Day 1: What is Illustrator?

By Tony Soh

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About Adobe Illustrator

Illustrator is a vector drawing program. It is often used to draw illustrations, cartoons, diagrams, charts and logos. Unlike bitmap images that stores information in a grid of dots, Illustrator uses mathematical equations to draw out the shapes. This makes vector graphics scalable without the loss of resolution.

Advantages of Vector Graphics

• Scalable without resolution loss
• Lines are crisp and sharp at any sizes
• Print at high resolution
• Smaller file size
• Good for drawing illustrations

Disadvantages of vector graphics

• Drawings tend to look flat and cartoon
• Hard to produce photo realistic drawings

Common Uses for Illustrator

1) Designing Logos

By: Draplin Design

2) Drawing Maps

3) Drawing Illustrations

By: Chih Hang

4) Infographics

5) Photorealistic Drawings

By: Kevin Hulsey

6) Packaging Design

By: sanna annukka

This are just a few examples of what Illustrator can do. If you have experience with Photoshop, you can bring your illustrations into Photoshop and enchance it. That’s how professional does it. During the next few days, I will be covering the basics of Illustrator so that you can produce your first vector art!

Next Lesson: Getting Started in Illustrator »
Back to Illustrator Training Course

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About The Author: Tony Soh

Hi. I'm the founder of Vector Diary. Illustrator is my passion and I have written numerous tutorials on illustrator helping people learn illustrator. My most popular tutorial on learn illustrator has been a hit. It makes learning illustrator so easy and has benefited more than 20,000 people worldwide. Also, I've revealed some of my secret techniques in the premium tutorials. So don't forget to check it out!

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+Add Comment92 Comments

1. 
   Alex Jordan July 15th

   Can help but say “Drawings tend to look flat and cartoon” “Hard to produce photo realistic drawings” are seriously challenged by that realistic camera -
   is there a link for Kevin Hulsey?
   cheers

2. 
   Muurtegel July 15th

   I must agree with Alex. With the right use of Gradients and maybe some shaddows and masks, you can make nice 3D looking graphics. There are even 3D options available in illustrator.

3. 
   iStockdiary July 15th

   Experts can produce super realistic drawings of products using gradients and gradient mesh in illustrator. However, if you were to produce a realistic drawing of mountains and rivers that I would say it would be a challenge. Illustrator is really not good at rendering textures other than smooth surfaces which can be achieved by gradients. And Kevin Hulsey is really one pro in technical illustration. Check out his portfolio. I have included the link.

4. 
   david July 30th

   eXcelent resourse for beginners congrats!!!

5. 
   carl August 2nd

   Looking for a quick course, preferably during the evening time that will teach me to draw using illustrator quickly.Pleases give info., price if any and other details.

6. 
   iStockdiary August 2nd

   Hi Carl, I will recommend you Lynda’s video tutorial. Read my recommended list of tutorials here: http://www.vectordiary.com/reviews/the-best-illustrator-books-videos-for-learning/

7. 
   rajesh August 8th

   very nice job

8. 
   Jenelle August 25th

   finally, i will be able to learn how to use the illustrator! bwahahaha!!!

9. 
   Chris September 5th

   Logos, Illustrations and Product Designs are all areas I want to investigate further with Illustrator.

10. 
    Jaikumar September 9th

    It is really worth.

11. 
    Akshaya September 12th

    Its good, but cant say much about b’coz its a first day.

12. 
    Marcelo September 14th

    I´m a brazilian designer that uses Corel Draw and want to migrate do Adobe Suite. I think the best tool to work is the tool that you reaaly know how to use, so I´m trying to learn as much I can about Illustrator.

13. 
    Darren September 15th

    Can I use illustrator to create webpages? I am a long time user of Corel Draw and have created looks for websites using Photoshop…I am hoping to migrate completely to Illustrator and not have to boot into vista on my mac.

14. 
    Dipika September 18th

    Thanks! The first day of an Introduction is nice & helpfull to beginner how,where and when use this software.I admire which you had done for us.This software new for me so Hope I’ll learn Illustrator well through your 30 days.

15. 
    paresh September 19th

    its good imust with agree….

16. 
    J September 24th

    I have purchased Adobe Flash CS3 Professional- do i need to have illustrator as well to have this function? Can i not create a project in its entirety in the Flash product i have purchased? Do all pictures need to be imported through illustrator , can I make .ai files in adobe flash?
    Thanks for your timely response…. J

17. 
    Vectordiary September 24th

    Hi J, You can’t make ai files in illustrator. However you can draw some basic vector graphics in Flash.

