01473 824212How to draw an image on Illustrator ready to be printed onto a bag: step by step guide!
In this tutorial you will learn how to use key tools in Adobe Illustrator to draw your own vector image, ready for printing onto a bag!
Step 1: Setting Up Your Document
For this tutorial you will need to have a specific size document compared to the standard one.
You will need to edit the width and height to 30cm x 32cm, this will give you a squared shape canvas needed to fit our bag template.
Make sure to set the resolution to 300dpi and have your document in the correct colour mode, in this case CMYK for printing. Once all selected, press create and your document should appear.
Step 2: Preparing Your Canvas For Drawing
These next few steps are where you will learn some of the basic but vital tools in illustrator.
We now need to make sure the fill and stroke settings are correct. Make sure both fill and stroke squares look like this, you can click on each one and select from the pallete below to change these.
Using the layers panel, create a separate layer for the background and click the box next to the eye icon to lock this. Locking the layers allows you to draw on new layers without interefering with your previous work.
You can now create new layers for each shape you make by clicking the square plus icon.
Now your all set to draw!
Step 3: Starting Your Illustration
There are 2 different types of pen tools on Illustrator. We will be using both of these depending on what shape we want to create. Start by selecting the curvature pen tool, this is good for creating curved shapes.
Draw a long curved shape, if your not happy with it you can select the white arrow, click on your shape and move around your anchor points to neaten up the image.
With more straight lined shapes like the top of the crown, the standard pen tool is best to use for its precision. However you still can create curved shapes with this tool, to do so you need to click and hold to release a handle, which then curves your line.
Go ahead and create your shapes using these tools, keeping them on separate layers. You can change the order of the layers panel by clicking the layer and dragging it above or below others. Dont forget to lock the layers you are not using!
Step 4: Using The Circle Tool
Now to add embellishment!
Using the circle tool, create a circle while holding down shift to keep proportions the same. Now you can copy this shape for the other jewels. You can manually copy and paste the shape or use the keyboard short cut CMD + C and CMD + V.
Create a bigger circle for the main middle jewel. To make the embellishment jewels on the crown, create a circle without holding shift, this will allow you create more of a oval circle.
You can now copy this shape and resize to fit inside. Like the previous step copying and pasting the shapes will ensure everything is symmetrical.
Your almost done!
Step 5: Adding Colour
Now to add colour!
Using the black arrow select your desired shape, then double click on the fill icon to bring up the colour picker box. Now to choose a colour...here you can let your imagination run wild!
A quicker way to fill other shapes in the same colour, you can select your shape and click on the paint dropper tool.
You can also change the outline colour of the shape, this is called the stroke. If you would like the stroke a different colour than the fill you can use the same step as before but selecting the stroke icon instead.
If like me, you want the stroke to be the exact same colour as the fill, click and drag the fill icon on top of the stroke. This will ensure they are the exact same colour wihout having to reselect!
Step 6: Adding Highlights
If you want to do that little bit extra, adding highlights realy brings an image to life. This simple yet effective step will make your image look more 3D rather than a flat image.
Firstly create a new layer at the top for your highlights. Using the curvature pen tool, draw a curved like shape. Now we can add colour using the steps from before, making sure the fill and stroke are matching colours.
A good tip for adding highlights is to use a slightly lighter tone than the base colour. Using bright white can contrast quite harshly. As you can see I have copied and pasted the highlight shape in various places, changing the fill and stroke colour to suit.
And voila! We have a coloured crown image!
Step 7: Sending Your Artwork
Now you have your image ready to go, send your artwork over to us at sales@stuartmorris.co.uk
Alternatively if you would like any more information contact us by clicking the button below:
01473 824212