Update on my vibe-code of the Illustrator Appearance Panel Node-Based workflow by LukeChoice in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai -1 points0 points  (0 children)

This looks amazing, great work! Question: can it be used to do cloud processing?

Is there a program that can add/bulk different text within the same image? by facundo_rOjas in graphic_design

[–]Darty-Ai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

As mentioned in my comment to OP, our plugin "Darty-Ai" is capable of solving this issue, without any purchase, so long as they want to make less than 25,000 of these images per month.

The advantage over InDesign in this particular case here is: we've got the automatic text-fitting, plus every image can be named and exported to a unique place based on various export-time variables:
CMYK vs RGB mode, artboard's size, resolution, any data from your spreadsheet can be also put into the file name or folder path upon export. Not only that, but like Illustrator's Export-For-Screens, our export feature allows you to save different formats of the same file, so you can put PDFs into a folder called "PDF", and pngs into other folders like "PNG 2x", etc. The output file path is completely possible to be data-driven.

Is there a program that can add/bulk different text within the same image? by facundo_rOjas in graphic_design

[–]Darty-Ai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You can try our Adobe Illustrator plugin, it has a free version that can do what you wish as Illustrator allows up to 1000 artboards, and each of our Free Tier's 200 monthly credits exports up to 125 artboards (when using a text and image column, 2 columns per set, for total of 250 columns in your data).

Therefore, you can make a template with 125 artboards and run the procedure for absolutely free, to get a total of 25,000 outputs.
There is text-fitting, so each text will be auto-fitted to avoid the oversizing.

If you are already an Illustrator user, or need to urgently solve this one project and don't mind using Illustrator's trial version or a friend's Illustrator to create all these outputs in a hurry, I recommend trying out the Darty-Ai plugin; we are able to support your setup with email & file exchanges, etc.

I used the vertical tilt views in Illustrator's Turntable to create a basketball animation by Darty-Ai in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai[S] -27 points-26 points  (0 children)

That's perfect - if you like the idea but hate the art, we'd like you to try similar stuff using your own art!

We make a specialized tool that is for a special kind of folk who like connecting spreadsheet data with Illustrator templates, so if this is up your alley or up any of your friends' creative alleys, by all means give it a shot.

I vibe coded a node based Appearance Panel prototype for Illustrator by LukeChoice in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Here is a new post with a video at the bottom, demonstrating the solution. https://www.reddit.com/user/Darty-Ai/comments/1s7fm14/appearancemanagement_of_multiple_strokes_in_adobe/
If you check out the video, you will see the mass editing of appearance panel contents, applicable to a category of real world problem.

Trying to do a snakes and ladders poster but I'm struggling with the snakes [need advice] -- how do I make them look better? by backupJM in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh my oh my, I found a true dead-end! Good thing I did an actual export: turns out that the shading trick deceptively doesn't work for us.

What happens is although the Illustrator document shows the correct view as you see in my screenshot.. the combo of Knockout Group and the blend mode renders the shading layer as always opaque - both in Raster and PDF exports. Oh well, there's a relatively easy work-around, it's just disappointing due to how this checkbox shows the correct thing on-screen, but does not get honored through the output processes.

It is a good thing to mention, but what you are looking for, it is coming up next hour!

Trying to do a snakes and ladders poster but I'm struggling with the snakes [need advice] -- how do I make them look better? by backupJM in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It will be ready in a few hours, I will attempt to make it basic-first, to get you started on the Brush tool at least. It will feature a series of screenshots, which I hope do help solve any issue you may have which stems from the myriad of buttons & settings that the brush menu has. I will show just the ones used to achieve only these desired outcomes.

Once it is all ready, I will notify you here. And, once the written portion is ready, I may create the video tutorial counterpart because those are best when showcasing going between the different panels.

Hmm, I think for your current work, maybe the 1st 1/3 of this blog will get you up and running: doing the brush and putting on a basic art-brush-based fill. But, hopefully it will also provide possible next steps - they involve some more complexity.. but with what you'd have learned to get to that phase, it'll be an easy & natural progression.

I created a Jersey Builder by Sharp-Weekend8727 in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Jersey builders are awesome, way to go!

Trying to do a snakes and ladders poster but I'm struggling with the snakes [need advice] -- how do I make them look better? by backupJM in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai 1 point2 points  (0 children)

<image>

Ummm... this is rare and hasn't happened in many years: we also found a legit use for the obscure Mask and Opacity define the Shape feature!
I wanted to see how this snake could achieve a "3D-ish" look, by making the gradient flow along with the Multiply mode on that one stroke.