18. 
    milee October 1st

    what is illustrator is a vector drawimg program.

19. 
    ASHOK KUMAR October 9th

    VERY FINE WEBSITE IT IS VERY USEFUL TO INTERMEDIATE AND ABOVE INTERMEDIATE LEVEL KEEP INTRODUCING MORE ILLUSTRATIONS

20. 
    hendra October 26th

    hi, i want to know if you can also show some website or book that is best for photoshop beginner

21. 
    BaGsHiK October 29th

    Thanks a lot for this tutorials , bro !
    Keep up the good work , i will subscribe to your RSS !

    Greetings from Belgium !

    BaGsHiK

22. 
    divya October 31st

    i would like to under go the classes.

23. 
    ayyaj Patwegar November 7th

    it is very nice softwear

24. 
    Arteymiel November 18th

    Is possible this tuttorial in spanish ?

25. 
    vidya November 27th

    very very nice…. i got it… !!! thanks!

26. 
    aaaalpha December 6th

    illustrators fun too

27. 
    cool December 6th

    i dont like this program but u will get use to!!!!!!!!

28. 
    josh December 6th

    pls tell me how i can can my illus’s work in to jpeg…great work….carry on…..

29. 
    Vectordiary December 6th

    Hi josh, go File>Export and select JPG.

30. 
    Tom December 16th

    New here – New to illustrator too! just wanted to say thanks for this =]

31. 
    Gina December 17th

    Salut je voudrais savoir si je ne pourais pas avoir les livres disponible en francais.

32. 
    o m g January 30th

    oh em gee this is soooo coool <33333 i love you devon

33. 
    bugs February 27th

    Can’t wait to crashed on Illustrator for m graphic design course. But, I really interested to make product package, and map. I will stay long hours for that.

34. 
    josh March 4th

    kool

35. 
    Naheez Thawfeeg March 13th

    I started this tutorial 3 days back…I love to learn Illustrator very much!!!

36. 
    keith rhodes April 14th

    I have just started to learn Illustrator, I love the program, but there are a couple of bugs still in the software, it isn’t quit polished as Photoshop, things like, Anchor points appearing in the design, that I did not creat, Anchor points shooting of screen, leaving colour trails behind, and the amount of memory needed for large files is staggering, I have 4gig, and it isn’t enough for Illustrator.

    Don’t get me wrong, I love this software, but because of the flaws, I usualy end up spending more time in an Illustrator design, than I do in Photoshop, there are other bugs, but the ones I have mentioned above, are the most annoying ones.

    All the best to you all here.

    Keith.

37. 
    artistnutts April 23rd

    kooool site!

38. 
    Christine Moore June 8th

    I can’t wait to dig into this tutorial. Thanks for providing it. I am also a contributor to iStock. I’ll be checking out your illustrations.

39. 
    mohammad mohsin vahora June 24th

    I learn this tutorial & this lesson of the illustrator
    tutorial & it is a very nice ! Thank You Very Much….

40. 
    A. Ahmed Ansarudeen August 4th

    its really nice

41. 
    sandy October 10th

    It’s nice tuts for fresher.

42. 
    meenakshi manglik October 18th

    i want to know more about luustrator… n i want to see more sample designs.. pl show me as soon as possible.

43. 
    meenakshi manglik October 18th

    I learn this tutorial & this lesson of the illustrator
    tutorial & it is a very nice ! Thank You Very Much….

44. 
    meenakshi manglik October 27th

    Hi ….

    I Can’t wait to crashed on Illustrator for m graphic design course. But, I really interested to make product package, and map. I will stay long hours for that.
    CONTACT..
    9910146071

45. 
    malik arif November 11th

    i am Arif.i m professional embroidery digitizer i like so much ann i want talk 2 ann please send me contact detail of ann.my contact detail below
    wilcom_des@yahoo.com
    0092-345-4058504
    thanks

46. 
    nadia December 28th

    thanx for the info…

47. 
    onizuka1412 April 15th

    Thank you, i love it ^_^

48. 
    onizuka1412 April 15th

    Thank you, i love it. ^_^

49. 
    maniroo April 29th

    it’s verryy nice

50. 
    sheik May 4th

    Very useful . Thanks Sheik K

51. 
    Karim Imran July 19th

    I want to learn Illustrator , so please send me all idea’s technique to my mail id.

