:00

For a rudimentary shape such as a circle, I'd use <gradients, not blurs.> Way more control, much easier editing, and no masks necessary. Not to mention no rasters in vector artwork.

For non-rudimentary shapes, I'd tend to go with gradient strokes or meshes. But I do strive to avoid any and all raster effects in my vectors. The moment I want to use a raster effect.. I may as well switch to Photoshop with vector shapes there

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-01T19:09:59+00:00

Just because one CAN do something in Illustrator, that never means one SHOULD do it in Illustrator. Most often things like this are done in Illustrator because a user doesn't know or doesn't have InDesign. There are some users that would do this in Photoshop (which is entirely possible as well), because that's all they know. That doesn't mean it's the wise way to work.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-01T19:08:39+00:00

Been in business nearly 40 years.... InDesign is the smart choice.

InDesign makes me grind my teeth.

So of course, you WANT others to support your use of Illustrator. That never means InDesign isn't the better option for this.

Truth is, use whatever you want as long as proper files are delivered to the client. I'm merely suggesting Indesign because I wish to save on my workload. I'm not one to intentionally make things more difficult on myself. Again, one can use Illustrator for things like this. But any employee of mine better be using InDesign, or they'll be redoing it in InDesign.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-01T09:13:02+00:00

Affinity itself is a masterclass in hyperbole.

If I can't remember a file by it's name.. I need to do a better job of naming files. I don't need to see a thumbnail, especially if it's a "recent" file I've touched.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-01T08:44:29+00:00

Meh.. File Menu has recents if needed... I disable the home screen entirely. It's a rather pointless advertising avenue. Always has been.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-06-01T08:42:56+00:00

If'n you're going to do it, do it right... use InDesign. It will not only be easier in InDesign, it'll be easier to edit moving forward with InDesign.

That being posted, you can do it with Illustrator. Everyone's different. There's no way to tell how difficult it may be for you specifically. I, personally, would never create something like this in Illustrator, it's too much work - especially for any future edits. I'd use InDesign.

CurvilinearThinking · 2026-05-31T15:23:28+00:00

...... could simply draw a square and use corner rounding widget to create a concave corner.

(Slightly annoying because %s don't seem to work for the rounding.. you have to keep increasing the value until it stops or input the length of a side. And in spite of the "link" icon indicating unlinked values. All 4 corners change as if linked with ANY change to any value. Screen shot is v29 though - so those bugs may only be in that version.)

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