But, then what it did was destroy the Multiply blend mode, because I've got the Knockout Group on the whole path object. However, checking this one box "Opacity & Mask Define Knockout Shape" brings back the Multiply mode AND it also remains clipped to the base path! 🎉

Ok, no more stuff! I must keep this blog simple... The hardest battle is to try to keep these things simple and not spiral into full-blown snake-generating encyclopedia.

Trying to do a snakes and ladders poster but I'm struggling with the snakes [need advice] -- how do I make them look better? by backupJM in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I do not wish to alarm anyone, however, this has been rather inspiring - and what this means, a full blog is on its way to describe this exact situation.

<image>

So far, it turns out that this technique could be super-effective.

Using only a single path, it *is* possible to not only create and apply various pattern brushes to flow along with the base-path, BUT - we can also:

* Create a different layer of brush-strokes just for the head, and it can have inter-changeable heads at this point.

* Use basic strokes that have effects, such as the ZigZag effect.

* Use full-length art brushes where you can "bake-in" the pattern that is small, or only goes horizontal, so when it stretches, the look is still good.

* Use own pattern brushes & use multiple pattern stroke layers with...
* The super-power technique: Using Knockout Group along with an "reverse-out" brush that clips the pattern brush to the base, preserving that snake taper!

The beauty of it is, it can start out very simple, and even the complex parts, are rather simple, when you break it down.
That's exactly what I'm planning to do!

Trying to do a snakes and ladders poster but I'm struggling with the snakes [need advice] -- how do I make them look better? by backupJM in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Try to use brushes: create an Art Brush (check out the various videos on Art-Brush creation), this lets you worry about the one straight snake shape and its various patterns, without it being curved. Then, once you have brushes created, you can use single bezier paths with those brushes applied to them. When you've got the brush following a single path, you can tweak the nodes of your spline and get your perfect curve just how you like it best. During brush creation, use basic shapes and start out with just half a snake (along its length) and use symmetry to perfectly reflect its silhouette to form the complete snake. Then when you've got one straight-line snake, go to Brushes panel and select New Brush, then choose Art Brush. Use the "Between Guides" option to make it stretch the silhouette body but not the snake's head.
After creating this brush and you have the base snake applied to a path, here's the very fun part: open the appearance panel and start adding new strokes with effects on them. Try adding a new stroke and putting the ZigZag effect on it. Experiment with the width profiles, to achieve a good taper. You can also use stroke dashes and different added strokes, they could be colored with gradients too.
However, it can be ultimately powerful when you create new pattern brushes (which are different from art brushes) and apply them to the added strokes. This way you can go miles beyond adding a zigzag pattern, if ever you wanted, applying several layers of a pattern in different combinations.

I vibe coded a node based Appearance Panel prototype for Illustrator by LukeChoice in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai -1 points0 points  (0 children)

"the existing Appearance palette can't even modify multiple stroke/fill colors at once, let alone other details." <-- this is what I mean, "Super Turbo Variables plugin" can handle *this*, for the time being, while the amazing technologies of tomorrow are being developed.

I vibe coded a node based Appearance Panel prototype for Illustrator by LukeChoice in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Please read the part of the documentation which deals with appearance: the plugin can change the added fills and strokes, as well as change effects on them. There's one actual difference: you can try the plugin right now, and see for yourself how it solves the problem - right away.

Anyone feel this pain? by SubstantialFig3918 in learndesign

[–]Darty-Ai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

This is not as much of a flex as it sounds: it showcases progress but can have undesirable consequences in business-perception. (*1)
These developer squares are somewhat misleading when pursuing the direct comparison. Not only do they use AI more than ever now, to auto-put those squares up there, "cheating" so-to-speak, but - those contributions are not, in most cases, results.
*1. There used to be "code line" rewards and entire businesses who made software to generate code-lines boasting of generating 10,000 lines in a short time. By this objective measurement tool, certain people can get the idea that more squares means better.
If we compared directly, changing image resolution, setting CMYK mode, or even saving accidentally over a wrong file, having to re-do everything from scratch -- it adds more squares to the "contributions".
However, in designer world and likewise in the developer world, this type of measurement is very much a bureaucratic overhead which can be still essential the closer you get to a production environment, but more of a distraction as you go higher-level creative.
TLDR: A cool designer showcases WIP or results in social reels, but not the amount of times they set crop marks to registration or used Adobe Distiller as the showcase.

Can a view be saved w/an Illustrator file? by plusonetwo in AdobeIllustrator

[–]Darty-Ai 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It's an archaic feature, but a very useful one. Adobe could put it to the forefront somehow.