    I wiil be happy if i get better response from yours

    Karim Imran

52. 
    SEO Pakistan September 18th

    Very much informative TUTORIALS! like id and learned alot from here

53. 
    JANGA KARUNAKAR RAO October 4th

    VERY NICE, THANKS MUCH

54. 
    tony October 27th

    awesome. thanks.

55. 
    usman November 4th

    I love ai….thank’s bro

56. 
    MichaelV November 29th

    DAY 1: So far so good….I am totally new to this product but have always been fascinated by some of the things that can be created. Case in point – the camera in Photorealistic Drawings! This simply blows me away. I always felt this sort of thing was way beyond me but I guess I am about to find out once and for all. See you all after Day 2.

57. 
    katkat December 9th

    This is great and very helpful! No need to shell out bucks for AI classes. =)

58. 
    printing January 1st

    awesome..started off just using photoshop and online tutorials have tought me so much, thanks for everyones help.

59. 
    Proteinpulver January 14th

    I really love Adobe Illustrator! It is one of the best tools I know! I use it regularly for my graphics.

60. 
    Allgaeu January 14th

    This is a very nice blog. Very helpful for my work! Thank you very much!

61. 
    pakdezaki January 27th

    Hi I’am graphics passion too. Your blog very useful. Pleased to meet you

62. 
    Luisa February 20th

    THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!!

63. 
    bortai April 18th

    thank you! you are helping me so alot.

64. 
    Mr Men May 8th

    :p it is…………….okayyy i guess.

65. 
    Carrie Hentz May 9th

    yeahhhhh buddy!

66. 
    GentleMan May 23rd

    thanks for the helpful information, I’m going to get all courses
    with all respect GentleMan

67. 
    Kenessar June 5th

    That let me know Illustrator don’t only draw cartoon It’s very useful software
    Thank

68. 
    Reine July 9th

    Looking forward to 30 days time…

69. 
    selvi evangaline August 28th

    nice and useful

70. 
    kjisrtji8sj5y9us August 29th

    that weird and terrible

71. 
    xdude September 7th

    your cool.

72. 
    senthil October 12th

    It is very use full to me, thank’s

73. 
    wheel hub October 17th

    Excellent Post.. I enjoy some of content in the post.. please keep it up..
    i want same like this from you… thanks

74. 
    RB February 8th

    Lesson 1 looks good. Especially like that you give list of common project types. I noticed web design isn’t on there, though I found at least 1 person w/ a blog that uses Illustrator for that. One observation: lesson 1 is so short (only took me 5 min) that you could combine it w/ lesson 2.

75. 
    joe February 14th

    this is hard core BS

76. 
    Mirajul February 23rd

    I like To Illustrator

77. 
    mereen March 5th

    woooooow.how can i go to the day 2

78. 
    kdd March 6th

    lames

79. 
    lasisi March 8th

    i love illustrator so much that i will always go for it anytime anyday

80. 
    Việt Designer April 19th

    very nice introduction, thanks for share

81. 
    Pramod srivastava May 7th

    thanks…a lot of . finally i satisfy with this tutorial

82. 
    Email Backgrounds May 9th

    I used to buy stock photos to make email stationery for my site which very expensive. I love to draw, I know basic Photoshop but never touch AI. Your tutorial helps me a lot. Thanks for making this for free

83. 
    vinayak July 6th

    Thank u lot of thank u your tutorials is very usefully.

84. 
    htake khaung tin August 20th

    It’s so useful

85. 
    Fuzail September 3rd

    Very useful tutorial

86. 
    ANIL December 21st

    ANIL

87. 
    tyler January 14th

    nice and very cool tutorial one of my freinds made really cool diamond

88. 
    jordan January 22nd

    lol that actually quite works

89. 
    Wendy Gammell April 3rd

    I can not get the tutorial to work. I paid for the premium and I have illustrator installed on my computer. Can anyone help? Thanks

90. 
    Tony Soh April 3rd

    Hi Wendy, try pressing Ctrl + F5 to clear out the cache.

91. 
    Octavia April 9th

    Hi there! I just would like to offer you a huge thumbs up for your
    excellent info you have here on this post. I am coming back to your site for more soon.

92. 
    Maik May 6th

    Very nice, i hope i could do something like this after 30 days too…